Forgetting the audio for a moment, the Sonus Faber’s Fenice Loudspeaker is absolutely stunning from a visual standpoint. Regardless of the finish, this massive speaker looks elegant and powerful. But, of course, the visual aspect is only a small piece of the system.
The Fenice loudspeakers incorporates three new patents in one system, further enriched by new technical adjustments in order make the product unique and inimitable, one of the most expensive in the world. Fenice is destined to change the audio world dramatically.
Sonus Faber’s Sound Field Shaper allows for moving the rear driver and adjustment of it’s output for optimum room integration and listener preference. On the rear of the unit are knobs that includes the ability to adjust four levels of Soundstage Depth, a knob for Soundstage Azimuth (right/left) and volume output.
Or, the internal treatment of the reflex ports with insulating material, an extremely astute technical expedient. In the internal construction of the loudspeakers, an opening toward the outside, is usually built by means of ports of various sizes. Now, these internal tuning ports, treated with the proper material, permit obtaining tune frequencies tied to a pure sound and an of the low frequencies better than ever. Finally, the suspension and decoupling system of the floor loudspeakers, which, combined with the innovative “mass-damper” system, permits avoiding the vibrations naturally created by every loudspeaker, by dissipating them inside this internal device.
Driver compliment includes a 25 mm hybrid Neodymium/Samarium-Cobalt Larsen/Goeller ring radiator. This tweeter is visco-elastically decoupled from the main baffle board. A 6.5-inch cone was chosen for the critical midrange frequencies and employs a blending of traditional cellulose pulp with Papyrus and other natural fibers . The powerful Neodymium magnet system keeps the 1.5-inch voice coil moving in a very linear fashion. The basket is optimized to eliminate resonance and is CNC machined from solid billets of Avional and Gun metal. For the lowermost frequencies, a pair of 10-inch woofers with innovative sandwich cone structure was chosen, This driver is made with syntactic foam core covered on the two external surfaces by coated cellulose pulp skins and uses a 3″ voice-coils on Kapton formers. Lastly, a 15-inch subwoofer also uses a sandwich structure with the main surface made of nano carbon fiber on the syntactic foam core.
The name means ‘Phoenix’, and the massive speakers, standing over 1.7m tall and weighing 305kg apiece (670 pounds), are being made in a limited edition of just 30 pairs, with each pair costing €140,000 (over $177,555). So if you pick one up, make sure you bring a friend to help you carry it. And a truck.