Sonus Faber Lumina III (PAIR)

Description

Way back what feels like forever ago, when I was a younger and more vigorous man, I reviewed the Sonus faber Lumina I. I praised its gorgeous design, quality sound, and affordability. Seriously, I was extremely impressed—particularly by that last attribute, the affordability—and when I was offered the I’s big brother, the Lumina III ($2199/pair), I decided to find out if that same mix of strengths held true. The top-of-the-line towers cost over twice as much as the bookshelf versions I had in my listening room all those months ago, and I was excited to hear how the Lumina line sounded further up the chain.

The Lumina III are described as compact loudspeakers by Sonus faber, and that fits with my impressions. They’re tall and thin, sit on a square black base, and consist primarily of a narrow tower wrapped in sumptuous leather and a beautifully finished hunk of multilayered wood for the front baffle. They need some floor clearance to allow the down-firing bass port to function properly, so I appreciated that Sonus faber included spikes and spike discs (to protect non-carpeted flooring). The Lumina IIIs are approximately 38.9″ tall, which isn’t huge, and only 9″ wide. So, “compact” is dead on— for towers, these are extremely space-friendly speakers. Their hardware is surrounded by gleaming chrome, and the small details, such as the “Sf” logo in the center of the midrange, give them a luxurious look. My review pair came in walnut, but they’re also available in wenge with maple inlay and a glossy piano black. That first attribute mentioned above, the gorgeous design, certainly carries through the Lumina line.

In drivers, the Lumina III includes a 1.15″ (29mm) Damped Apex Dome tweeter, a 5.9″ (150mm) natural-fiber-and-paper-blend cone midrange, and two 5.9″ paper-pulp cone woofers. The DAD tweeter comes from Sonus faber’s higher-end Sonetto line, while the midrange and the two woofers were designed from scratch for the Lumina series. The III’s sensitivity is rated at 89dB; its nominal impedance is 4 ohms. In my testing, I had no issues running them with my 160Wpc Parasound HINT6 integrated amp and felt as though I had plenty of headroom. Sonus faber suggests amps between 50Wpc and 250Wpc, and that sounds about right from my experience. Setup was a breeze: Lug them up the steps, plunk them down in place, get their spikes up on the included metal discs, and dial in their positioning. I found them relatively forgiving of placement and ended up with them a few inches back from my normal spot.

I started my listening with Never Stop II by The Bad Plus, the first album to include pianist Orrin Evans, and a sequel-of-sorts to their first album of all-original compositions. The third track, “Boffadem,” is an Evans composition, that opens with a solid bass line. Through the Lumina III, the low end had heft, with nice tight slam in the upper bass. Next came what sounded like a toy piano and a piano playing simultaneously. The plinking uppers had a sharp metallic ring, which was shimmery and pleasant for a sound that could have come off as borderline harsh. The piano itself, and the midrange in general, was lush and gorgeous—overall fantastic. The latter half of the song picked up the pace, with the drums hitting harder, creating a very solid presence. I was surprised by the Lumina III’s ability to create a feeling of space and size. These aren’t large speakers, but they perform as if they weigh twice as much and are twice as tall. Kick drums had real force to them and towered above the composition, and all the while the bass continued its steady rhythm—a concrete floor above which the piano meandered. “Boffadem” felt like a good analogy for the Lumina III itself: first half, bright and gentle with an undertone of lushness, followed by size, weight, and gravity.
TWEETER: 29mm high definition DAD driver.
MIDRANGE: 150mm cone driver.
WOOFER: 2X150mm cone driver
CROSSOVER:-“Paracross topology” 350Hz and
3500Hz
WALNUT FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 45 Hz -24.000 Hz
SENSITIVITY (2.83V/1M): 89dB SPL

PIANO BLACK NOMINAL IMPEDANCE: 4 ohm
SUGGESTED AMPLIFIER POWER
OUTPUT: 50W – 250W without clipping
TOTAL DIMENSIONS (HXWXD): 989 x 228 x
277.7 mm
WEIGHT (KG): 15.9 each