Floorstanding loudspeakers — Sonus Faber IL CREMONESE EX3ME

The Il Cremonese ex3me is a limited edition floorstanding loudspeaker from Sonus faber, introduced on 22 September 2020 at USD 58,000 per pair and restricted to 50 pairs in a Red Violin finish. It is based on the Il Cremonese of 2015 from the Homage collection, named after the violin-making city of Cremona, and Sonus faber now places it in the Reference range.

Key specs that matter

This 3.5-way design uses a 30 mm DLC beryllium dome tweeter behind a grille, a 180 mm M18 XTR-04 midrange with a neodymium motor, two 180 mm W18XTR-12 woofers in separate chambers, and two 220 mm side-firing infra-woofers with nanocarbon fibre and Nomex honeycomb cones. Crossover points are 80, 250 and 2,500 Hz. Frequency response is 25 Hz to 35 kHz, sensitivity is 92 dB and nominal impedance is 4 ohms, while amplifiers of 100 to 800 W are recommended. Each speaker is 1,449 mm high, 398 mm wide and 621 mm deep and weighs 84 kg.

Engineering and use context

The beryllium tweeter with a diamond-like carbon coating replaces the DAD arch tweeter of the earlier Il Cremonese. The woofers operate in independent chambers loaded by Stealth Reflex ducts, and the whole system is described by Sonus faber as fully para-aperiodic, a vented alignment with a damped outlet. The crossover follows the company's Paracross topology and uses non-inductive resistors and air-core inductors. The two infra-woofers fire from the sides of the cabinet and handle only the range below 80 Hz, which leaves the main woofers to cover 80 to 250 Hz, and the midrange spans more than three octaves up to the top crossover point. The cabinet has five sides with no parallel walls in the lute shape that runs through Sonus faber's range, and solid aluminium Dampshelves close it at the top and bottom. The speaker stands on ZVT Silent Spikes, which couple the heavy cabinet to the floor. Each pair is part of a numbered run of 50 in the Red Violin colour.

Pairing

Its high sensitivity means the ex3me does not require very high power despite its size, yet the wide power recommendation and low impedance favour a large solid-state amplifier or monoblocks with high current capability. With its weight and side-firing infra-woofers, it needs a room of well over 20 m2 and free space on both sides of each cabinet.

Alternatives

The Sonus faber Amati G5 is a 3.5-way floorstander from the Homage collection, fitted with a 28 mm DAD Arrow Point tweeter.