SoundStage! Global | SoundStageGlobal.com - Sonus Faber

Details: Written by: Doug Schneider; Category: Sonus Faber, July 22-23, 2013; Created: 24 July 2013

You can sense Fiore Cappelletto's excitement as he speaks. "Working for Sonus Faber is a dream," he said at the start of our conversation. "It's about music, it's about Italy, and it's about beauty -- the products, the people, and the company. I wouldn't want to do anything else right now. I also believe in the vision of Mauro Grange, our CEO. He has a clear vision of what he wants us to become that allows us to each pursue our dreams and our passions."

Details: Written by: Doug Schneider; Category: Sonus Faber, July 22-23, 2013; Created: 24 July 2013

I met up with him on the second day of my tour at Sonus Faber. He was wearing a long-sleeve shirt and vest even though it was the summertime, Ray-Ban sunglasses the moment we went outside, and lace-up dress shoes without laces, as if they were loafers. Italians seem genetically infused with a strong sense of personal style that most North Americans woefully lack, yet he seemed more infused than most.

Details: Written by: Doug Schneider; Category: Sonus Faber, July 22-23, 2013; Created: 23 July 2013

Whenever I tour a company, I try to cover all facets of production, but I also try to figure out what makes their products unique and focus some attention there. At Sonus Faber, it wasn’t all that hard to find a few things, but one thing really stood out: leather. It’s synonymous with the brand, and when I took a moment to think about it, I couldn’t come up with another other company that’s implemented the material so successfully and consistently in their speaker designs. As a result, it’s no surprise to find a large area of their factory’s production area just for that.

Details: Written by: Doug Schneider; Category: Sonus Faber, July 22-23, 2013; Created: 22 July 2013

"Everything starts from the heart."

That was one of the first things Sonus Faber designer Paolo Tezzon said to me when I sat down to talk to him at the company's corporate headquarters in Vincenza, Italy, on July 21. He and fellow designer Livio Cucuzza comprise the two-man team leading all of Sonus Faber's current speaker-making efforts.

Details: Written by: Doug Schneider; Category: Sonus Faber, July 22-23, 2013; Created: 22 July 2013

Franco Serblin founded Sonus Faber in 1983 in Italy. In the decades that followed, the company developed a large and loyal following by focusing on producing loudspeakers with a distinctive and decidedly Italian look, as well as an equally distinctive sound.

Details: Written by: Doug Schneider; Category: Sonus Faber, July 22-23, 2013; Created: 21 July 2013

Everything was going really well on Friday, July 19, but then disaster struck at 3 p.m. Extremely large, black clouds blanketed my city, and tornado warnings were in effect. Normally I'd simply stay inside when this happens, but I was about to leave on my trip to Italy to visit Sonus Faber, so I couldn't. I had a 5:20 p.m. flight from Ottawa to Toronto to transfer to another flight to Venice. From Venice, a car would take me to Vicenza, which is where their factory is. The only thing I could think at that moment was, "This isn't good."