The Sonetto V G2 is a three-way passive tower of the Sonetto range from Sonus faber, the Italian manufacturer based near Vicenza. It sits above the Sonetto III in the family and adds a dedicated midrange driver in its own internal chamber. Finishes are piano black, walnut and wenge, and the cabinet combines wood, leather and a concrete base.
Key specs that matter
The baffle carries four drivers. A 1.1 inch DAD Arrow Point tweeter with extended frequency range and a copper shorting ring covers the top band. The midrange is a 6.5 inch Camelia unit, also fitted with a copper shorting ring, and two further 6.5 inch woofers with aluminium demodulation rings handle the low end. The filter divides the band at 280 Hz and 2,500 Hz. The rated response is 35 Hz to 40,000 Hz at the -3 dB points, sensitivity is 89 dB at 2.83 V and nominal impedance is 4 ohm. Each speaker stands 108.1 cm tall, 30.8 cm wide and 41.5 cm deep and weighs 33.4 kg, while a pair travels in two cartons with a packed weight of about 75 kg. The US price was USD 7,000 per speaker.
Engineering and use context
The midrange driver is mounted in an internal cork enclosure, keeping it apart from the air pressure that the two woofers create in the main volume behind it. Sonus faber describes the filter as a hybrid of its IFF and Paracross topologies, arranged to keep the three drivers phase coherent through the two crossover regions. The cabinet follows the lute shape used across the Sonetto series, with curved sides that taper toward the back and so avoid broad parallel panels inside. The concrete foundation at the bottom lowers the centre of gravity of the tall enclosure and adds mass where the cabinet meets the floor. Shorting rings in the tweeter and midrange motors and the demodulation rings in the woofers are intended to lower the distortion that arises when the moving voice coil modulates the magnetic field of the motor, a concern Sonus faber addresses in both the upper and lower drivers.
Pairing
The recommended amplifier power runs from 50 W to 320 W. With its low nominal impedance, the speaker suits amplifiers with a stated output into low-impedance loads. Because the Sonetto family also offers a centre channel and smaller models with the same tweeter, the Sonetto V can be the main stereo pair in a surround layout that keeps one driver family across the front.
Alternatives
The Sonetto III G2 is the smaller 2.5-way tower of the same series, using two cones of the same size with a single crossover point in a lighter cabinet.