THE SONNETEER NEWS

PRESS RELEASE 2011 No embargo

The God of dreams indeed, the Morpheus Music Centre will be parading at CES LAS Vegas in January and ISE Amsterdam in February showing off all its latest tricks. As well as being the harbourer of sumptuous sound for which Sonneteer are renowned it also communicates with mobile phones and home networks alike. iPods are able to control it as well as Androids(the mobile phone and tablet variety) as well as serving up their music. You can walk into a room hosting a Morpheus Music Centre with an Android based device and the Morpheus will be able to see and play the music on it. Bluetoothed phones can simply send music too it and iPods, iPhones and Androids can control your whole house full of Morpheus Music Centres and Servers should you want to.

The product

The Morpheus Music Centre plays music from the internet including 20000+ internet radio stations and the same again in on demand audio and music. It also pulls music from your local network, computers, servers and mobile phones and with its 100watt Sonneteer designed amplifier bellows it all out beautifully into your living space. As Sonneteer with all Sonneteer Amplifiers the Morpheus can still behave as a normal integrated amp as it allows CD players phono preamps and just about any other hifi device to be plugged in as normal. The difference being this Sonneteer product also can be hung on the wall. To quote Sonneteer’s Haider Bahrani, “ Just because hi-fi is going lifestyle it doesn’t mean it cant still have high end performance. This is what we are all about at Sonneteer. Sound quality, no matter how important the aesthetics and ergonomics are these days, still comes first. Ease of use comes a close second and the rest is a very, very close third.” He went on to say, “Our technical Director, Remo Casadei, is a stickler for detail and likes to have everything thought of before we launch a products. Combine that with my extreme fussiness when it comes to how I like things to sound, a Sonneteer will always be a Sonneteer whether it be our esoteric Alabaster or our ultra modern lifestyle Morpheus.”

Sonneteer products

Already renowned amongst aficionados, Sonneteer make, modern and traditional music systems for the luxury goods market. Sound quality specialists, Sonneteer are well known for adopting cutting edge technology whilst maintaining the ethos traditional high end, British hi-fi. Sonneteer entered the luxury lifestyle market with Morpheus in 2009 which was recently given the accolade of an Audio Excellence Award from Japan(for 2010). Their range of esoteric, hi-fi separates have been favourites amongst music lovers for years, particularly their Campion and Alabaster(often described as the best amp ever made) amplifiers and the Sedley phono stage (sits between a record player and a music system) which itself is a former recipient of the Japanese award amongst many others.

About Sonneteer

Since 1994, as a British high end company, Sonneteer have epitomised the best in high quality, high technology hi-fi. Sonneteer’s in house design and development team have attracted global praise for their products including, recently, 4 technology awards from the hotbed of high tech’, Japan.

Multi award winners and renowned for their high quality, high end hi-fi separates Sonneteer are also known for pioneering the adoption of new technologies into the luxury audio market. The Bronte digital amplifier in 1999 and the Bard audio wireless solutions in the early 2000′s, to name but two examples, blazed the trails that many would follow..

Often copied, never bettered.

For more information please contact:
haider@sonneteer.co.uk tel: +44 (0)1483 566990

Morpheus Server

PRESS RELEASE 2011 No embargo

Named the Morpheus Music Server, joins the Morpheus Music Centre and hand made in the UK by Sonneteer, the British luxury music systems brand. Showing at Las Vegas CES (Consumer Electronics Show) this January the Sonneteer Morpheus Music Server comes hot on the heels of Sonneteer announcing that their entire range will be available to order in a range of colours. This will apply to all Sonneteer products too. Sonneteer’s Haider Bahrani also said that,” if a customer has a particular request then we are happy to spend some time with them to fully meet their needs.”Path:

The Product

The Morpheus Music Server rips, stores and sits quietly in the corner whilst all the Morpheus Music centres in the home pull the music to play in the particular room which they reside. So in plane terms, the user can slip their CD through the slot on the front and go make a cup of tea. The Morpheus Server, in the mean time, will be copying the contents of the CD to its hard drive storage (all three terra bites of it), cataloguing it with Album name, Artist, song titles etc. and making it ready for the Morpheus Music Centres to see. All one needs to do, while still sipping the cup of tea, is to select the music on the Music Centre and press play, as one would with any other hi-fi. If you have more than one Morpheus in the house then they too can feed off the server for music.

