Each speaker's front baffle was 70" from the wall behind it. After some experimentation, I ended up with the Lumina IIIs 7" closer to the wall behind them, which brought the upper- and low bass into better balance the two steps up to a vestibule behind the right-hand speaker didn't allow me to move the Sonus Fabers any closer. I initially placed the Sonus Fabers where standmounted speakers have worked best in my slightly asymmetrical room, but the midbass was lighter in weight than I expected, and the upper bass was somewhat exaggerated. Electrical connection is via two pairs of nickel-plated binding posts inset on the rear panel, allowing for biwiring. The crossover features Sonus Faberbranded, "high-quality" capacitors. "Minimalist Design" refers to the speaker's physical design, to its claimed ease of setup, and to the crossover, which uses Sonus Faber's "Paracross topology," described in my Guarneri Tradition review.
It uses a cone formed from cellulose pulp blended with other natural fibers and a diecast basket described by the manufacturer with the phrase "ultra-free compression." The two 5" woofers, which are new in the Lumina speakers, feature paper-pulp cones, rubber-roll surrounds, and those "ultra-free compression" baskets. The 5" midrange unit, which operates between 350Hz and 3.5kHz, is also the same as that used in the Sonetto speakers. The point of a tiny damping cone is held against the center of the hand-coated silk dome by a vertical bracket, which is said to optimize the driver's dispersion. At the top is Sonus Faber's Damped Apex Dome (DAD) tweeter, the same unit featured in the company's Sonetto series. The four drive-units are mounted vertically in-line on the baffle, each outlined with chrome. A cloth-over-plastic-frame grille is supplied. (Metal discs are provided for those who don't want the spikes to damage their floors.) The enclosure is clad in a black leather wrap, while the front baffle is a 10mm-thick sheet of plywood finished in dark brown, called wengè, with inlaid horizontal maple stripes.
The spikes are necessary to provide clearance for the reflex port, which fires downward from the speaker's base.
The "Natural Sound" will have to wait for the results of my auditioning, but with respect to "Luxury Sound Experience," the Lumina III is a slim, elegant tower standing 38" tall on its spikes. Sonus Faber explains that the word "Lumina"Latin for "to brighten" or "to illuminate"is a contraction formed from "Luxury Sound Experience" (LU), "Minimalist Design" (MIN), and "Natural Sound" (NA). I asked for a pair of the Lumina III towers, which cost $2199/pair, for review. In the fall of 2020, Sonus Faber announced an affordable series, the Luminas. Italian company Sonus Faber is primarily known for its high-performance, relatively high-priced designs, like the $130,000/pair Aida that Michael Fremer reviewed in October 2018 or the $15,900/pair Guarneri Tradition, which I reviewed in June 2018. I felt that a floorstanding loudspeaker would make for an interesting change.
All these loudspeakers sounded excellent, though different from one another. In recent months, a succession of standmount speakers has passed through my listening room: GoldenEar BRXes, Bowers & Wilkins 705 Signatures, Marten Oscar Duos, original KEF LS50s, and the new LS50 Metas.
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