Sonus Faber Olympica III speakers first views
 

Sonus Faber Olympica III speakers first view at Mono & Stereo:

Mono and Stereo High-End Audio Magazine: Sonus Faber Olympica III speakers just arrived

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They look absolutely gorgeous !

Stunning:)

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Skogrand Pure Ignis speakers cables connected and warming up with Sonus Faber Olympica III speakers.

Few more pics...

Mono and Stereo High-End Audio Magazine: Sonus Faber Olympica III and Skogrand Pure Ignis cables in action

Really beautiful. And a great form factor. I really liked my amatis.

They are beautiful and my understanding is they are fully grown in Italy. I don't understand why the Magazine reviewer calls it mini Aida because it doesn't resembles appearance nor components. Oh what do I know. And yes I too love my Futura's.

My dealer got a shiny new pair on Friday, and I got a chance to have a brief listen and snap a few pictures of the Olympica III in graphite on Monday :music: They only had 10 hours on them, and the Luxman had even less on it, but still they really impressed me. Incredible sound stage and really open. Bass really fast and articulate. The overall craftsmanship is unparalleled as I would expect from SF. I will definitely be spending more time in front of these when I get a window of opportunity.

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Olympca III is on the house!
 

Until recently I owned a pair of Usher Mini Dancer 1. The speaker that led me into the wonderful world of hifi. But after listening to the Olympica III for a couple of hours at my local dealer I knew they were history. It was just a matter of time.
http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/...psc6f99e87.jpg

The boxes are fairly big but with assistance from my trusted hifi friend Apexorca the Olympica is in the house.
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The first minutes of their new life were spent up side down in order for the spices to be mounted.
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They bring a certain christmas feeling don't they :)
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Now everything is in place :banana:
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You get no less than three booklets covering all aspects of the speakers. One focus on the assembly and set up, no 2 on the technical side of the speakers and the third is all about the handcraft and tradition.
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The first CD played on the Olympica was Boz Scaggs - Fade Into Light. It sounds absolutely effortless and open. And yet they have only 20 hours…
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The graphite finish is classy. Elegant in an understated sort of way. But all of their finishes are beautiful.

Congratulations!

.

Congratulations.. They look right at home there. :yes:

Very beautiful. Congratulations and the finish looks perfect

Congrats on the Olympica IIIs :thumbsup:

Thank you very much every one! I am very pleased with the sound and looks. And so is my wife! Last time I purchased a set of speakers - she refused to have them in the house. So they had to go back to the shop. It was the Usher Mini Dancer 2. So this time I took her out for lunch - and a speaker audition. And the Olympica passed :).

Somehow I had missed this post. Congrats on such wonderful speakers. They look great, love how the look in the room. Thanks for taking the time to share!

Congratulations - color me jealous, I've been lusting after these since hearing them at RMAF.

Wow... Finally some good pics on the Graphite finish!!! Absolutely love it!!! How many hours do you have on them?

I'm humbled by your cheers :). The speakers have 35 hours. I would be totally happy if they stayed as they are as of now, but I understand they might evolve a bit over the next 100 hours. Not sure what to expect - but I am looking forward to it.

They are truly beautiful to look at and to touch. Absolutely smooth leather and wood.
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The speakers are asymmetric and the speakers can be placed with the bass reflex (Stealth Ultraflex) firing inwards or outwards. I have not had time to compare the two set ups yet.
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BTW I just saw the first review of the speakers. They were given "Most highly recommended!!!" And the reviewer says: Sonus Faber Olympica III loudspeakers are staying with me as a reference component and my daily tool for testing and reviews.

Sonus Faber Olympica III Loudspeaker A glorious speaker that is in itself a musical instrument! Review By Matej Isak

Congratulations mate! And please do let us know about the changes / evolution after those 100 or so hours, I'm intrigued.

Even though the sound most likely will evolve over the following week I made a small test with the microphone I use when calibrating my woofers (Velodyne DD10).

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I wanted to see what happens in the lower Hz if I was to adjust my listening position a feet forward or backwards. This is what it looks like If I move it 50 cm further away from the speakers.
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Not a nice curve. So back to my original position. Ignore the EQ settings here as they are connected to the subs and not the front speakers.
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And if I moved another foot forward the raise of the curve came later.
http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/...ps862b1698.jpg

I also swapped the speakers (left and right) but In my room it made no difference to the curve if the bass reflex was pointing inwards to the center of the room or outwards to the side walls. In my case I have about 8 feet to the side walls.

But what made a difference was if I pushed the speakers closer to the front wall. The optimum position seems to be with the baffel apx. 80 cm from the wall. But when pushing it back so it was only 50 cm, this was the result.
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And finally the result when integrating the Olympica to my HT system and here I am taking full advantage of the parametric EQ of the Velodynes.
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Bigblue,

Do you mind snapping a picture of the top of one of the speakers? much like the one you've already posted but this time focus on the rear top of the speaker. I want to see how the stitching is finished in the far corner

bigblue...congrats once again! Also looking forward to hearing your thoughts as the speaker more fully break-in. By the way, just as an aside, have you tried listening without the glass table in between the listening position and the speakers (or at least covering the table with a blanket or other dampening material)? The general rule is to not have any reflective surfaces such as glass in between speaker and seated position as you will likely have a less lively and more resolving sonic outcome that way. Just a thought.

