Sonus Faber-New Homage Speakers

[two dot]

I love a dry sense of humor.....

[metaphacts]

Homage and Classic Series are "plywood" by definition, but not in the way implied above. The "plywood" is made up by Sonus of solid hardwood veneer sheets. The standard was set in the manufacture of the original Amati Homage, where sheets of maple veneer were layed up in a starburst pattern using non standard adhesives/varying thicknesses to create the "plywood." Engineered yes. Off the shelf plywood? Hardly. For the Homage series there are 21 veneer layers and for the Classic series it is 14 layers. Haven't tried to count the layers in the assembly pics of The Sonus faber, but it too follows in the footsteps of its brethren.

While the spines of the Classic series are mdf, Homage spines are solid limewood.

As for solids in the manufacture of other models, Liuto Wood is constructed of 3/4" hardwood vertical staves. Yes they have mdf top and bottom but the speakers are mostly solid hardwood on the outside, not veneer.

Sonus still uses some natural hardwoods, whether in custom hardwood veneer/adhesive sheets or solid staves, in almost every model they make. It may even show up in the Toy Series if the solid Maple side panel option shown at CES goes into production.

There is no doubt that it is harder and harder to use all completely natural materials but Sonus uses far more than most. Look on the bright side - they've stopped using the solid lead that was in the original runs of Guarneri Homage!

[howiebrou]

Originally Posted by metaphacts

Homage and Classic Series are "plywood" by definition, but not in the way implied above. The "plywood" is made up by Sonus of solid hardwood veneer sheets. The standard was set in the manufacture of the original Amati Homage, where sheets of maple veneer were layed up in a starburst pattern using non standard adhesives/varying thicknesses to create the "plywood." Engineered yes. Off the shelf plywood? Hardly. For the Homage series there are 21 veneer layers and for the Classic series it is 14 layers. Haven't tried to count the layers in the assembly pics of The Sonus faber, but it too follows in the footsteps of its brethren.

While the spines of the Classic series are mdf, Homage spines are solid limewood.

As for solids in the manufacture of other models, Liuto Wood is constructed of 3/4" hardwood vertical staves. Yes they have mdf top and bottom but the speakers are mostly solid hardwood on the outside, not veneer.

Sonus still uses some natural hardwoods, whether in custom hardwood veneer/adhesive sheets or solid staves, in almost every model they make. It may even show up in the Toy Series if the solid Maple side panel option shown at CES goes into production.

There is no doubt that it is harder and harder to use all completely natural materials but Sonus uses far more than most. Look on the bright side - they've stopped using the solid lead that was in the original runs of Guarneri Homage!

Oh no! Quick, tell the garbage man to bring back my strads!

[metaphacts]

Originally Posted by howiebrou

Oh no! Quick, tell the garbage man to bring back my strads!

[vintage_tube]

Bill -- Thank-you for setting the record straight on the construction attributes of the series.

Bob

[T-3G]

According to Wikipedia: "Plywood is a type of manufactured wood made from thin sheets of wood. The layers are glued together so that adjacent plies have their wood grain at right angles to each other for greater strength. There are an odd number of plies, as symmetry makes the board less prone to warping."

I posted the pictures to set the record straight in response to someone mistakenly thinking that the Amati is made of "individual staves of maple." As I stated earlier, there's nothing wrong with using MDF or plywood, and I don't understand why people are so turned off by it. They probably sound more consistent across the board than using the natural staves of wood anyways, don't you think? There are many "grades" to plywood and I'm sure Sonus faber uses the highest quality ones, but to say what I stated here as "misinformation" is misleading and inaccurate.

[Masterlu]

[metaphacts]

Originally Posted by T-3G

According to Wikipedia: "Plywood is a type of manufactured wood made from thin sheets of wood. The layers are glued together so that adjacent plies have their wood grain at right angles to each other for greater strength. There are an odd number of plies, as symmetry makes the board less prone to warping."