Key feature PDF [Click here]

Sonneteer, in developing the new Server have adopted all techniques known and developed a few of their own to make sure the unit is as quiet as can be and as easy to use, in tandem with the Morpheus Music Centre, as is possible. The Morpheus Server also has a number of neat tricks under its sleeve. To make up its three terra bites , for example, it employs two drives and they are set up, out of the box, the mirror each other. So should one of them fail at any time, the other will have the users music stored safe and sound.

Sonneteer products

Already renowned amongst aficionados, Sonneteer make, modern and traditional music systems for the luxury goods market. Sound quality specialists, Sonneteer are well known for adopting cutting edge technology whilst maintaining the ethos traditional high end, British hi-fi.

Sonneteer entered the luxury lifestyle market with Morpheus in 2009 which was recently given the accolade of an Audio Excellence Award from Japan(for 2010). Their range of esoteric, hi-fi separates have been favourites amongst music lovers for years, particularly their Campion and Alabaster amplifiers and the Sedley phono stage (sits between a record player and a music system) which itself is a former recipient of the Japanese award amongst many others.

About Sonneteer

Since 1994, as a British high end company, Sonneteer have epitomised the best in high quality, high technology hi-fi. Their in house design and development team have attracted global praise for their products including, recently, 4 technology awards from the hotbed of high tech’, Japan.

Multi award winners and renowned for their high quality, high end hi-fi separates Sonneteer are also known for pioneering the adoption of new technologies into the luxury audio market. The Bronte digital amplifier in 1999 and the Bard audio wireless solutions in the early 2000′s, to name but two examples, blazed the trails that many would follow.

Often copied, never bettered.

For more information please contact:
haider@sonneteer.co.uk tel: +44 (0)1483 566990

The Sonneteer story

Now you hear it

Our story

Sonneteer (plural Sonneteers)

A writer of sonnets.

A poet

Sonneteer came to life in 1994, but it all started a little earlier than that.

While at University in the late 80’s and early 90’s Haider Bahrani and Remo Casadei started a business to organise gigs or concerts and recordings for small bands. Haider had a band so it was mainly a vehicle for this although it did branch out to a number of other student bands. As electronics students Haider and Remo, not content with some the sound equipment they had to hand they modified it and often built their own. In fact Remo was known to rarely travel without a soldering iron and a multi-meter in the back of his car.

In his final year, Haider designed a hi-fi amplifier. Other than the requirements of his degree, he also wanted a good amplifier to monitor his personal music recording. Remo, a true hi-fi enthusiast, had other ideas. So taken with the original design, when Haider decided to go on a month’s holiday after graduating, he popped round to Haider’s parents house and ‘borrowed’ said amplifier to show off to a few hi-fi aficionado and dealer friends. They loved it and by the time Haider had come back from holiday Remo, a highly skilled product engineer, was already cooking up a production version of this amplifier. All products to date are co designed by the two gentlemen.

The original business at University was called Fine Thang Musico. The small amount of money they had left from this was used to start up an incorporated Fine Thang Musico to be known as, FTM Marketing ltd the current mother company of Sonneteer.

Why Sonneteer? Well Haider has a passion for writing and wanted to name products after writers and poets. The first amplifier was to become the Sonneteer Campion, after Thomas Campion.

Key dates in Sonneteer history.

1994

Sonneteer established as a British high end audio brand. The ethos of high quality sound performance was ingrained from the start

1999

Launch the world’s first consumer separates high end  digital amplifier to much acclaim. Wins ‘Editors choice’, product of the year for Gramophone magazine. The digital revolution begins.

