Ketan Bharadia reviewed our Extrema, the loudspeaker that projected Sonus faber into the world of Hi-Fi.

The design and the skillful use of materials were already fundamental points for the brand at that time.

“From the front, they look like mid-sized standmounters, measuring 46cm tall and 27cm wide, but move to the side and you’ll see their depth is almost comically out of proportion at a huge 55cm. Account for the thickness of the chunky cabinet walls and that gives a useful, though not huge, internal volume of 20 litres. The whole lot weighs in at a hernia-inducing 40kg.”

And then:

 “This is far from a conventional wooden cabinet design, too. The satin black central section comprises seven separate sections bolted together to form a highly rigid, low-resonance structure. You’ll find a heavily sculptured, 32mm-thick slab of solid walnut on each side, adding further rigidity and damping as well as an extra dose of visual drama. The combination of curves, angles and colours gives these Sonus fabers a look unlike any other; you certainly cannot mistake them for anything else.”

Every single detail is carefully studied so that the experience is perceived with all five senses.

The listening did not disappoint: “They sound huge – so much bigger than their cabinet size suggests – and rarely do we come across standmounters that deliver such solidity and authority.”

The Sound is balanced and pleasant: “There’s a wonderful sense of top-to-bottom cohesion that would shame many a current high-end speaker, and that goes in hand with seamless integration between the drive units. This is a nicely balanced presentation with an element of well-judged extra richness through the midrange and lower frequencies.”

As Ketan Bhoradia said, we hope anyone who owns a pair really cherishes them, because they’re pretty much impossible to replace.

What do you think about Extrema?

Read the full review here or discover all our collections.