SONUS FABER Olympica I

MJ11.08.2013

Stand mount monitors

In Sonus Faber they know how to address the emotional side of a listener. Like Italian violin masters the Sonus Faber produces loudspeakers of the highest aesthetic value in the audio industry. The brand new Olympica line is a kind of pinnacle with beautiful proportions, careful choice of materials and several technical details thrown in. It is pure pleasure to see, touch and hear such speakers.

Function and form

100%
Ease of use
78%
Sound
100%
Appearance

It is obligatory to use factory supplied stands with the Olympica I. The monitors are bolted to the stands via a steel plate with two bolts. Visually the stands are designed in the very same look as the speakers, with nylon strings that hide the construction. Thus the whole assembly appears to be light and non intrusive. The nylon grille of the speakers is removable, but because it represents no barrier to sound and because when removed it leaves not nice looking openings in the speaker's front panel, I would keep it on.

The footprint of the Olympica I is "lyra shaped" like with most Sonus Faber's speakers from Venere to prohibitively expensive Aida. The unparallel sides of the lyra help combat standing waves inside cabinets and diffractions outside them. Actually, there are only two parallel surfaces on the Olympica I: the bottom and top plates. The bass reflex 'port' is one of the prominent design features. It is designed as a long vertical slot on the cabinet's side. Sonus Faber leaves on the listener to which side the slot will be oriented - thus you can have two slots firing to the listening axis or to the walls, depending on your listening environment. The slots are covered by 'binary perforated' aluminum piece that makes a very nice contrast to the impeccable walnut veneer of the speakers that is finished in satin gloss.

The top panel of the speakers is covered in black leather with visible seams and a pressed Sonus Faber logo, which gives the Olympica I a Ferrari feel. The bottom panel is covered in felt to eliminate floor interferences. Proprietary Sonus Faber's binding posts are delight to work with and they make bi-wiring possible.

The drivers are made to SF's specifications in Denmark. The silk domed 29mm 29XTR2 tweeter has a neodymium magnet assembly and combines classical dome and ring radiator design. In Sonus Faber's language it is called DAD (Damped Apex Dome). The 15cm midrange driver has a paper/kapok/cenaph cone.

Bass management

Weight
60
Slam
55
Articulation
60

The sound of the Sonus Faber Olympica I is rich, warm and embracing. It slightly tilts up the frequency extremes so that the music had good physiology on bottom and sparkling freshness on top. These speakers are voiced by ears to bring emotions, not to satisfy measurement freaks. It does not mean that they are coloured - they just prefer the embracing side of neutrality. In result auditioning such speakers mean pleasure, long hours spent in a listening chair, and a lot of spontaneous joy.

When I used dynamic bass recordings the Olympica were able to punish me with a thuds in my belly. A little bit overdone thuds but still, an impressive achievement for a stand mount monitor.

Clarity & delicacy

Detail
76
Air
60
Transparency
60

The Olympica I's ambience is muted and less legible than with the best speakers but they can throw very tangible images at any volume level.

Tonal accuracy

Timbre
62
Dynamics
60
Temporal resolution
60

I had the opportunity to compare the Olympica I with (rather more expensive) Franco Serblin Accordo, that share similar design principles.

The Accordo are more transparent, more breathing, more open, more communicative and even more tangible. The Olympica I provides deeper bass and is richer in sound, in the most important midrange both speakers perform equally; the Accordo might sound a smidgen more natural and better resolving on human voices. The Olympica I breathes more passion and enthusiasm, typically the bass or drums are much more juicy and forceful. It also can play at higher loudness levels where the Accordo loses its compusure due to its compact size.

I believe that the Ragnar Lian tweeter in the Accordo is responsible for hearing so much from this speaker. As outlined, lower we get from highs the better the sound is from the Olympica I. With rock recordings there is no doubt that the SSF Olympica I would be the right choice. Give them a listen to hear the adrenaline rush in your veins.

Spatial resolution

Holography
80
Soundstage width
80
Soundstage depth
80

As mentioned, the tangibility of images was excellent through the Olympica I. The piano sound was romantic, saturated, with beautiful resonances and long decays, the release of a pedal was a physical act, not an illusion. Comparing to  Accordo or GamuT speakers the Olympica I lacks a bit of sharper focus, the kind of pinpoint imaging.

Price as reviewed:119 000,- Kč

Recommended resellers

HI-FI studio TYKON, Ostrava, tel. +420 723 449 894

Navrátil Audio, Havířov, tel. +420 737 821 360

Excelia HiFi, Chrudim, tel. +420 724 00 77 44

Associated components

  • Sources:  Luxman D-08
  • Amplifiers: Luxman C-600f/M-600A, Burmester 082
  • Interconnects and speaker cables: Neyton Frankfurt, Krautwire Mini ORG, CrystalConnect Piccolo Diamond
  • Power conditioning: IsoTek Aquarius/Evo3 Syncro

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