Experiencing Sonus faber, Maserati, and Lamborghini at Monterey Car Week 2024

Sonus faber provides impressively engaging high-end audio experiences in exotic sports cars through the use of creative and innovative audio engineering approaches and very high-quality components.

This is not a formal Secrets review per se, but rather a brief article summarizing my listening impressions from experiencing high-end audio systems in two fine Italian automobile brands, Maserati and Lamborghini, during the 2024 Monterey Car Week.

Every August in the beautiful Monterey Peninsula in California, a major car and automobile racing event happens known as Monterey Car Week. This event encompasses both historic motorsports racing at the famed Laguna Seca Raceway as well as the Pebble Beach Concours. Automobile and automobile racing aficionados from all over the World come to these events to experience classic sports car racing and some of the world’s most beautiful automobiles. I had the opportunity this year to go down to Monterey Car Week to experience the introduction of some impressive new Sonus faber audio systems specifically designed for exotic sports cars from Lamborghini and Maserati.

When Italian sports car manufacturers Lamborghini and Maserati wanted to design and implement world-class audio systems into their exotic sports cars, they reached out to partner with an equally esteemed Italian audio brand. Sonus faber was called upon to help design, engineer, and implement innovative systems and features into the audio systems of their cars. These systems were designed to perform at a high level in a particularly challenging environment: in the cabins of exotic sports cars. Some of the challenges included creating a true stereo image for both the driver and passenger(s) and well as overcoming constraints concerning the design and placement of amplifiers and loudspeaker drivers in the interior of a high-performance sports car.

Both Lamborghini and Maserati were able to develop some innovative approaches to do this by partnering with Sonus faber and drawing on their expertise.

I was invited to the Lamborghini Villa in Pebble Beach to meet the executives from both Lamborghini and Sonus faber to learn about the systems premiering in two exotic Lamborghini sports cars. These were the just-announced Temerario, a new hybrid sports car, and also the (current production) Revuelto exotic sports car.

Figure 1. The newly announced hybrid-engine Lamborghini Temerario

The Lamborghini Revuelto is a $700,000+ hybrid exotic sports car with a naturally aspirated V12 petrol engine augmented by three electric motors, the almost-trademark “scissor-wing” doors, and a low and cosseting passenger cabin accommodating two occupants, the driver and passenger.

Figure 2. Lamborghini Revuelto

As can be seen in the exterior photo of the Revuelto in the foreground, and the Temerario in the background, these new bespoke audio systems required some innovative approaches concerning the design and placement of the amplification and loudspeaker system. Amplification was provided by using Class-D amplification and custom Sonus faber speaker drivers, placed strategically throughout the cabin to create a true stereo image. I was able to sit in the Revuelto to audition its innovative Sonus faber sound system.

For the center channel, there is one 80mm full-range driver. Located in the doors are two 25mm tweeters and two 160mm mid-woofer drivers. Behind and towards the sides of the driver and passenger seats are two 80mm full-range surround speakers for a total of seven independent loudspeaker drivers. Power is provided by one class-D Dual DSP amplifier, providing up to 750 watts of pure power. The image below, provided by Lamborghini, depicts the type, number, and position of Sonus faber drivers in the Revuelto.

Figure 3. Sonus faber audio system in the Lamborghini Revuelto

Here we see a close-up of the dash and console of the Lamborghini Revuelto, from the perspective of the passenger seat.

Figure 4. Lamborghini Revuelto cabin interior from the passenger side

The seats are quite low inside the cabin, requiring the occupants to climb over a door sill to gain entry to the seats. On the top middle portion of the dash, the center channel driver can be seen. This center channel driver provides an enhanced system response and helps set the foundation of the lower octaves for the car’s audio system. It also provides the acoustical foundation for the “stereo center image” and was impressive not just for the scale of its output, but also for the presentation’s weight and body. One of the left-side loudspeaker drivers can be seen in the photo of the left “scissor” style door, near the steering wheel in the photo. These drivers, along with the tweeter, mounted separately above it, provide the system’s top end and midrange. There are also speaker drivers on the left and right sides of the cockpit but placed up and behind the driver and passenger (not shown in the photo above).

