on test

Sonus faber
Olympica iii
Loudspeakers
Sonus faber Olympica III Loudspeakers
S
ome things are beautiful no matter
whose eyes are doing the looking.
Barring the odd contrarian, there’s an
inherent universality about a certain aes-
thetic or design that has a common appeal
to all. Such a concept would easily apply
to Italy’s Sonus faber; I would state with
some confidence that the company has
not produced an ugly duckling in its entire
substantial catalogue history. The recently-
launched Olympica range only reinforces
what’s become the faber stereotype. This
new line truly encapsulates the term ‘drop-
dead-gorgeous’ (and indeed one could carry
the term through to the company’s entire
current product range—and don’t even get
me started with the sculptural masterpiece
that is the Lilium…). But in a space where
looks must be tied-in with sonic perfor-
mance, is the Olympica III under review
here all beauty without substance? Is she a
learned and cultured beauty or a superficial
supermodel?
Behold Olympica
The Olympica III tops-out the new mid-
level line as the largest floor-stander in an
expanding range of speaker products from
Sonus faber. The tall slender enclosure
houses Sonus faber’s new 29mm DAD
(Damped Apex Dome) soft dome tweeter
with the ‘Arrow Point’ dispersion arrange-
ment and a Sonus faber-designed 150mm-
diameter natural fibre composite midrange
driver. Lower frequencies are catered for
by two 180mm-diameter bass drivers—di-
rect descendants of the statement model
Aida’s own bass transducers—featuring
massive magnet motors, 35mm-diameter
voice coils and foam and cellulose sandwich
diaphragms. The entire transducer array
has been designed by Sonus faber specifi-
cally for the Olympica range and, across
the board these are advanced, beautifully-
engineered drivers.
The Olympica III’s tear-shaped (or Lyre-
shaped) enclosure is not only beautiful but
it has been designed with specific goals in
mind in terms of lowering colourations and
the prevention of standing waves within the
cabinet. Solid walnut top and bottom plates
form the basis for the multiple horizontal
It’s a sweetly refined transducer
which reproduces extraordinary
micro-detail...something quite special
panels that, stacked, shape the box into
Sonus faber’s signature Lyre shape while the
internal profile will combat standing waves
within it. The enclosure vents via a unique
long and narrow vertical slot reflex ‘port’
which is accented via an adjacent perfo-
rated metal plate. This type of port will have
near-zero chuffing artefacts while providing
extra low end extension. The enclosure’s
quality of finish—it’s available in either wal-
nut or graphite-coloured veneers—is second
to none and its beauty is enhanced by high-
quality feature-stitched leather wrapping on
the top and front panels. Other than on the
high-quality binding posts panel, there are
no visible fasteners, bolts or screws to deter
from the extraordinary aesthetic—these are
truly a work of exceptional industrial design
and manufacturing craftsmanship.
Frequency response specifications reflect
the Olympica III’s stature as a powerful floor-
stander and range-topper, with the span
being from 35Hz to 30kHz (with crossover
points at 250Hz and 2.5kHz) while the sen-
sitivity has been quoted as 90dB (2.83V/1m)
with a 4Ω impedance. The speaker stands
1114×403×508mm (HWD) and weighs in at
a substantial 88kg.
Olympian Feats
In the hands of astute designers, the deeper
insight into the minutiae of well-engineered
bespoke drivers can present opportunities
to maximise performance by the mutual
complementing of driver, crossover and
enclosure.
The Olympica III’s tweeter, midrange and
bass array are skilfully blended to produce
a cohesive soundfield with all frequencies
in propagated mutual balance. This carries
through to the tonal signature which has
equal uniformity from bass to midrange to
treble. The high frequencies, in particular,
are of outstanding quality—this tweeter is
something quite special.
On TEST
It’s a sweetly refined transducer which
reproduces extraordinary micro-detail while
also effortlessly scaling the power band
when required. Cymbals have brilliance and
a pure bell-like decay that trails off most
naturally.
The midrange’s bold and dynamic pres-
entation projects the soundstage a tad for-
ward of the speaker plane which makes for
a wide but marginally less deep soundstage.
The aforesaid dynamism makes the Olym-
pica III a great speaker for rock music—the
entire frequency span is punchy and tight.
These last two adjectives also apply to the
speakers’ low-end, which digs reasonably
deep. Bass and kick drum are satisfyingly
hard-hitting even if the same forcefulness is
Sonus faber Olympica III
Loudspeakers
Brand: Sonus faber
Model: Olympica III
Category: Floorstanding speakers
RRP: $15,995
Warranty: Five years
Distributor: Synergy Audio Visual
Address: 107 Northern Road
Heidelberg Heights, VIC 3081
T: (03) 9459 7474
F: (03) 9459 4343
E: info@synergyaudio.com
W: www.synergyaudio.com
Superbly musical sound
with an excellent tweeter
Pure gorgeousness in styling
Peerless fit & finish
A somewhat forward
midrange presentation
LAB REPORT: Turn to page 47
Test results apply to review sample only.
45
ON TEST Sonus faber Olympica III Loudspeakers

