Sonus faber Il Cremonese Ex3me – Automobili Lamborghini Edition

Monterey Car Week is one the motoring world’s most talked-about annual events. Each August, manufacturers, enthusiasts, and collectors gather on California’s Monterey Peninsula for a weeklong celebration of the automobile, complete with classic car shows, auctions, races, and new-car reveals. Whether you’re into rare classics or wildly futuristic concept cars, it’s the place to be. Lately, the world of luxury audio has begun to finagle its way into other luxury markets. Some of these mashups are difficult to swallow — check out Chanel’s $15K audio necklace with built-in ear buds — but the collaborations between audio brands and luxury car manufacturers make a lot of sense. At last year’s Monterey Car Week, Sonus faber and Lamborghini revealed a custom-designed audio system for the Lamborghini Revuelto, a ferocious-looking supercar that will set you back at least $600K. (See our article Sonus faber Custom Designs Audio System for Lamborghini.) Now the two iconic Italian companies are back with another collaboration born from their shared philosophy of “innovation, craftsmanship, and design.” At Monterey Car Week 2025, Sonus faber and Lamborghini announced the Sonus faber Il Cremonese Ex3me – Automobili Lamborghini Edition ($130,000 per pair), an ultra-exclusive loudspeaker that “unites the thrilling aesthetics and engineering of Lamborghini with the inimitable acoustic signature of Sonus faber,” according to the two brands. The speaker made its global premiere during the show at the prestigious Lamborghini Villa in Pebble Beach.

Just as Sonus faber crafts the art of sound, Lamborghini sculpts the art of speed. When these two Italian artisans first crossed paths, it wasn’t just a collaboration, it was the beginning of a new chapter in luxury.

Together, we elevated the Lamborghini driving experience through the power of sound. Now, we are driving the home audio experience through a symphony of power and precision.

— Sonus faber

The new speaker is a hot-rodded version of Sonus faber’s existing Il Cremonese Ex3me floorstanders ($75,000 per pair). The new model builds on the foundation of the original Ex3me, but it has been “reimagined with bespoke technical and design flourishes that embody the ethos of both brands,” according to the loudspeaker manufacturer. Its angular five-sided cabinet is generally similar to that of the standard Ex3me, but looks radically different with newly-sculpted contours and high-tech materials that offer a completely different aesthetic from the stately originals. Here, Sonus faber’s usual wood finishes give way to automotive paint, with finishing details in Corsa-Tex by Dinamica and carbon fiber. It’s certainly a bold look, designed to “echo the performance-driven aesthetic of Lamborghini super sports cars.” Lambo owners tend to be in a hurry, but the speed-obsessed will be forced to wait for a pair of these Automobili Lamborghini Edition Sonus fabers. Owing to the hand-built nature of these speakers, there is a three-month lead time. But if you’ve got the cash and the inclination, you’ll need to move faster than an Aventador SuperVeloce Jota; only 50 individually-numbered pairs of the Il Cremonese Ex3me – Automobili Lamborghini Edition will be built.

The Il Cremonese Ex3me – Automobili Lamborghini Edition incorporates the same cutting-edge acoustic technologies that define the standard Il Cremonese Ex3me. Every transducer, component, and system is engineered to deliver reference-grade performance. Now enhanced by the design and identity of Automobile Lamborghini. A union of radical design and acoustic mastery, every detail is a nod to Lamborghini’s iconic aesthetic – from the aerodynamic cabinet contours echoing Lamborghini’s bold silhouettes to the open-top design revealing the intricate crossover network. This look into the speaker’s “engine” is a tribute to the transparent hoods that proudly showcase the beating heart of Lamborghini’s super sports cars.

— Sonus faber

The limited-edition Il Cremonese Ex3me is available in five iconic Lamborghini finishes that “evoke both the motion and emotion of the Lamborghini super sports cars.” These paints were chosen because they are “rooted in the vibrant energy and precision of the vehicles that inspired them,” according to Lamborghini. The Giallo Countach yellow is perhaps the most iconic, as it is historically tied to the Countach, Lamborghini’s signature vehicle from 1974 until 1990. (The Countach was one of many exotic cars developed by the Italian design house Bertone, which is credited with popularizing the “wedge” shape that redefined the look of high-performance sports cars in the 1970s. Here in Los Angeles, there is currently an awesome exhibit all about these wedge-shaped cars at the Petersen Automotive Museum.) Just as snazzy is the Arancio Egon color option, a monochromatic orange that Lamborghini introduced with the launch of the Urus SE SUV. The other color options include Blu Marinus Matte (blue), Verde Mercurius (green), and Nero Nemesis Matte (black). In any color, the speaker’s design features “sharp, angular lines reminiscent of Lamborghini's iconic silhouettes,” with the Lamborghini Shield emblem prominently featured on the dust cap of the midrange driver.