2003-2005

Show off pioneering Bard high end wireless system at the Consumer electronics show in Las Vegas.

Sonneteer’s Bard amplifier, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, goes to market and revolutionises high end audio amplification.

What hi-fi? Magazine  proclaims, “Bard is a stroke of genius”.

2007-2008

Sonneteer Sedley phono stage,a product  for vinyl lover, wins Audio excellence Award from Japan. The following year the USB version wins the same award as an accolade for design innovation.

2009

The year of the Sonneteer Morpheus Music Centre first  unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show Las Vegas after winning a place to represent UK Trade and Investments’ British Designs and Innovations. The Morpheus changed everything. A luxury music system that encapsulates all modern ways of playing back music yet retaining the ethos of tradition high end hi-fi products that Sonneteer are renowned for.

Today

Sonneteer offer a range of, award winning, luxury music systems for the home. Whilst maintaining the tradition of British high quality sounding and well engineered hi-fi Sonneteer have pioneered the adoption of cutting edge technologies into their products and presenting them in beautifully designed and easy to use products. The guys at Sonneteer have always maintained a philosophy of designing products that they would be happy with in their own home. If they are not happy then they don’t expect anyone else to.

Sonneteer

Often copied, never bettered.

Hand crafted in the Britain since 1994.

Sound Technology delivery systems made simple.

Sonneteer may have started producing high performance and highly regarded hi-fi separates in keeping with the tradition of British hi-fi, but they also always had an eye on progressing their art. Even their first product, the Campion had one or two tricks under the bonnet that simplified design and improved sonic performance.

More obviously, though, were their pioneering escapades into the lands of digital amplification, with the Bronte amplifier, and high definition wireless sound transmission, with Sonneteer Bard system. The later of these  also included a hi-fi amplifier of similar performance to their original Campion that fits in the palm of an average human hand. These products as well as being technological pioneers had praise heaped upon them for their sound quality by at minimum matching the performance of their peers and at best surpassing them. The Bronte amplifier for example was given accolade of  ‘Editors Choice’ product of the year from the high brow Gramophone magazine in 1999. The Bard system was also given high praise by said publication as well as being hailed ‘Genius’ by What hi-fi and much more by the likes of Absolute Sound, Stereophile and so on. Bard wireless amplifier shown in picture.

More recent times have also seen Sonneteer take the lead amongst the high end hi-fi brotherhood by launching a truly modern music system with the Sonneteer Morpheus Music Centre and Server. This taking Sonneteer from traditional hi-fi separates to modern luxury music systems that maintain the original ethos of pure sonic performance whilst delivering the latest music playback technologies. All these in an easy to use and beautifully crafted unit.

Sonneteer, over the years have blazed the trail for all others to follow. This is why Sonneteer are often copied, but never bettered.

Bespoke

Sonneteer offer all their products in a range of colours and to special order. When a customer orders a Sonneteer Morpheus Server, for example, the aluminium for the main chassis block is then taken to be hand engraved by our local engraver. It is then sent on to be colour anodised to the colour chosen by the customer from the range of twelve on offer. In the mean time all the electronics will have been built and tested ready for assembly. Once fully built the unit is fully tested again and packaged ready to ship out to the customer.

Should the customer have a more specific need, like matching the unit to a specific colour on their furniture, then Sonneteer will be happy to work with them and the anodiser to achieve this as best possible.

The above process is similarly repeated across the range of Sonneteer products.

The Sonneteer SedleyUSB is another typical example of a product which is specifically aimed at music lovers who love to listen through their vinyl recordings. The product can be set up to match specifically to the users record player and stylus cartridge which specification wise can vary considerably from make to make. If this information is made available then Sonneteer can set the SedleyUSB up from the factory to match the customers own.

Hand crafted in Britain since 1994.

The History of British hi-fi; abridged.

