On the whole, the slight loss of top end is no big deal: it merely underlines the quintessentially Italianesque warmth and grace of the design. Of course, there is some marginal loss of very fine detail, though not predominantly on the main (forward) tweeter axis and one consequence is that the new Minima (and presumably this applies equally to the original) is not as analytical as some.

Pairing with a subwoofer

It is more in BBC LS3/5a speaker territory than a modern studio monitor, though it is surely a much better animal overall. Where there is a noticeable loss, is in the reverberant field, which is driven by the tweeter's off-axis dispersion, which is not quite as broad as some.

On axis it sounds sharp and precise at low to normal listening levels. But the tweeter doesn't have the headroom of some more recent designs. Push the speaker hard and the treble becomes rather peaky, keep pushing and eventually it generates some grain. But, at moderate levels, which should suffice for all but the most extreme situations, the tweeter is smooth and sweet.

Using the speaker with a subwoofer helps as its performance is limited by the air-moving ability of the diminutive 120mm bass/mid cone. The rear-facing port is tuned to cover the upper bass, centred around an estimated 65Hz. Given this, the bass is quite full and sonorous in balance with everyday material.

We did spend some of the review period, however, with a truly high-class subwoofer, namely the MartinLogan Descent i, which is as superb an advocate for music as it is for home cinema. The effect it has is to immeasurably increase the range of tonal colours, making organ pedal and low notes on the piano noticeable for the first time. It also greatly increases the depth and sonority of orchestral material, whilst more generally expanding the dynamics of the sound.

In one remarkable example, Anton Webern's Im Sommerwind's Idyl for Large Orchestra sounded, without LF reinforcement, emasculated and diminished in scale. The subwoofer also needs to be carefully set up, but when this is done, the match is remarkably good, with no obvious discontinuity in the sound across the audio band.

Vintage romantic

In no sense, other than size, is this your archetypal compact. In some respects its design priorities are somewhat old- fashioned, but loudspeaker technology advances only incrementally on everyday timescales and there is little about the Minima Vintage that could be described as dated.

Make no mistake, the Sonus Faber Minima Vintage is an absolute joy to use for any period of time. It is voiced to perfection, given the natural limitations imposed by its lack of cubic inches and limited cone radiating area.

It images superbly too and the slightly romantic warmth of the design is well-judged in this context and works well with the superb aesthetics.