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Sonus Faber Maxima Amator – La nobile bellezza

With this new loudspeaker system, Sonus Faber S.p.A. wants to demonstrate once again that high-end hi-fi can mean the fusion of all the senses. Sound, appearance and haptics are to form an artistic unity in the new Sonus Faber Maxima Amator and thus ensure that it appears as a noble beauty with audiophile sound.


The Italian loudspeaker manufacturer Sonus Faber S.p.A. has always been known as a producer of extraordinary solutions. For years, the company based in Arcugnano has succeeded in combining unique design with classic craftsmanship and impeccable equipment. And yes, from a marketing point of view, the company also cleverly plays with the special appeal that is often inherent in Italian products.

This is all the more true when it comes to loudspeaker systems that are supposed to represent something very special, that are virtually synonymous with outstanding performance, unique product details and unmistakable sound quality, in keeping with the corporate philosophy of Sonus Faber S.p.A.. Such as the new Sonus Faber Maxima Amator, the latest addition to the Sonus Faber S.p.A. range.

The Sonus Faber Maxima Amator is fully in the Sonus Faber tradition, it is a loudspeaker system that combines passion, tradition, expertise and innovative technologies. Alongside the Sonus Faber Electa Amator III and the Sonus Faber Minima Amator II, this new floorstanding speaker system is the third in the Sonus Faber Heritage Series. Designed as a two-way floorstanding speaker system, it is synonymous with outstanding performance, unique product details and unmistakable sound quality.

Once again, the developers of the new Sonus Faber Maxima Amator have opted for a particularly elegant cabinet that is completely handcrafted in Italy. The material used is solid walnut wood, which is painstakingly lacquered and polished by hand in several layers. The leather that covers not only the baffle but also the rear panel of the new Sonus Faber Maxima Amator is of course also applied by hand. The cabinet consists of three chambers on the inside, guaranteeing an immensely rigid, solid construction.

The special feature is that the first chamber holds the drivers, while the second chamber acts as a volume inside, filled with a special inert material that is supposed to give the overall cabinet additional stability and prevent even minimal interference resonances of the solid wood construction. The third chamber houses the crossover, as well as the connection panel at the rear.

But that’s not all: the entire loudspeaker system is virtually enthroned on a base plate made of noble stone and four graceful height-adjustable spikes.

The speaker system weighs no less than 38 kg with dimensions of 1,120 mm in height, 300 mm in width and 350 mm in depth.

As already mentioned, the new Sonus Faber Maxima Amator is a two-way system, specifically a two-way bass reflex system.

First of all, the focus is on a special Sonus Faber low-mid driver, the Sonus Faber MW18XTR, which has of course been elaborately optimised for this speaker system. The 180 mm diameter diaphragm is made from a special mixture of cellulose, kapok, kenaf and other natural materials that are air-dried during the manufacturing process and mounted in a die-cast aluminium basket.

The tweeter is a Sonus Faber H28 XTR-04 DAD Tweeter, a 28 mm Arrow Point D.A.D. tweeter with silk dome. D.A.D. is Sonus Faber’s abbreviation for Damped Apex Dome Technology. On the one hand, the tweeter relies on a particularly powerful drive system with a neodymium magnet, on the other hand on a so-called Solid Spruce Wood Acoustic Labyrinth Rear Chamber.

Another important feature of this loudspeaker system is the bass reflex system that works towards the rear, whereby its flow-optimised outlet opening is not found at the bottom, as in many other loudspeaker systems, but almost at the very top of the rear.

The developers once again paid special attention to the crossover of the new Sonus Faber Maxima Amator, whereby the manufacturer speaks of a new crossover network, specifically an IFF crossover design. IFF stands for Interactiive Fusion Filtering. This is built solely with high-quality components and is housed directly in the separate third chamber, as already mentioned, or even permanently connected to the connection panel. In this case, the developers even go so far as to use a transparent cover for the connection panel, so that the user can actually see which components are responsible for the finest sound.

Even though the manufacturer of a loudspeaker system such as the new Sonus Faber Maxima Amator likes to refer to the long tradition, the many years of expertise and, above all, the handcrafted production, nowadays, of course, the most modern aids come into play in the development, be it in the development of the drivers or in the production, because only a CNC production of at least the basic components guarantees the highest quality with the lowest tolerances. However, as already mentioned, the actual manual work is done in the production steps that only an employee with many years of experience can optimally accomplish, such as the finish of the cabinet.

Even the best optimisation of the concept by means of elaborate calculations in advance cannot replace the final tuning, which in turn can only be done by experienced employees and acoustic engineers. Sonus Faber refers to this as “tuning by ear”.

The final step of the long design process of Maxima Amator was, as always, the “tuning by ear”. Beside the technique, the R&D team relied on the listening experience and the emotions of Music, because Sonus faber is made of this: passion for knowledge, appreciation of beauty and commitment to Italian tradition and craftsmanship.

Sonus Faber S.p.a.

The new Sonus Faber Maxima Amator has an impedance of 4 ohms and an efficiency of 88 dB. This means that it is designed for amplifiers with an output of between 25 and 125 watts and can cover a frequency range between 35 Hz and 35 kHz. The crossover intervenes at 2.1 kHz.

Of course, if desired, a loudspeaker grill can be mounted, which is held in position by means of magnets. However, especially with such a work of art as the new Sonus Faber Maxima Amator, this should be avoided unless it is absolutely necessary to protect the diaphragms.

The new Sonus Faber Maxima Amator will be available in specialist shops within the next few days. The recommended retail price is € 15,000 per pair.

Getting to the point…

The Sonus Faber Maxima Amator is completely in the Sonus Faber tradition, it is a loudspeaker system that combines passion, tradition, expertise and innovative technologies. Alongside the Sonus Faber Electa Amator III and the Sonus Faber Minima Amator II, this new floorstanding speaker system is the third in the Sonus Faber Heritage Series. Designed as a two-way floorstanding speaker system, it is synonymous with outstanding performance, unique product details and unmistakable sound quality.

Manufacturer:Sonus Faber S.p.A.
Distributor:Audio Tuning Vertriebs GmbH
Price:€ 15.000
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Michael Holzinger

Michael Holzinger, founder and editor-in-chief of HiFi BLOG and sempre-audio.at, has been working for years as a journalist in the fields of IT, photography, telecommunications and consumer electronics.

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