on test

Sonus faber
Olympica iii
Loudspeakers
Sonus faber Olympica III Loudspeakers On TEST

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

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

46
Sonus faber Olympica III Loudspeakers Lab Report

Laboratory Test Report section of the response between

Newport Test Labs measured the frequency about 1.4kHz and 3kHz where
response of the Sonus faber Olympica III as response dips slightly, followed
38Hz to 27kHz ±3dB, which is an excellent by a rise up to 4kHz then a
result. It’s very close to Sonus faber’s own gradual fall to 10kHz, but since
specification of 35Hz to 30kHz, though this is all within ±3dB, I suspect
because Sonus faber does not state a dB it would have almost zero ef-
variation for these frequency limits, it’s not fect on tonal presentation, a
really a specification. As you can see, if we suspicion that’s confirmed by
expand the dB limits by just 1dB, the Olym- unsmoothed pink noise fre-
pica III easily comes in at 35Hz to 33kHz quency response measurement
±4dB. Equally important, the Olympica III’s shown in Graph 5, which more
response variations are distributed equally accurately represents how the
across the audio band—there’s no skewing human ear would perceive the
of the spectrum to favour either the bass or Olympica III in terms of flatness.
the treble, so the design is very balanced. Although there’s still a small
Within the ±3dB variation there’s 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 Graph 2. High-frequency response, expanded view. Test stimulus gated sine. Microphone
frequency sweeps measured at three metres, with the central grid point on-axis with the placed at three metres on-axis with dome tweeter. Lower measurement limit 800Hz.
tweeter using pink noise test stimulus with capture unsmoothed. This has been manually [Sonus faber Olympica III Loudspeakers]
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]

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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