Extremely faithful
renditions of vocals
and instruments.
Cello, in particular,
sounded
tremendously life-like

somewhat tamed at the speakers’ low-end

limits (something that I find common to
many bass reflex systems).
One of the outstanding qualities of the
Olympica IIIs (and which may indeed apply
to the whole range given the commonality
in the drivers used) is the extensive tonal
palette and the associated textural informa-
tion. The stitched cohesiveness across the
entire response range allows for extremely
faithful renditions of vocals and instruments.
Cello in particular sounded tremendously life-
like, while acoustic guitars exhibited snappy
transient attack and presence.

Multiple instrument pieces, such as
large orchestral or densely-mixed pop/rock
recordings sounded open with no sign of
congestion even at high replay levels.
Conclusion
Sonus faber, as part of the Fine Sounds
Group of companies—which most notably
also includes Audio Research, McIntosh and
Wadia—continues its brand expansion. The
design team headed by Livio Cucuzza (Head
of Industrial Design) and Paolo Tezzon (Re-
search & Development Manager) continues
to impress with the quality of its output.
Sonus faber’s line-up now consists of,
at the one end the entry level (though it’s
anything but in terms of build and perfor-
mance) Venere range, while at the opposite
end of the scale lie the Aida and Lilium
flagships which are augmented by several
individual upmarket models on lower rungs.
In fact, one or two of those models are
somewhat long-ish in the tooth so I expect
some exciting releases in the not-too-distant
future at that level. But for now, with the
Olympica range, the Italian stalwart has a
mid-point beacon burning brightly with the
triumph of superb bespoke drivers, solid
engineering and extraordinary design. Fine
sounds indeed. Edgar Kramer

46
Sonus faber Olympica III Loudspeakers
Laboratory Test Report
Newport Test Labs measured the frequency
response of the Sonus faber Olympica III as
38Hz to 27kHz ±3dB, which is an excellent
result. It’s very close to Sonus faber’s own
specification of 35Hz to 30kHz, though
because Sonus faber does not state a dB
variation for these frequency limits, it’s not
really a specification. As you can see, if we
expand the dB limits by just 1dB, the Olym-
pica III easily comes in at 35Hz to 33kHz
±4dB. Equally important, the Olympica III’s
response variations are distributed equally
across the audio band—there’s no skewing
of the spectrum to favour either the bass or
the treble, so the design is very balanced.
Within the ±3dB variation there’s a small
Lab Report
section of the response between
about 1.4kHz and 3kHz where
response dips slightly, followed
by a rise up to 4kHz then a
gradual fall to 10kHz, but since
this is all within ±3dB, I suspect
it would have almost zero ef-
fect on tonal presentation, a
suspicion that’s confirmed by
unsmoothed pink noise fre-
quency response measurement
shown in Graph 5, which more
accurately represents how the
human ear would perceive the
Olympica III in terms of flatness.
Although there’s still a small
response dip followed by a rise,
it’s greatly ameliorated, such
that the measured response
here is 45Hz to 20kHz ±1.5dB.
The superb high-frequency
performance of the Sonus
faber Olympica III is shown in
greater detail in Graph 2. Very
few tweeters are capable of
delivering totally flat frequency
responses between 10kHz and
20kHz, yet the Olympica III’s
tweeter manages it easily. The
roll-off above 20kHz is smooth
and controlled, without any
high-frequency resonances
whatsoever.
Graph 3 shows the low-fre-
quency performance of the individual driv- their minimum in-band output (at 35Hz).
ers in the Olympica III, measured by New- However, the port still has useful output
port Test Labs using a near-field technique down to 35Hz so it’s evidently helping out
that simulates the response that would be in the bass in spite of this.
obtained in an anechoic chamber. You can The impedance modulus of the Olympica
see that although the two bass drivers have III shows that despite Sonus faber rating
identical responses at low frequencies, the it with a nominal impedance of 4Ω, its
high-frequency response of the driver that’s nominal impedance is actually somewhat
highest on the front baffle (the blue trace lower—at least if it were to be rated ac-
on the graph) is slightly more extended than cording to the European IEC standard (IEC
the driver below it (whose output is shown 60268-5.16.1) for this specification—be-
as the black trace). This is excellent design, cause the impedance drops below what is
which ensures a better acoustic transition allowed (3.2Ω) for a 4Ω rating, with the
to the midrange driver (whose output is Olympica’s impedance dropping to just
shown by the pink trace). As you can see, 2.7Ω at 90Hz and remaining below 3.2Ω
the acoustic crossover is at 250Hz, exactly from 70Hz to 150Hz: In fact, the only place
as claimed by Sonus faber. The bass reflex the impedance rises above 8Ω is between
port’s output (red trace) is unusual because 1.5kHz and 4kHz. The low impedance
the frequency where it delivers maximum between 70Hz and 150Hz doesn’t make the
output is right up at 80Hz, considerably speaker as tough a load to drive as it might
higher than where the bass drivers deliver otherwise be because the phase angle
47
Lab Report Sonus faber Olympica III Loudspeakers

