I can’t imagine anyone looking at the Sonus Faber Olympica Nova III and thinking anything other than, “Damn, those are exceptionally well made.” Because they are exceptionally well made.
Speakers, especially floor standing speakers like the Nova III, live in our homes very much the same way furniture does. They are seen and heard, so it makes perfect sense to take a pair of speaker’s looks into account when making a purchase decision. Of course how things look, just like how things sound, is filtered through our human perception system, which is delightfully personal. As such, the way speakers look and sound are a product of preferences, and the same goes for how we feel about these choices. To my eyes, ears, brain, and body, the Sonus Faber Olympica Nova III are delightful in every way.
The Nova III are a 3-way design, incorporating proprietary Sonus Faber-designed drivers – a DAD (Damped Apex Dome) 28mm silk soft dome tweeter and a 150mm air dried non-pressed blend of cellulose pulp, kapok, and kenaf (natural fibers) midrange driver are surrounded, embraced?, by a supple black leather surround. Real leather. A pair of 180mm low mass high rigidity woofers take care of the bottom end. The company claims a frequency response of 35 Hz – 35 kHz and 90 dB sensitivity (2.83V/1 m) with a 4 ohm nominal impedance. A fairly friendly load that can be driven with as little as 50 Watts, which is the minimum recommended amplifier power according to the company.
The Nova III’s asymmetrical cabinet is constructed from eight layers of wood which is gently curved to form the lovely lute shape, a hallmark of Sonus Faber design. Internal bracing and external avional aluminum elements are employed to further ensure the cabinet’s rigidity. Every time I see a gentlemen do the rap test, not the music, on a speaker at a hifi show, I have to laugh and in the case of the Nova III, I can easily imagine the result producing little sound and sore knuckles.
Sonus Faber describes the Nova III as a 3 way, full para-aperiodic vented box “Stealth Ultraflex”, floorstanding loudspeaker system. The Nova III’s employ a low turbulence porting system in the form of an extruded aluminum vent that run vertically down each speaker’s back. These reflex ports are offset from center, directional, and mirrored so that they can fire in or out to tailor the speaker’s bass response in room. The best setup is the one that sounds best and I definitely preferred them firing out, toward the side walls, as this provided the best sounding scenario in Barn.
While we’re back here, each Nova III has two pair of binding posts that allow for bi-wiring and bi-amping. When used with a single stereo amp, let’s call that single-amping, the speakers come with stamped metal jumpers already installed.
My experience with stamped metal jumpers is they typically sound worse than cable jumpers and here the Nova III followed suit. I replaced the included stamped jumpers with AudioQuest Saturn BiWire Jumpers and the improvement in sound quality was easily audible. The most notable change was improved clarity throughout the frequency range. If you own a pair of bi-wired speakers and you use stamped metal jumpers, I recommend trying some well made cable jumpers. If you don’t hear a difference, return ‘em. If you do, keep ‘em. No harm, no foul. If you don’t believe cables can make a difference, you will never hear your system at its best, unless you just get lucky. The AQ jumpers remained in place for the duration of the review period.
The solid aluminum bottom plates, which have four arms that reach out beyond the sides of the speakers, come with spikes for a firm grip when placed on carpet. Protective metal cups are included for the carpetless. Last but not least, I typically leave speaker grilles in the box because I don’t like the way they look and I usually don’t like what they do to the sound. Not so with Sonus Faber’s elastic string grilles, which look rather elegant, with their visual references to other things with strings (like instruments).
To reiterate my opening point, because it bears repeating, to my tastes the Sonus Faber Nova III are very fine looking speakers and their build quality is beyond reproach.
Beauty That’s More Than Skin Deep
When a speaker has gone to such obvious lengths to look good, I suspect some people will prejudge its performance in a negative way. Worse still, some may actually be turned off by looks that obviously represent a larger percentage of overall cost as compared to crappy looking speakers. I’ll even go a step further down the darkened path of the tainted audiophile and suggest that the Nova III’s asking price may have some people thinking – they must have cut corners somewhere, and its certainly not in the build quality. I’m here to tell you that the Nova III delight even with eyes closed.
I paired the Nova III’s with the Marantz Model 30 Integrated Amplifier (100W into 8 Ohms, 200W into 4), the Bel Canto E1X Integrated Amplifier (180W into 8 Ohms, 250W into 4), and the Ayre EX-8 Integrated Hub (100W into 8 Ohms, 170W into 4). I preferred the Bel Canto and Ayre over the Marantz, but none of these systems made for an unpleasant experience. I would say the Nova III’s offered a nicely balanced sound with each of these integrated amplifiers, the main differences between them gets down to a shift in focus between sonic elements.