While I was only in the car for a short time, I was impressed with the soundstage depth as well as width within the small cabin. The overall presentation was energetic yet natural, neutral, and tonally accurate with excellent presentation of fine-level detail. The 160mm mid-woofers fully “pressurize” the cabin with low-frequency energy power and dynamism for the lower octaves. The 80mm surround drivers, located above and behind the occupants, also provide a surprising level of soundstage depth and spaciousness inside what is a fairly close-quarter cabin.

The 80mm center channel provides balance for the system overall and helps to provide a unique feature of the car’s audio system, which is that both the driver and the passenger effectively hear the same stereo image, whether seated in the left or right seats. It was quite an experience to move from the driver’s seat to the passenger’s seat and hear the same soundstage presentation, regardless of which seat I sat in.

Maserati had several sports cars available at the House of Maserati, including the Granturismo, the MC20 sports coupe, the MC20 Cielo convertible, the Trofeo and Folgore convertibles, and the Grecale SUV.

Figure 5. Maserati GranCabrio Folgore convertible

Figure 6. Maserati Grecale Folgore SUV

The Maserati Grecale with the Standard Premium audio system, is comprised of a total of 14 independently driven speakers:

● 4 Tweeters x 45W
● 3 Midranges x 60W
● 2 Surround Midranges x 45W
● 2 Front Woofers x 60W
● 2 Rear Woofers x 45W
● 1 Subwoofer x 200W

Sonus faber obtains impressive dynamic range by using an 860-watt Class-D Dual DSP amplifier with an oversized power supply, delivering twice the current required from the amplifier at maximum volume. Sonus faber obtains their signature sound by optimizing the phase and amplitude alignment between the midrange and tweeter speaker drivers.

The next image shows the type, number, and position of the speaker drivers in the Maserati Grecale for the standard premium audio system.

Figure 7. A photograph depicting the Maserati Grecale and its audio system (drivers shown in blue).

Optionally, the Grecale’s audio system can be upgraded to Sonus faber’s High Premium specification, which has 21 independently driven speakers delivering outstanding performance, smooth frequency response, and a precise sound stage enabled by 21 independently driven speakers:

● 7 Tweeters x 45W
● 3 Midranges x 60W
● 2 Surround Midranges x 45W
● 2 Front Woofers x 100W
● 2 Rear Woofers x 60W
● 4 Height Midranges x 45W
● 1 Subwoofer x 200W

Sonus faber claims impressive dynamic range is obtained by the use of a high-power 1285-watt Class-D Dual DSP amplifier with an oversized power supply, and capable of delivering twice the current required from the amplifier at maximum volume.

I had the opportunity to sit in and hear the optional High-Premium system in the Maserati Grecale, joined by Khyati Kesarwani and Josh Gwin of McIntosh Group (which owns Sonus faber). The overall presentation, much like the Lamborghini, was neutral and tonally accurate yet with the classic warmth and weight that Sonus faber is known for. With five woofers (two located front, two located rear) and a subwoofer, the lower octaves were powerful, weighty, and full-bodied, yet balanced in complementing the neutral and natural-sounding midrange drivers.

In addition to the fine detail and being able also hear a truly balanced stereo image regardless of which side of the car I was sitting on (much like in the Revuelto), I also heard a somewhat wider and deeper soundstage than in the Lamborghini. My thought is this is due to the larger cabin volume of the Grecale compared to the more tightly confined Lamborghini.

Dynamic transients, e.g. during orchestral passages, were quick, clean, and powerful. Also, as with the Lamborghini, there was excellent presentation of fine-level detail, accurate reproduction of instrumental tonal color, and natural and engaging vocal textures.

What was also impressive was that Khyati Kesarwani of McIntosh Group also told me that even seated in the rear passenger seats, she could also clearly hear a true stereoscopic soundstage and image.

I have to say that experiencing the impressive audio systems in these fine sports cars left me pleasantly surprised. It’s no mean feat to engineer these fine sports cars at any level but to be able to obtain dynamic, powerful, yet exceptionally natural-sounding audio systems into them while also meeting the automotive performance and luxury requirements is an impressive feat of engineering. It also speaks volumes for managing an effective business, product design, and manufacturing collaboration, where auto manufacturers as renowned as Lamborghini and Maserati can effectively partner and collaborate with an audio manufacturer such as Sonus faber to develop two entirely different high-end audio systems, each with separate design and engineering requirements but both still provide remarkable-sounding, high-performance audio systems.