(the blue trace) swings only slightly (±14°) crossover topology, which is says is: ‘a [Editor’s Note: For more information about
over this frequency range. However, it’s clear progressive slope design … using Paracross loudspeaker sensitivity measurements, see
that the Sonus faber Olympica III will pre- topology.’ Newport Test Labs measured the the article on page 30 titled ‘Loudspeaker
sent considerable demands on the driving sensitivity of the Olympica III at 88dBSPL at Sensitivity: What’s a watt anyway.’] Despite
amplifier, so both high power output and one metre, using its standard test method- the 2dB difference, the Olympica III delivers
the ability to correctly drive low impedance ology. NTL’s method is more stringent than higher-than-average efficiency, even via
loads would obviously be beneficial to these those used by most manufacturers, and Newport Test Labs’ standards.
loudspeakers’ performance. The curves almost always results in ‘lower’ figures, and The measured performance of the
show several unusual features, which are this proved to be the case here, with Sonus Sonus faber Olympica III loudspeaker was
presumably a result of Sonus faber’s unusual faber rating the Olympica III at 90dBSPL. outstandingly good. Steve Holding

dBSPL
100 dBSPL
100
Newport Test Labs Newport Test Labs
95
95

90
90

85 85

80 80

75 75

70 70

65 65

60 60

55 55

50 50

45 45

40 40
20 Hz 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K 40K 800 Hz 1K 2K 3K 4K 5K 6K 7K 8K 9K 10K 20K 30K 40K

Graph 1. Frequency response. Trace below 1.1kHz is the averaged result of nine individual
frequency sweeps measured at three metres, with the central grid point on-axis with the
tweeter using pink noise test stimulus with capture unsmoothed. This has been manually
spliced (at 1.1kHz) to the gated high-frequency response, an expanded view of which is
shown in Graph 2. [Sonus faber Olympica III Loudspeaker]
Graph 2. High-frequency response, expanded view. Test stimulus gated sine. Microphone
placed at three metres on-axis with dome tweeter. Lower measurement limit 800Hz.
[Sonus faber Olympica III Loudspeakers]

dBSPL
100
Ohm Deg
Newport Test Labs 30 180

95
Newport Test Labs
150

90 20
120

85
90

80
60

75 10 30
9
70 8 0
7
65 -30
6

60 5 -60

55 4 -90

50 -120
3

45 -150

40 2 -180
20 Hz 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 10 Hz 20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K 40K

Graph 3. Low frequency response of front-firing bass reflex port (red trace), lower woofer Graph 4. Impedance modulus (red trace) speakers plus phase (blue trace). High-pass x/o
(black trace), upper woofer (blue trace) and midrange driver (pink trace). Nearfield section (green trace) vs low pass x/o section (pink trace). Black trace under is reference
acquisition. Port/woofer levels not compensated for differences in radiating areas. [Sf Ol III] 3-ohm precision calibration resistor. [Sonus faber Olympica III Loudspeakers]

dBSPL dBSPL
100 100
Newport Test Labs Newport Test Labs
95 95

90 90

85 85

80 80

75 75

70 70

65 65

60 60

55 55

50 50

45
45

40
40 20 Hz 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K 40K
20 Hz 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K

Graph 5. Averaged frequency response using pink noise test stimulus with capture Graph 6. Composite response plot. Red trace is output of bass reflex port. Dark blue trace
unsmoothed. Trace is the averaged result of nine individual frequency sweeps measured at is anechoic response of lower bass driver. Pink trace is sine response of midrange driver.
three metres, with the central grid point on-axis with the tweeter. [Sonus faber Olympica III] Black trace trace from Graph 1. Light blue trace shows pink noise response above 1.1kHz

48
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