Sonus Faber Lumina

Classy, compact speakers witha surprisingly grown-up sound

Sonus Faber’s reputation is founded on making premium speakers with beautiful cabinets and strong sound quality. Its traditional home is at the top end of the market, but over the years it has expanded downwards to more affordable levels. The Lumina 1 are just about the most economical way to get one of the brand’s stereo speakers.

The Lumina 1’s boxes are tiny – about the size of a shoebox – but that hasn’t stopped Sonus Faber from making them look special for the money. The plywood front panel is lovely with its real wood veneer (walnut or wenge) and maple inlays. The chrome detailing around the drive units could be considered a little glitzy, but we are certainly fans of the real leather wrap around the sides and top of the MDF cabinet.

These speakers are a two-way design with a small 12cm paper-cone mid/bass unit coupled to a larger-than-average (29mm) silk-dome tweeter. It’s the same high-frequency unit used in the company’s more premium Sonetto range, and in this installation covers frequencies over 2kHz.