Sonus faber - Amati Homage Tradition in Luxurious Red Finish - Must See!!!

Sonus faber – The Amati Tradition in Red Lacquered Wood with Black Brushed Aluminum (pair)

THEY ARE VERY WARM & NATURAL SOUNDING BUT REQUIRE  POWERFUL AMPS.

I have never before taken delivery of a 600-pound pallet for high-performance luxury loudspeakers. Each speaker weighs just 135 pounds. The bulk of the shipping carton is the extreme protective packaging. Now that’s care.

I've seen my share of gorgeous speakers including the Giya G1, the KEF Blade and Wilson Benesch ACT 1 which I think may be the only line that can compete in the aesthetics and finishing departments with this Italian manufacturer. Even against other Sonus Faber creations, this one is astonishing in the clarity of line, its lute shaped profile and the stunning use of titanium finish aluminum, maple inlays and coffee colored leather. If style is paramount we can stop this review right here. I'm calling a winner. Nothing tops this!

History

Interestingly, the inspiration comes from Italian motorboats with their iconic wooden hulls. The first one, the Amati Homage, was introduced in 1999 at a price of $20,000 weighing 154 pounds, followed by the Amati Homage Anniversario in 2005, with a price of $27,500 and weighing 177 pounds. The Amati Futura arrived in 2011 at $36,000 and weighing 122 pounds. So, it is some relief to see this Amati on sale for you, today with the latest upgrade priced at a more affordable retailing for $29,900 despite its extra weight and refinement.

There's a whole lot of technology under the covers here. Let's start with the shape. The new profile has curves which change and double, blending the lines of the earlier Homage speakers with that of the Lilium, offering more internal volume at the rear of the speaker for an extended frequency response. The main structural element is the exoskeleton called Stealth Ultraflex, a part of which you can see as an aluminum extrusion forming the rear backbone. Stealth Ultraflex is characterized by a laminar tuning derived from the Olympica series. A vent favors the flow of air through the duct while controlling its speed and reducing turbulence and with it distortion. Dampshelves are included at the top and bottom of the cabinet. This is a ported design of unusual sophistication.

Sonus Faber has gone to great lengths to mechanically decouple the speaker from the floor. Their patented ZVT (Zero Vibration Transmission) system features alternating surfaces metal/elastomer/metal overlapped inside the substantial bracket/spike group. It inhibits the transmission of vibration from the drivers into the floor and acoustic feedback into the speakers.

Placement

The sophisticated porting system seems to make the Amati Tradition quite tolerant of position, and after a period of small adjustments pronounced himself well satisfied. In fact, he was very pleased with the sound of the speakers in the room. Some other very large ported speakers have not been so comfortable in this room so this is a major achievement, which could bode well for you. I let the speakers play for close to a month to continue their break in and of course to warm up from the cold garage. They sounded even better after this.

Technical Aspects

Sonus faber representatives expressed on my last tour of their facilities the huge amount of R&D into the cone material used in the bass and midrange drivers. They have settled on a mixture of organic materials refined over years.

The midrange driver cone is made of a delicate and painstaking handmade mixture of natural fibers, a much more expensive process compared to the conventional pressed paper cone. The advantage this offers is that the density of the cone can be varied across its surface area (instead of the conventional manufacturing process of reduced performance from a constant density cone), greatly reducing resonant peaks at select frequencies that improve the sound, without impacting cone rigidity.

The bass drivers use a sandwich construction but the two surfaces are made from the same hand manipulated paper to provide a consistent sonic midrange signature. The central layer polypropylene cone creates the required stiffness for the heavy lifting these drivers will perform. The midrange and the upper of the two bass drivers each have a dedicated rear chamber while the lower of the two bass cones, which operates down to the lowest frequencies, with the core of the cabinet for its rear chamber.

Designing a bass system is a matter of making the best compromises between control and depth, and many elements are involved including the internal cabinet structure, porting, rigidity, as well as driver design and location. The result is a speaker with greater bass control and one that is easier to drive.

The silk dome tweeter tackles the universal problem of turbulence at the apex using a proprietary one-of-a-kind damping material, which is the best Sonus Faber has ever developed within the industry!

They always aim for long lasting listenability instead of getting a lesser performance; the last ounce of transient response which may etch the sound and introduce listening fatigue. Within the Homage Tradition line, the Amati Tradition has the highest implementation of ZVT vibration control. ZVT is a form of mechanical isolation comprising alternating and overlapping layers of metal and elastomer inside each footer. This is claimed to dramatically reduce the transmission of vibrations, particularly in the 30-80Hz range, into whatever surface the speaker sits on. The problem with this, of course, is that any vibrations not absorbed by ZVT end up being trapped inside the cabinet. This is where TMD comes into play, converting this trapped vibrational energy into heat by oscillating in opposition to these residual vibrations.

Listener Response Highlights

During an audition, the Amati Tradition speakers attracted a lot of compliments, and not just for their imposing looks. A large group listened in awe to the fourth movement of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony, which I played at a relatively low volume (for me). They loved it, and for a speaker playing at such a low volume, where the presence usually drops off, this is a major achievement. Of course, I played them at high volumes too, just not with a large crowd in the house. In fact, the nature of the sound simply did not change as the volume level was adjusted – just its amplitude.

The Amati Tradition with its four drivers and much larger internal volume is expected to excel in those two areas, and it delivers in spades!!!

Final Words

Competition is a wonderful thing. Standards have risen considerably across the board in speaker performance, means only the best survive. I have been delighted to state judged purely in sonic terms, if you have a large room and a powerful amplifier then the Amati Tradition is competitive on sonic grounds with anything out there in the $30,000 class, and in my view, it's a grand slam home run, and it may be the last speaker you'll buy.

Specifications

Type: 3.5-way floor standing loudspeaker design
Frequency Response: 28Hz to 35kHz
Tweeter: One H28 XTR-04 Silk dome 28mm
Midrange: One M15 XTR-04 150mm
Woofer: Two W22XTR-08 220mm sandwich cone
Crossover Points: 80 Hz, 250 Hz, and 2500 Hz
Sensitivity: 90dB/W/m
Nominal Impedance: 4 Ohms
Suggested Amplifier Power: 100 to 500 Watts

Dimensions: Red Lacquered Wood with Black Brushed Aluminum

Dimensions: 46.3" x 16.2" x 20.2" (HxWxD)
Weight: 135 lbs. each unboxed.
Shipping Weight:319 lbs (145kg)/pair shipping
Price: Retails for $29,900 per pair.