Many of you still held them in high regard—or even owned them. Yet Sonus Faber’s Olympica Nova (version 2) models were beginning to show their age, which is why, at the start of summer, right after Fashion Week, the Italian manufacturer unveiled its brand-new Olympica G3 collection in Vicenza.
Named after the city’s theater—the Teatro Olimpico—designed by Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, this Sonus Faber series is perhaps the one that best defines the Italian speaker brand today. And this third generation, streamlined to five models, is likely to carry on the tradition, as its finish is even more meticulous, featuring hand-crafted real wood veneer adorned with a 45-degree herringbone pattern inspired by the flagship Stradivari speaker.
In fact, this new generation even draws on technologies developed for the Suprema, but it stands out above all for its Camelia midrange driver, inspired by the geometry of the flower of this shrub, which is itself integrated into an “Organic Basket” whose design mimics the natural structure of honeycomb cells.
On all models, the rear panel is reinforced and bi-amping is available starting with the Olympica I 2-way bookshelf speaker. Aluminum and leather are combined around the drivers, featuring a 28 mm silk dome tweeter with extended-response DAD™ Arrow Point technology and a 16.5 cm paper cone below for the midrange. On the 3-way Olympica G3 III and V models, two and three 16.5 cm paper woofers, respectively, extend the low frequencies down to 42 Hz and 37 Hz. For these three models, the overall sensitivity is 90 dB (2.83 V/1 m).
The Olympica G3 Center is available, like the others, in light walnut or dark wenge. But while it features two 16.5 cm paper cones, it is the only one to have a tweeter reduced to 18 mm and a 10.1 cm Camelia midrange driver. Its sensitivity remains at 90 dB, but the bass response stops at 58 Hz—1 Hz lower than the Olympica I—and the new 3-way crossover is set higher than on the floorstanding models.
The latest addition to the lineup, the Olympica G3 W on-wall speaker is similar to the compact model, using the same two drivers and a 2-way design, although it extends slightly less low (78 Hz). Like the others, its nominal impedance is 4 ohms.
Already very attractive in their previous Nova version, these new Sonus Faber Olympica G3 models further enhance their perceived quality with this new series. It remains for us to verify as soon as possible whether their performance lives up to their striking appearance.
They are available now, with list prices of €7,000 (Olympica G3 W), €10,000 (Olympica G3 Center), €12,000 (Olympica G3 I), €21,500 (Olympica G3 III), and €27,000 (Olympica G3 V) per pair.
