Stradivari G2 Anniversary
Noah unveiled the Stradivari G2 Anniversary, the second generation of Sonus Faber’s new flagship speaker, the Stradivari Homage. Limited editions of 120 pairs worldwide and 12 pairs (4 pairs with 3 finishes each) in Japan, will be available for pre-order from 10 a.m. on November 10. Finished with Wenge, Red and Graphite.
Wenge、Red、Graphite
The first speaker was developed in 2003 as a tribute to Cremona violin craftsman Antonio Stradivari. Twenty years after its design, the Stradivari G2 Anniversary will appear in 2023 as a model to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Sonus Faber’s founding.
Using the state-of-the-art technology developed for this model, everything from the internal structure to the design of the unit and cabinet has been newly designed. “It was only possible because of the thorough manual work by traditional skilled craftsmen, and it embodied the essence of the history and philosophy of 40 years since the company’s founding.”
While the enclosure was based on traditional speaker manufacturing methods, its form evolved from the oval shape of the first generation to a pentagonal design. It is a “groundbreaking evolution in which technology seamlessly adapts to aesthetic needs.”
The distinctive front baffle was crafted by Sonus Faber craftsmen who are skilled in violin making, and is designed with wood sandwiched between aluminum. The painting and polishing are also based on techniques applied to the finest musical instrument making, with as many as seven layers of gloss coating.
The cabinet is made of natural wood, and CNC-machined aluminum plates with anodized aluminum and round edge treatment are attached to the top and bottom of the cabinet, and aluminum parts are also attached to the back, adopting a unique structure “exo-skeleton clamp” sandwiched between strong parts.
As a result, the cabinet is damped and vibration components are suppressed. It is said that it has realized the rich sound unique to natural wood and the reproduction of a moderately tight low range.
As a method to decouple vibration propagation from the floor surface and the entire cabinet, “Z.V.T.” (Zero Vibration Transmission) technology is followed. It is equipped with a silent spike that sandwiches elastomer resin in the attachment part of the spike.
The unit configuration is a 3.5-way 4-speaker bass reflex system. It has a tweeter, midrange, and woofer, and two woofers.
The bass reflex system uses the newly developed “Klepsidra Technology” for this speaker. It means “hourglass” and aims to maximize the freedom of speaker installation by emitting sound waves toward the bottom while achieving maximum low-frequency performance while reducing the duct length. The interior of the low-frequency chamber eliminates parallel planes to suppress the generation of standing waves.
“Intono Technology” is also introduced. Meaning “intonation,” the impedance peak in the midrange chamber is significantly reduced and improved by providing finely tuned holes in the sealed high/mid chamber.
By installing the company’s traditional wooden chamber on the back of the driver, the tweeter is not affected by the midrange driver, and high-frequency reproduction is realized while maintaining the purity of the tweeter.
The air pressure generated by the movement of the diaphragm is effectively damped by appropriate airflow adjustment by small holes, resulting in unparalleled natural mid-range regeneration. By minimizing the size and number of parts of the crossover network circuit, a simple crossover design is achieved.
As an ultra-low frequency adjustment system, LFA (Low Frequency Adjuster) is available. By correcting the resonance peak of the driver unit and performing effective damping in the low range without mounting resistor components in the signal path, the infiltrability of the low frequency range is increased as much as possible.
Four terminals are installed on the board adjacent to the speaker terminal, and one in the center is negative, and by connecting to one of the other three terminals with a jumper, different low-frequency response can be obtained.
Ultra-low frequency regulation system, LFA
The tweeter is a silk soft dome equipped with a 28mm diameter arrowpoint DAD. Mounted on a tough die-cast aluminum frame, the tweeter apex is partially damped to suppress the diaphragm’s reversed-phase behavior. It uses proprietary “DAD (Damped Apex Dome) technology” that further demonstrates the transparency and stretch of the high range. In addition, the tripod structure D.A.D. greatly improves high-frequency sound wave diffusion and control capability at high volumes.
The mid-range is a 150mm diameter paper cone with a unique diaphragm made by blending natural fibers such as cellulose pulp, kapok, and kenaf and drying them naturally. Powerful neodymium magnets provide fast, shortest and most accurate response to moving coils composed of copper-clad aluminum windings (CCAW). The basket has a strong aluminum die-cast frame that “combines ideal high-speed drive with high control, providing a natural sound without stagnation.”
The phase plug is also newly designed, with a unique damping ring to minimize sound disturbances caused by coil operation and to physically correct the resonance in the high frequency band of the paper cone.
woofer
The woofer is specially designed with a diameter of 260mm. The two ultra-lightweight CCAW voice coils feature custom-made neodymium drivers for ultra-fast drive, while featuring an aluminum air gap that enhances voice coil cooling.
The newly developed center cap is composed of ABS resin with excellent rigidity. By analyzing and optimizing the material, shape, and thickness of the cone, rubber edge, and BIMAX spider by structural analysis using a computer based on F.E.M (Finite Element Method = Finite Element Method), the frame basket that holds the diaphragm is also newly designed.
The crossover network is designed based on PARACROSS TOPOLOGY, which is also used in the Aida II, and the newly developed “Interactive Fusion Filtering”, and while optimizing the amplitude/phase characteristics and space/temporal characteristics of each driver unit, the impedance of low frequencies is optimally controlled to match with the amplifier. The crossover frequency is 160Hz/220Hz/2.2kz.
The frequency response is 25Hz~35kHz (including stealth and ultraflex). The output sound pressure level is 92dB SPL (2.83V/1m) and the nominal impedance is 4Ω. The speaker jack supports bi-wiring. It has external dimensions of 715×428×1,374 mm (width × depth ×height) and weighs 63 kg.
