Bookshelf Speakers — Sonus Faber DUETTO

The Sonus Faber Duetto is the Italian company's first active wireless stereo loudspeaker system. It puts built-in amplification, streaming and TV connectivity into Sonus Faber's lute-shaped cabinet, and a pair forms a self-contained system needing only a source or a network connection. It draws on four decades of Sonus Faber loudspeaker design in a format aimed at modern living rooms.

Key specs that matter

Each speaker is a two-way design. The 1.1-inch silk dome tweeter has a ferrite magnet with copper cap and its own waveguide, and the 5.25-inch paper-pulp mid-woofer uses a neodymium magnet with copper cap, an aluminium ring and a long-excursion design. Inside each cabinet a 100W Class AB amplifier drives the tweeter and a 250W Class D amplifier drives the mid-woofer. Streaming covers AirPlay 2, Chromecast built-in, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Roon Ready and Bluetooth with aptX HD. Wired inputs are HDMI eARC, optical Toslink and a pair of RCA inputs switchable between phono and line level, and there is a subwoofer output.

Engineering and use context

Giving each driver a different amplifier type lets Sonus Faber match the circuit to the job. Class AB handles the low-power, wide-bandwidth tweeter signal, while efficient Class D supplies the higher power the mid-woofer needs. With a dedicated amplifier on each driver, the crossover acts before amplification instead of through passive components. In the mid-woofer motor, the copper cap and aluminium ring lower inductance and distortion, and the long-excursion design lets a 5.25-inch cone produce deeper bass than a cone of that diameter usually manages. Both drivers sit in Sonus Faber's Organic suspension. Communication between the two speakers runs over Ultra Wide Band wireless, which keeps latency low and avoids interference from home Wi-Fi traffic. The lute-shaped cabinet has no parallel side walls, which reduces internal standing waves. A leather SENSO touch panel on top controls playback, volume, inputs and connections without mechanical buttons.

Pairing

Through HDMI eARC the Duetto connects straight to a television, and a moving-magnet turntable needs no external phono stage, since the RCA input switches to phono level. Phones, networked music libraries via Roon and the main music services all play directly. Either speaker may be configured as the left or right channel to suit the room layout, and the sub out allows an active subwoofer to be added for film and deeper bass.

Alternatives

The Sonus Faber Lumina II is the passive two-way stand-mount option for a system with separate amplification.