Sonus Faber - Guarneri Memento

SPECIAL $17,500.00

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• 2010 - R.R.P. US$15,000.00

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The Guarneri homage was both Sonus faber's first tribute to the art of Cremonese violin makers and the birth of an new approach to loudspeaker design. Guarneri homage was far more than simply speaker drivers in a cabinet. It was a genuine musical instrument in its own right. One that, when carefully integrated into system and room, was capable of connecting listener to music in a most profound way. Everything is expressed naturally and simply with balance, order and measure. It possesses an eminently musical temperament that is immediately evident upon your first and each subsequent listening experience.

The Revelation Revisited
Many years have passed since the genesis of Guarmeri homage, and much has been learned during the creation of the subsequent models Cremona, Amati anniversario and most significantly Stradavari homage. Embodying all its predecessor's qualities, Sonus faber has begun afresh where Guarneri homage concluded.

Cabinet Design
Guarneri memento integrates many lessons learned from the study of violin design. The lute shape, choices of wood and time-honored construction techniques creates an internal acoustic chamber of non-parallel sidewalls much like the body of a violin that is all but immune to unwanted standing waves that can cause a colored sound. The cabinet, for example, is formed with no fewer than 21 individual pieces of selected solid maple employed for constrained-mode damping to cancel undesirable resonance. Each speaker is hand-assembled using organic glue and heat pressing techniques identical to those used centuries ago in the manufacture of violins. The maple wood used is naturally dried for two years and then stabilized in kilns. The interior sidewalls are selectively damped using sheet copper and lead tuning elements to provide uniformity from unit to unit. Finally, each cabinet is finished using natural dyes throughout.

Transducers
Both drive units employed are the highest expression of transducer design. The mid-bass unit is a sophisticated design with particular attention paid to the voice coil and the surrounding air gap to provide maximum freedom from dynamic compression. The drive unit features a CCAW / Kapton “eddy current free” voice coil and a dynamically linear magnetic field motor incorporating Kellog and Faraday rings. All moving elements of the driver are ventilated for “resonance free” response. This unique technology allows the Guarneri menento to produce bass and dynamics that belie the small size of the loudspeaker enclosure. The high frequency driver features an ultra linear ring radiator that is positioned within a dual toroidal wave-guide. The result is a lower resonant point allowing for greater high-frequency extension and dynamics. Timbre is sweet and accurate and never sounds metallic. Each drive unit is “broken in” by running signal through them for several hours before being fitted into the cabinet. In this way the user is assured of optimal performance shortly after installation.