I posted the pictures to set the record straight in response to someone mistakenly thinking that the Amati is made of "individual staves of maple." As I stated earlier, there's nothing wrong with using MDF or plywood, and I don't understand why people are so turned off by it. They probably sound more consistent across the board than using the natural staves of wood anyways, don't you think? There are many "grades" to plywood and I'm sure Sonus faber uses the highest quality ones, but to say what I stated here as "misinformation" is misleading and inaccurate.

What was stated was misinformation. You posted the following among others:

"Amati Anniversarios and Stradivari are made of MDF, a type of particle board." They are not.

"Only the GM and the Minima Vintage are made Of real wood." Forgetting for a moment the actual definition of "real" wood, Liuto Wood is made of solid wood staves.

On Elipsa "Only the top and the bottom are solid maple, the main cabinet, inside structure, and the sides are MDF covered in maple veneer. Amati/Strads are the same way. " Elipsa's main cabinet is not mdf, nor is Amati or Strad.

Not only is this misinformation, your links and photos actually show it as such.

The Amati Homage outer walls were built with multi layers of maple veneer layed up in a starburst pattern, decidedly not the conventional construction method for plywood. Did you not look at the picture of The Sonus faber side panel in the press? Notice that the edges are not aligned indicating that the panel was layed up immediately before going into the press.

As I said, plywood technically (though neither at 90 degree angles or necessarily of an odd nymber of layers as per your Wiki def)but hardly the Baltic Birch used for most loudspeaker construction. Plywood is very inexpensive compared to multiple sheets of raw veneers. That Sonus chooses to construct their own using hardwood veneer sheet and adhesives not used in off the shelf plywoods indicates they feel there is merit in going beyond conventional plywood in those products/areas where it is used. It also indicates that what they are looking for is beyond cheaper conventional plywood. From your link "'crafted using sandwich construction techniques with 20 hand selected wood layers of solid maple. Each layer is graded and oriented for optimized resonance control.."

While plywoods do vary, mdf can be all over the map. From density to the materials used, saying mdf is all the same is even more misleading than saying all plywood is the same. Really hate to see a brand new CNC bit showering sparks as it hits metallic pieces in low grade mdf. That same bit goes through the highest quality mdf like butter. One material is superb the other is garbage yet both are called mdf.

Things that appear to be the same often are not.

[T-3G]

So, when I initially posted about this topic I posted a quick one-liner and I wasn't thorough with my statement. I admit that.

I later realized that I had stepped on a land mine, so I did my homework and posted pictures proving that Amati and others are in fact made of MDF, plywood, and synthetic leather, in addition to solid wood, and not entirely from solid wood. You keep repeating yourself that Sonus faber makes their own plywood and they're better than the off-the-shelf ones - I totally get that. My point is that Sonus faber speakers, just like everyone else's, are made from a combination of MDF, plywood, synthetic leather (aka vinyl), and NOT entirely from real wood (except GM and MV), as I'm sure some had wrongly assumed.

Also, MDF is indeed used extensively if you look at the photos - the walls dividing each chamber, and the baffle are definitely MDF. However, I stand corrected on Liuto - I had assumed that if the upper two classes use plywood, the lower classes should be the same. You can post pictures to really prove me wrong here, as I love looking at the pictures of inner construction anyways.

Like I said, I don't care what they're made of - I like what I see and hear, and that's all I care for, really.

[1KW]

I think for certain things MDF is actually better then real wood since it does not warp and is denser then wood. Using MDF for walls dividing chambers may also be better for isolation of sound waves as well so this should not be looked down upon as just a cheaper solution. It is not a secret that SF makes some of the most innovative as well as some of the most beutiful speakers both in aesthetics and sounding. Other companies such as Wilson use synthetic materials on purpose to lower the resonance of the cabinets with much success and while their speakers sound very very good they are not good looking in my opinion. I think the best recipe for making speakers gives you a combination of both great sound and great aesthetics; lets face it speakers are a piece of furniture also so why not enjoy the appearance as well .