Flattening the Snail

The design flair and speaker expertise of Italy’s Sonus faber has been fully exercised in its latest creation, the all-in-one Omnia speaker system. It’s a lovely thing, with its expansive walnut-topped laminated-wood surface split by wide strips of light, and rather bravely entirely flat, so that our first thought was that people at parties are going to put drinks and nibbles bowls down on this, at which the proud owner might rightfully scream from the other side of the room.

It’s a clever design in heritage terms for the company, as it makes a definite direct reference to the limited-edition all-in-one SF16 from some six years ago (though that was larger and around five times the price), while the SF16 had itself taken cues from the legendary ‘Snail’, the first ever project by original Sonus faber founder Franco Serblin, predating the company itself, an all-in-one solidwood system the size of which is rarely appreciated from pictures: the satellite modules on the end of those flying wings are the size of a medium standmount speaker, with the centre section big enough to make a rather uncomfortable chair.

The new Omnia is rather more convenient to situate, a more practical width, but it is clearly intended to continue the line.

“For me, Omnia was a complete journey exploring Sonus faber’s vast history, but made at two times the speed, ” is the somewhat oblique explanation from Livio Cucuzza, Chief Design Officer at Sonus faber (and for the wider Mcintosh group). “With every project, my job is to tell the brand’s story — and with Omnia, the mission was the same, the process was just faster and went more in depth.”

So the new Omnia offers a taste of Sonus faber’s 40-year history, says Cucuzza, and in a category potentially accessible to many more and/or new prospective purchasers. The Omnia isn’t cheap, at $3495, but for people seeking a premium all-in-one solution, it