Listening to music, much like driving, is a deeply sensory and emotional experience. With the introduction of Il Cremonese Ex3me – Automobili Lamborghini Edition, we’re bringing the craftsmanship of high-performance sound and the precision of automotive design into the home. With over 100 years of combined excellence, we’re proud  to continue our collaboration with our long-standing partner Lamborghini.

— Jim Mollica, Chief Marketing Officer and President of Luxury Audio at Bose Corporation

With Il Cremonese Ex3me – Automobili Lamborghini Edition, we celebrate the excellence of Made in Italy by merging Sonus faber’s artisanal sound craftsmanship with Lamborghini’s visionary design. This collaboration represents the perfect union of two Italian icons. The result is an uncompromising acoustic experience that reflects our cultural heritage and our relentless pursuit of perfection.

— Christian Mastro, Marketing Director at Automobili Lamborghini

Sonus faber Il Cremonese Ex3me – Automobili Lamborghini Edition: Under The Hood

According to Sonus faber, each Lamborghini edition speaker will be handcrafted. And although the design has been “engineered for uncompromising acoustic performance,” final voicing is done by ear, “ensuring consistent emotional and quality listening experiences for the customer.” It is this combination of rigorous engineering and personalized craftsmanship that reportedly results in “an audio experience that rivals a live performance… where each level and detail of instrument and vocal is distinguished to the listener.”

The speaker itself is a 3.5-way para-aperiodic vented design. The tweeter is a Beryllium DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) diaphragm, directly inherited from the Ex3ma. Sonus faber says that this design delivers unmatched micro-dynamics and resolution, with a resonant frequency above 35 kHz. The midrange driver, which sports the Lamborghini Shield, is a 7-inch cone made from a proprietary blend of natural fibers: air-dried cellulose, Kapok, and Kenaf. According to Sonus faber, this driver delivers the brand’s signature midrange warmth and realism. The dual 7-inch woofers use Sonus faber’s sandwich cone construction and are built into their own acoustic chamber, ensuring “deep, controlled bass with midrange coherence,” according to the company. The cone material uses a sandwich membrane made of two sheets of cellulose pulp with a layer of high-tech, rigid syntactic foam in between them. The deepest frequencies are reproduced by two “infra-woofers” (subwoofers). These side-mounted 8.7-inch drivers also use a tri-laminated sandwich cone, but here the diaphragm features a Nomex honeycomb core and outer layers of nanocarbon fiber, chosen for its extreme structural rigidity. The infra-woofers are implemented in independent acoustic chambers, acoustically amorphous and each fitted with its own “Stealth Reflex” duct. To bring all of these drivers together harmoniously, the Il Cremonese Ex3me-Automobili Lamborghini Edition features a fully re-engineered Paracross Topology crossover network. Sonus faber says that the crossover uses premium Mundorf components, “optimized for clarity, phase precision, and reduced noise floor.” The rhomboid cabinet is also said to optimize acoustic performance while contributing to the speaker’s striking design statement.

Whether the new Lamborghini Edition speakers from Sonus faber are worth the considerable $55K premium over the “standard” Il Cremonese Ex3me is hardly worth debating. From a purely sonic perspective, the answer is obviously “no.” But a typical Lamborghini owner has a strong appreciation for design, and probably has a different concept of value from the average Joe. There certainly is precedent for these collaborations between speaker companies and automakers. KEF offers a Lotus-edition of its LS60 Wireless speaker in a classic British racing green finish (see our article Looks Matter in Audio?), and at the super-high-end, Bugatti teamed up with the German loudspeaker manufacturer Tidal to design powered speakers that cost as much as a supercar. Would you want a pair of speakers to match your flashy set of wheels? Share your thoughts in the related forum thread below.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.