dznutz, Im not sure I got it right but here is my interpretation :). You also have a picture of the very top of the speaker on the 2:nd page in this thread.
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cmala, thank you for your tip. Yes, I am very much aware that the table is not ideal. But it is too heavy to move and it is a livingroom for the whole family. But I will put some blankets on it to se what effect it has. I've always assumed the impact was minor due to the fact that I can not se the speaker in the reflection - thus the sound should not bounce of it to my ears :).

bigblue...it might not be an issue from side reflections off the wall but it is likely an issue from secondary/tertiary/etc....floor and ceiling reflections eventually hitting it. Just a thought for you to experiment with.

haha, almost bigblue... here is a photo of the corner that I would like to see in focus... from the top

:thumbsup:

I see you have the Cremona M's. How do they compare to the Olympica? Are the Olympica's still smooth with musicality as its highest priority, or are they much cleaner and more audiophillic than the Cremona M's?

The most prominent differences that I heard were the midrange is more accurate and less colored than my Cremona M. Also it is a faster and weightier sound. Being that I am comparing them in two completely different listening environments, it is hard to make a fair assessment of things such as sound stage and dimensionality. I will say however I am contemplating trading my Cremona Ms for these. I LOVE the overall package. My original plan was to keep saving for Amati Futura, but this speaker has caused me to possibly take a detour on that journey. :scratch2:

Early in 2013 I was ready to trade my Usher for something elese and Cremona M was a very attractive option. But my local dealer said he had sold his last pair and had trouble getting new once. So I was looking for second hand Cremonas during spring. But then came the word about something called the Olympica. And my, am I glad I did not pull the trigger earlier. In my ears the Olympica is more open and present than Cremona. As you describe it AudioPhilio, less coloration. But they are not analytic or cold at all. I have them hooked up to a AudioResearch DSI 200 and that brings some richness to the table. When demoed they had a Krell set up which gave the speakers some more slam dunk.

Okay, sounds good:) But they do still have the Sonus Faber magic?

Yes! They are still extremely musical. I would say they are still a touch on the warm sounding side of things, but not colored like the Cremona M. I had a chance to listen to Harbeth 30.1 back to back with the Olympica III, and honestly the midrange and highs of both speakers are very similar in characteristic. In fact I was surprised how much so. Obviously, the Olympica goes way deeper, but it was somewhat unexpected to me. In fact, I ordered the 30.1 to replace my Compact 7s. I believe the difference between Cremona M and Olympica III is very similar to the Harbeths: faster, more open, more accurate; but most important to me, same house sound.
I am likely to be writing myself right into upgrading my Cremonas too :tears:

I have heard in November the Olympica III and I have gained some good impressions, especially with regard to the low range. The stealth reflex enables low firm and controlled, with no queues or rumble, to the benefit of the rest of the sound compared. In fact, the mids and highs are very clean and natural though a bit 'and aseptic techniques.
The Olympic III have proven comfortable with all genres of music, especially with rock, impact or large full orchestra waiting their high power handling capability.
The scene was very good both in breadth and in depth with a credible revival event.
In short, a good speaker but, in my opinion, not quite able to restore the warmth that others can give. Maybe I would have preferred a greater emotional involvement and a touch of delicacy in most, even at the expense of a little 'technical rigor.

Blue,

I just posted a visitor message on your profile, let me know if you can assist

dznutz, sorry for late reply. I have been tied down at work. But here are some pics from the speaker elements. Hope they work for you.
http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9000ca2b.jpg

http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/...psa3f2ce09.jpg

Edit: spelling

PERFECT! Thanks

The speakers now have 135 hours on them and it was time for another test. I have been in love with the way the look and sound from day 1. But something has been bugging me with the graphs from bass sweeps earlier in the thread. They did not represent what I heard and I became unsure of what I am hearing (or believe I hear). Some nights ago it became clear to me that it was probably due to a misstake on my behalf. As I am used to calibrate my subs from time to time, I hook up the Velodyne mic through my receiver, a Pioneer LX76.
Time for a new metering session were I connect the signal directly to my amp (Audio Research DSI 200).
http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2fb568c2.jpg

Now we are talking. If you compare this graph with the one shown earlier in the thread one can clearly see what a difference it makes. Previously I ran it through the receiver and pre-out to the amp which was set to Processor and acting as a power amp (no pre amp).
Look at the low freq here. This is what I was hearing but not seeing in the graphs. Phew.
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I tested different distances from the front wall but amazingly enough I had managed to hit the ideal spot by ear. 88 cm from the wall was the best spot. So instead I tried different listening positions. I have a 3 meter wide sofa and there are limitations as to how far I can move it. But this is what it looks like 8 inches forward from the "ideal position". Here I loose some of the nice low bass.
http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/...ps637a4411.jpg


And this is what it looks like if I move it 20 inches back from the "ideal position". A clear raise around 150 Hz.
http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/...ps27659694.jpg

When in my sweet spot I sit 150 cm from the rear wall and I have a tailor made book shelf that acts as a diffuser. I have no idea how well this works but I would like to think it its better than a flat wall, as the shelf is full of rounded objects.
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I am happy with the sound (and graphs) but I am open to input on how to improve. F ex is the dip around 100 Hz something to be concerned about?

Are the stands mandatory? (I'm considering a pair...losing my love for the Martin Logans!)

Toccata, are you sure this is the right thread? There are no stands needed for the Olympica III as it is a floorstanding speaker

Bigblue, you should use REW for your graphs. You'll get more information about your room this way