Bookshelf Speaker Reviews

Since these speakers hail from Italy, I thought it might be appropriate to listen to some of my favorite Italian music for my two-channel evaluation. Of course, I listened to Andrea Bocelli's Romanza and Zucchero's Overdose D'Amore. Both recordings are spectacular and will reveal any shortcomings in an audio system. On this material, the Concertos were wonderfully rewarding. As with all Sonus Faber products I've listened to, the midrange was extremely smooth and detailed. On Bocelli's "Por Ti Volare (Con Te Partiro)," the tenor's sometimes-raspy voice was very detailed, and the sense of space surrounding the performance was vibrant and realistic. It was a very inspired moment, to say the least. On more-traditional rock recordings like Zucchero's "Il Volo," the subtleties of the drums and bass line were easily discernible. Again, Zucchero's raspy and purposeful voice was very pleasing.

On movie material, the system sounded like a well-matched theater system. The Piccolo Solo matched the Concertos perfectly in timbre and pitch—the tonality never shifted as the sounds did. Dialogue was extremely natural—men sounded like men, and women sounded like . . . you know. On surround activity, the Concertinos rounded out the room perfectly, with high fidelity and pleasing ambience. On DTS music like the Police's Greatest Hits, the system sounded incredibly coherent and well-matched, creating an exciting audio experience.

If you're looking for a system that offers both pleasing aesthetics and extremely satisfying audio performance, look no further than these offerings from an Italian company with as much heritage as anyone could need. For under $3,700 for the entire system (plus a subwoofer, which would be a good idea), the Concerto ensemble is hard to beat. The only problem is that it's tough to cart around a lot of gear in a Ferrari. However, if you've got a Ferrari, it's probably not your only car.

Highlights
• Pleasing aesthetics
• Great performance
• For under $3,700, this system is hard to beat

HT Labs Measures: Sonus Faber Concerto System

This graph shows the quasi-anechoic (employing close-miking of all woofers) frequency response of the Concerto's main L/R (top trace), Piccolo Solo center channel (middle trace), and Concertino surround channel (lower trace). All loudspeakers were measured at a distance of 1 meter with a 2.83-volt input and scaled for display purposes.

On-axis response of the Concerto L/R measures +3.6/-2.2 decibels from 200 hertz to 10 kilohertz. The -3dB point is at 51 Hz, and the -6dB point is at 41 Hz. Impedance reaches a minimum of 6.7 ohms at 174 Hz and a phase angle of -46.1 degrees at 91 Hz. Sensitivity is 85 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz.

On-axis response of the Piccolo Solo center measures +1.7/-5.1 dB from 200 Hz to 10 kHz. An average of axial and (+/-15 degrees) horizontal responses measures +0.7 /-6.4 dB from 200 Hz to 10 kHz. The -3dB point is at 86 Hz, and the -6dB point is at 67 Hz. Impedance reaches a minimum of 5.5 ohms at 235 Hz and a phase angle of -37.1 degrees at 111 Hz. Sensitivity is 88.5 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz.

On-axis response of the Concertino surround measures +1.5/-4.2 dB from 200 Hz to 20 kHz. The -3dB point is at 55 Hz, and the -6dB point is at 41 Hz. Impedance reaches a minimum of 4.5 ohms at 4.4 kHz and a phase angle of -46.1 degrees at 2.4 kHz. Sensitivity is 85 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz.—MW

Concerto Speaker
Walnut $1,895/pair
Piano Black $2,100/pair

Concertino Speaker
Walnut $995/pair
Piano Black $1,195/pair

Piccolo Solo Center Speaker $595
Sonus Faber/Sumiko
(510) 843-4500
www.sonusfaber.com
Dealer Locator Code SUM