HIGH-END speakers that do SPOTIFY, CHROMECAST, TIDAL and ROON: the Sonus faber Duetto

This video is brought to you by Cambridge Audio:

🎥 Camera: John Darko / Olaf von Voss
🎬 Editor: John Darko
🌈 Colour: Olaf von Voss
🕺🏻 Motion GFX: John Darko
💰 Ad segment: Jana Dagdagan

0:00 What will this video cover?
1:01 What is the Duetto?
2:01 Samsung Frame TV issues
3:34 Listening impressions
7:23 Specs + Buchardt comparison
13:03 Unfinished business

👉 As mentioned in this video

Sonus faber Duetto

Sonus faber Duetto stands

Buchardt A500

Shanling ET3 CD transport

Fletcher-Munson curves

Ultra Wide Band technology

Streaming platform by Roon

Cables and power products by AudioQuest

Hi-fi furniture and speaker stands by Solid Steel

Room treatment by Vicoustic

Darko.Audio may earn a small commission from items purchased via affiliate links, which are indicated with a '🛒'.

#spotify #tidal #hifi

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[TravisLohmannMusic]

I admittedly, went out on a limb- purchased without trying them here locally (there wasn't a store that carried them) - and I'm extremely extremely happy and pleased with my purchase. Build quality feels and looks solid- no uneven or split seams. I'm thrilled with the connectivity options, though initial setup was a bit tricky at first. Finally was able to hook up the TV via a single HDMI cable via HDMI ARC, and streaming everything from Spotify to TIDAL (especially) - sounds wondrous.

[TheBrokenEclipse]

They are just drop dead gorgeous. Almost want them just because of the visuals

[sultantoure]

It’s official for you and ppgarcia are my two favourite channels. I really like what you’re doing here. You make think different music.
Sorry for my English I’m French.

[albertofernandez]

Thanks for the music references and shout outs. The rakes and the horrors have been part of my youth years when festivals and crowded tiny concert halls were appealing to me.

It was a great reminder to revisit them, feel young again and enjoy them from the comfort of my living room 😂

It’s the first time I comment on your videos (or any as a matter of fact) but I am a huge fan on your content and you always take me to revisit my music collection, discover new music and learn a thing or two about gear. thanks for that!

[bryantaylor]

I heard an early prototype of these at the Sonus Faber Vicenza factory just before Munich show - the development team was determined to hit it out of the park and it seems they've done so. Merci and Grazie to the staff who welcomed our group in May.

[roryhillyer]

The sound problem is caused by the ESS sabre DAC having low jitter tolerance, I’ve had the same problem with 2 amps (leak stereo 230 and Arcam SA20) using toslink from a tv, both those companies sorted a fix for the jitter adjustment and it was fixed quickly, hope that helps!

[darrenlund]

Nice to see Sonus Faber getting some attention finally; I have an ‘old’ pair of Auditors driven by a stunning New Zealand Perreaux 200w Mosfet power amp that leaves every listener dead impressed.

[gerdkortuem]

Listened to them at the Dutch Audio Show: impressive, beautiful sound. And they looked very good close up

[michaelrossmaessler]

There is an impressive amount of power with the built in amplifiers of the speakers.

[TheBrokenEclipse]

I can't wait for your final review- and hopefully a comparison with the Buchardt A10 that I'm also really interested in

[neilshirley]

Another great video and some wonderful looking speakers.

[jimfarrell]

Ooh, I spy a Shanling cd transport in the background. Look forward to hearing about that.
These SF speakers look lovely. Certainly beat the Buchardts in the significant other acceptability stakes.

[Krell]

Nice review. The fit and finish at 1:48 is 'interesting'.. I wonder if thats just pre-production, you'd have to hope so.

[Ricks.]

Maybe you could get in the future a pair of Cabasse Rialto Powered Wireless Bookshelf’s ? They’re similarly priced and fit perfectly in the same category in my opinion…

[arne]

I heard them at an audio show (they were production units), they sounded every bit as fabulous as you described. This from a passive loudspeaker / traditional setup aficionado...
Of course, I do not know about any connection/playback issues - there weren't any at the show.

[adsph]

Great take here. Well done as usual John.

[Zen_Shot]

Who else gets their Shazam ready every time Darko drops a video? 😂

[michaeljbus]

I experienced the same audio stuttering issue with my Samsung Frame 2022 when connected via toslink/optical to my Audiolab 6000a. The issue was solved by changing the PLL (phase-locked loop) width, which is possible in the 6000a's settings using optical input 2 only. I understand the issue results from the DAC having a lower tolerance for jitter than is produced by the Frame's optical output, and results in a mismatch in clocking, hence the sound seeming to reset at frequent intervals. I hope this helps - and that the Duettos' PLL width can be adjusted.

[danielcramer]

May I suggest that when you do the Mark ii review of the Sonus Faber active speaker you try to have reviewed the more appropriate active Buchart A10 and compare the two.

[marcinmarcin]

I have Sonus Faber Omnia, it's amazing, I had before normal stereo system with Focal Arias and subwoofer SVS and this speaker is so so good...off course it is not the same but still I'm shocked about how it can play, superb option when You don`t have space or don't want to put all the cables etc.
Now when I see Duetto I love to have them but the price...Omnia is like little more then 1k and Duettto 4k...whey too much to have upgrade :(