As Sonneteer, established in 1994 in the County of Surrey in Britain, blaze the current hi-fi trail getting there they have trodden the path travelled by many before them. British and High Fidelity have been synonymous since the dawn of electronics. British designed and made audio electronics have left their distinct mark on the world of sound reproduction, be it for home used equipment or in the professional arena. Names like Tannoy, Quad, Rogers, Marshall and Leak were, and some still are, regarded worldwide for their great sound in much the same way Rolex, IWC and Omega are regarded for time pieces in Switzerland. The British ear has been considered to be so particular that many of the larger Japanese manufacturers have seen fit to mark some their audio products as “UK sound tuned”.

The Golden age of British hi-fi came in the 1960?s and enjoyed a second wave in the 1970?s and 1980?s with the arrival of names like Linn, Arcam and Naim amongst others. Many of the early achievements parallel the emergence of the BBC as the respected force in broadcasting most of which is, of course, audio. As consumers found an ever more hungry pallet for electronics equipment British products came to signify the quality performance end of the market. These were times when Britain built up a reputation in a sector where British truly was best. Japan and the US were the kings of the mass market and most certainly graced more homes. However, in the same way Swiss watches adorn the wrists of the discerning and Italian Sports cars sit on the drive ways of the successful, British hi-fi products filled the chambers of music lovers with their signature sound. A sound Sonneteer were to inherit and enhance with their own quill and ink.

The 1990?s saw another transition. Hi-fi separates were still strong as other home entertainment products had yet to take hold though midi hi-fi (smaller integrated music systems) mainly Japanese were starting to erode sales. The middle to late 1990?s saw the beginnings of major deflation in pricing in the consumer electronics markets as a whole. The main driver was the move of manufacturing, in the commodity sector, to China and other far east emerging manufacturing economies. Some more established hi-fi brands were consumed by these emerging markets and have remained British only by their history and a few sales offices parked outside of Cambridge. Some brands navigated the changing trade winds well and maintained their roots firmly in British soils.

The 1990?s also saw the emergence of an even healthier cottage industry. As larger brands were tackling the middle market with the Japanese “Tuned for the UK sound” imports a troop of young designers and audio enthusiasts were setting up workshops and predominantly doing their own thing. Among these were the guys behind the Sonneteer brand who also had a hand or two in the products if a few others’ as well as their own. At this time the classic British hi-fi products still had enough of a cache to draw in traders from all around the globe to hi-fi shows in the UK, the most famous of which was held at the former Penta Hotel at Heathrow for most of the decade. Despite the loss or the erosion of some former great brands the core and the spirit of the ‘Great British Sound’ was still alive and well and bodes well for the time to come.

Sonneteer, as many did, started by keeping to the spirit of hi-fi separates developing hi-fi amplifiers and moving onto CD players and pre-amplifiers. These units formed the classic core of a traditional hi-fi stack found in a music lovers’ living room or listening room. Unlike others Sonneteer were one of the first to feel the vibrations of the distant oncoming train on the tracks to home entertainment’s future. So while others were beefing up the output transformers on their amplifiers and up-sampling and de-dithering their DACs on their CD players Sonneteer had other ideas.
Sonneteer were to go and pioneer the adoption of Digital amplification into high end hi-fi with the Bronte amplifier. They were the first to adopt high definition wireless audio transmission with the Bard audio range of products and even brought Vinyl LP record playback into the modern age by adding a USB connection to their Sedley phono pre-amplifier and so dragging the record player into the digital age. All this was, of course, done with their soul still hot with British sound fever.

As a host of hi-fi products have evolved from, ‘made in the UK’ to ‘designed in the UK’ a healthy core of British made hi-fi and other specialist audio products still remain and Sonneteer is amongst them. When it comes to sound and particularly music, the UK has always been at the innovative forefront. This is particularly apparent in popular music and, of course, broadcasting with the BBC. High Fidelity craftsmen and women have also made their fair contribution and Sonneteer carry that baton into the future.

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