Sumiko and the Sonus Faber Elipsa Loudspeaker

Celebrating its 35th Anniversary, Berkeley, CA-based importer/distributor Sumiko occupied a pair of spacious suites on, naturally, the Venetian’s 35th floor. Though many fine items were on display from Vienna Acoustics - including a tasty-looking new flagship, the Vienna Reference (final name, design, and price are in the works, but the $20k speaker will debut in the fall), REL, Primare, and SME -  for me the one that stole my heart was Sonus Faber’s new Elipsa.

Resting at the top of the Italian company’s Cremona series, the $20k per pair Elipsa borrows technology from the $45,000 Stradivari (see Jonathan Valin’s review in The Absolute Sound, Issue 148). Wider than it is deep, the elliptical cabinet is designed to more easily couple with a wider range of listening rooms. In a brief but most impressive demo, the Elipsa produced some of the best sound heard at the show - exceptionally open, transparent, 3-dimensional, and musically natural, the speaker virtually disappeared in the room. Expect a TAS review approximately mid-year. 

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