Sonus faber Announces the Il Cremonese

The following is a press release issued by Sonus faber.

October 19, 2015 – At the end of a busy year full of new products and exciting news, Sonus faber proudly introduces Il Cremonese, the latest creation from the fabled Italian manufacturer: a no-compromise, high end loudspeaker to join the most iconic family in the Sonus faber catalogue, the Homage Collection.

As the newest member of the Homage Collection, Il Cremonese shares many features of both form and function. A three-and-a-half way, floorstanding loudspeaker, Il Cremonese is the result of evolutionary product design, and the adaptation of technologies from the Lilium and other Sonus faber speaker projects. The name Il Cremonese is an homage to Antonio Stradivari, and one of his most famous violins, celebrating its 300th anniversary in 2015.

First named after the original owner, and known since the 18th century as Joachim, Stradivari’s violin was renamed “Il Cremonese” in 1961 when it was selected as the first Stradivari to return to the city of Cremona as part of the permanent collection in the Museo del Violino. This is one of the most important instruments in the history of Italian violin making, thanks to its innovative design and proportions, the quality and the depth of sound, and the beautiful materials and finishes used to create it.

Technological innovation.
Many Sonus faber patents and technologies, originally initiated with “the Sonus faber” and later models, are implemented in Il Cremonese:

• Stealth Reflex System – allowing for a reduction in the dimensions of the internal acoustic volume while providing distortion control, it utilizes two orthogonal ports: one on the back for the midwoofer, and the other on the base, facing the floor, for the woofers and infrawoofers;
• Z.V.T. (Zero Vibration Transmission) system – used for decoupling the speaker’s cabinet from the floor and the rest of the listening environment, this is implemented in a revolutionary way inside the floor spikes. This new system continues to use new, modern elastomers, and guarantees a further simplification in the construction and aesthetic lightness;
• Upper and lower “Dampshelves” – two massive slabs of black brushed Avional, operating as mechanical energy dampers generated by Il Cremonese’s powerful drivers;
• “Staggered Low Frequencies Emission Technology” system – used for the first time since “the Sonus faber” project, it optimizes the performance of the integrated infrawoofers.

The driver cones are a continuing expression of Sonus faber’s ingenuity. Designed entirely in-house, these drivers serve sound reproduction at the highest level: the tweeter is the Sonus faber Arrow Point DAD (Damped Apex Dome), the midrange is a Sonus faber M18 XTR-04, the woofers are the Sonus faber W18XTR-12 (a scaled-down version of the Lilium woofers), and the W22XTR-16 infrawoofers are a new project from the Arcugnano factory.

The crossover network utilizes the innovative “Paracross topology” for superior results.

Concept.
Il Cremonese is characterized by an innovative cabinet with five sides, a “Rhomboidal diamond design” which optimizes the structural solidity of the wooden cabinets with a unique diamond shape that is immediately recognizable.

Inspired by the shape of Lilium, Il Cremonese introduces clean lines and an elegant, minimal, and sharp design. This new and atypical Sonus faber form represents an evolution towards technological and visual innovation, simultaneously maintaining the historic milestones that marked the history of violin making, as well as the history of the Sonus faber brand itself.

Il Cremonese pays homage to Antonio Stradivari, a luthier and artist who revolutionized traditional violin craftsmanship, and continued the work of Andrea Amati to create new concepts of form and finishing that are still appreciated and cherished today the world over.

Design.
As in Lilium, Il Cremonese combines contrasting design elements within a reduced cabinet volume: excellent capability for low frequency reproduction as well as the entire audio spectrum and the expression of power and absolute silence and resolution thanks to its floor decoupling system.

The aesthetic design of Il Cremonese was created to achieve the objective of natural sound reproduction while simultaneously communicating new visual elements.

Materials.
Lacquered walnut wood, tempered glass, leather and brushed black aluminum – the same materials of Aida and Lilium, and also the new Homage Collection.

Il Cremonese is available in the classical Sonus faber finishes of RED and WALNUT.

Retail price and availability.
Il Cremonese will be available to non-US Sonus faber dealers and distributors in November 2015, and to US and Canadian dealers in early 2016.

The suggested retail price is $ 45,000 pair (VAT not included).

Official launch.
Il Cremonese’s world premier will be in Paris on October 17th and 18th during the Festival SON & IMAGE 2015.