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Sonus Faber Olympica 2 or Olympica 3
#1
Hi there, I am driving my 200 with SF Luito. I have a 40 sqm room. I have now an option to upgrade into Olympica 2 or 3 but I am not sure if I should pay extra 2500 euro for Olympica 3. Unfortunately, I do not have a chance to demo and need to decide today. I know we have a couple of Olympica 2 users here and I assume they demoed both when they decided to choose which one. Appreciate comments.
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#2
(27-Jan-2016, 13:08)archer75 Wrote: Unfortunately, I do not have a chance to demo and need to decide today.

A real bad idea...

You really need to listen for yourself and only you can decide. An in-home demo would even be better but at least listen to them at a dealer. Some people may chime in and say that these speakers are great and that for the money you should move all the way up to the Olympica 3 but what if they don't perform well in your environment?

I had the opportunity to compare the Olympica 2 to my ProAc Response D30R and I simply couldn't justify the price difference. As a matter of fact, my ProAc speakers had deeper / better controlled bass while the highs & mids were very, very close. So I decided to stay with my ProAc speakers.

A few years ago (pre Devialet), I got a killer deal for the Brinkmann Bardo direct-drive turntable / EMT TSD15 SFL cart combo and jumped on it based on reviews. It turned out that the cart itself was a real poor match for my phono stage which totally unbalanced my system.

Just my 2 cents worth...
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#3
Hi Archer,

I was also not able to hear the Olympicas in my space although I must say I heard them both at different dealers. My room is smaller than yours, so for me the II´s were quite an obvious choice.

I'd say for 40sqm the II´s are enough although taste, preference and your room shape should dictate. But at the same time I echo Samurai's opinion, you should definitely hear them at least at the dealer.

BTW, I also owned the Liuto before and the difference for me was like day and night, a very radical  and steep improvement in all areas.
Aurender X100 >> Totaldac USB cable >> D200 >> SF Olympica II

Italy
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#4
I can only echo what has already been said. You really need to hear the speakers yourself. To be honest for me this has to be at home as your room will have a bigger impact on your speaker choice than anything else.
I have the Olmpica 2 on home demo right now, I cant help you with the comparison, but maybe give a couple of pointers.
I feel they are better away from the back wall. I can only get them about 30 inches off my back wall, but prior to that had them about 2 ft and the difference that extra 6 inches made was very very obvious. For me the bass was overpowering my room a touch but moving them off the wall just that extra bit made a huge difference. I also have turned the SAM to 0% and the bass is set to -2dd, but all of this is very likely to be because of my room. At 14ft x 23ft it is a smaller room than yours.
If you have the money to spend on the 3s though, then i think you owe it to yourself to listen to them. Hope this helps a little.
Devialet 200 -- Roon Nucleus-- Sonus Faber Olympica 2 -- Tellurium Q Black Speaker Cables --
Chord Qutest -- Niimbus US5 Pro Headphone amp —HifiMan HEK, Abyss 1266TC
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
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#5
Hi,
I had a chance to compare Olympica II and III.
The difference is most obvious in bas region. Model II is less artikulated and less tranparent, especially in bass. Also model III is more open in midrange because bas aria is whell defined and under control. Model III remind at how Guarneri sound and II is more like Cremona line.
If You have money go for Olympica III. It doesn't need a bigger room then model II.
Melco N1A, Valhalla Pow.C.-FTA usb,-D200,Chord Sarum Super Aray Pow.C.-Chord Sarum T Speaker C.(Nordost Frey2)-Harbeth 40.2, (Magnepan 3.7).
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#6
(27-Jan-2016, 16:08)samurai7595 Wrote:
(27-Jan-2016, 13:08)archer75 Wrote: Unfortunately, I do not have a chance to demo and need to decide today.

A real bad idea...

You really need to listen for yourself and only you can decide. An in-home demo would even be better but at least listen to them at a dealer. Some people may chime in and say that these speakers are great and that for the money you should move all the way up to the Olympica 3 but what if they don't perform well in your environment?

I had the opportunity to compare the Olympica 2 to my ProAc Response D30R and I simply couldn't justify the price difference. As a matter of fact, my ProAc speakers had deeper / better controlled bass while the highs & mids were very, very close. So I decided to stay with my ProAc speakers.

A few years ago (pre Devialet), I got a killer deal for the Brinkmann Bardo direct-drive turntable / EMT TSD15 SFL cart combo and jumped on it based on reviews. It turned out that the cart itself was a real poor match for my phono stage which totally unbalanced my system.

Just my 2 cents worth...

You are right but home demo/dealer demo was not possible. In fact, I demoed them at dealer a year ago but i do not hv a lot left at my find.
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#7
(28-Jan-2016, 12:17)MusicLover Wrote: Hi Archer,

I was also not able to hear the Olympicas in my space although I must say I heard them both at different dealers. My room is smaller than yours, so for me the II´s were quite an obvious choice.

I'd say for 40sqm the II´s are enough although taste, preference and your room shape should dictate. But at the same time I echo Samurai's opinion, you should definitely hear them at least at the dealer.

BTW, I also owned the Liuto before and the difference for me was like day and night, a very radical  and steep improvement in all areas.

Thanks musiclover. I decided on the II's assuming that it will be different than Luito so I can only hope that it will perform at my place.
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#8
(28-Jan-2016, 13:31)Womaz Wrote: I can only echo what has already been said. You really need to hear the speakers yourself. To be honest for me this has to be at home as your room will have a bigger impact on your speaker choice than anything else.
I have the Olmpica 2 on home demo right now, I cant help you with the comparison, but maybe give a couple of pointers.
I feel they are better away from the back wall. I can only get them about 30 inches off my back wall, but prior to that had them about 2 ft and the difference that extra 6 inches made was very very obvious. For me the bass was overpowering my room a touch but moving them off the wall just that extra bit made a huge difference. I also have turned the SAM to 0% and the bass is set to -2dd, but all of this is very likely to be because of my room. At 14ft x 23ft it is a smaller room than yours.
If you have the money to spend on the 3s though, then i think you owe it to yourself to listen to them. Hope this helps a little.

Hi Womaz, thank you. I also read the placement is very important as you suggested. Definitely, will try different positioning when I hv them.
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#9
(28-Jan-2016, 16:40)libero Wrote: Hi,
I had a chance to compare Olympica II and III.
The difference is most obvious in bas region. Model II is less artikulated and less tranparent, especially in bass. Also model III is more open in midrange because bas aria is whell defined and under control. Model III remind at how Guarneri sound and II is more like Cremona line.
If You have money go for Olympica III. It doesn't need a bigger room then model II.

Hi, thanks. Because of budget and to limit to risk, I decided on II's. I am very curious to see the result.
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#10
Please post your impressions when you have the new speakers in place. I have a feeling I will also end up buying the Olymoica 2s also. On another note I think they are probably the best looking speaker I have ever seen
Devialet 200 -- Roon Nucleus-- Sonus Faber Olympica 2 -- Tellurium Q Black Speaker Cables --
Chord Qutest -- Niimbus US5 Pro Headphone amp —HifiMan HEK, Abyss 1266TC
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
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