The Marantz made the Nova III’s bass sound a too diffuse and a tad wooly. I’m being careful with my words as both the Bel Canto and Ayre bettered the Marantz in this regard, so I would not attribute “diffuse and wooly” bass response to the Sonus Faber speakers. I can’t count how many times I’ve seen, heard, and read people basing listening impressions on a single setup, just one system, and jumping to conclusions about component and/or speaker performance. This approach almost guarantees misattribution, what I like to call premature evaluation, and if we add in an unknown room, all bets are off. You may as well predict the weather.
The Nova III can deliver some big, bold, badass yet tuneful bass which I heard loud and clear when the Bel Canto E1X and Ayre EX-8 were in play. These integrated amps are also Roon Ready streamers, so system-wise we are looking at Ethernet in, and speaker cables out to the Nova IIIs. One box, two speakers. The Nova III are also delicate reproducers capable of conveying micro detail with exceptional clarity and nuance, without sounding overly hyped or unnatural. While all three integrated amp partners made this evident, the Ayre EX-8 seemed to offer the sweetest upper frequency touch. I’ve mentioned this lovely sparkle-like quality of the Ayre’s top end and it was certainly coming through the Nova III. This sweet clarity makes for a very convincing account of attack and decay, and those all important micro-moments that imbue music with suspense, anticipation, and release. The Nova III are nimble sounding speakers, never sounding dark or slow.
Perhaps its the case that the exceptional quality of the upper frequencies and healthy bottom end helped color this impression, but coming off the recently reviewed and less expensive EgglestonWorks Oso (review), the Nova III sounded comparatively less full bodied in the midrange. The Oso’s bass response has more weight and heft, with a more fully developed voice as compared to the Nova III. By contrast, the Nova III sound faster than the Oso, fleeter of foot from top to bottom.
I described the Oso as sounding very nicely balanced, and I would say the same about the Nova III. The interesting part is they do not sound alike so we are talking about varying shades of balance, if you will. While the Oso sound big, rich, and full, the Nova III sound big, rich, and fast. I keep getting back to the Nova III’s upper frequencies which sound comparatively more resolving than the Oso, as a main ingredient in these overall impressions. Of course these speakers could not look more different, with the Nova III’s old(er) world appeal versus the Oso’s modernist edge, and my guess is potential buyers may be swayed by the eye more than the ear. Especially seeing as both speakers are very easy to live with.
Raime’s “Coax” from their album Tooth is my go to test track for Barn shaking bass and the Nova III passed, albeit with a bit less force than I’ve heard from other speakers like the powered sub-endowed GoldenEar Triton Reference Towers (review) and the Oso. Playing “Coax” at the same level through the Nova III, I use dB Meter Pro on my iPhone as a guide, the parts of the Barn that rattled with the Triton Towers and, to a lessor extent, the Oso, did not get as excited. This obviously means there’s less bass energy coming out of the Nova III so if you want a Jamaican dub club sound system sound in your home, the Nova III may not completely satisfy in this regard.
Adrianne Lenker’s “music for indigo” from instruments is 20+ minutes of acoustic guitar driven ecstasy. Think Ry Cooder but lovelier. This is relatively simple music in terms of elements, so anyone who has heard an acoustic guitar in person, I have a few in Barn that get played (poorly) often, will want to hear every last ounce of sound coming from Lenker’s masterful way with six strings. Here, the Nova III excel as they offer up string, squeak, wooden body, reverb, and decay in real life-like fashion. In addition, the Nova III’s quickness and mastery of micro detail completely captures every edge, twist, and turn of Lanker’s fingerpicking style. When the bells/chimes come in, they do so in beautiful ringing contrast to the specificity of strings. If you revel in the moment, in the near infinite detail of the seemingly simple and the spaces in between, you will appreciate the Nova III and their ability to capture it all, like magic in a bottle.
I love John Prine, how can anyone not love John Prine, and “Boundless Love” from The Tree Of Forgiveness is a tear-jerker nearly every time I play it. Here, I get back that ever so slight midrange reticence I mentioned in that Prine’s voice sounds a bit less chesty than I’m used to, just a bit lighter weight than the Oso or the champ in this regard, DeVore Fidelity O/96. That being said, I am really digging into the comparative weeds here and I have to wonder if this quality would become a nonissue after living with the Nova III over real time and getting more accustomed to all of its particular charms. I bring this up because I believe that would be the case for most people.
“Warm Canto” from Mal Waldron’s The Quest, the record that inspired me to start Twittering Machines back in 2007, features a jazz all stars super group lineup including Eric Dolphy and Ron Cater (on cello), is also a super test track for timbre and timing. While Joe Benjamin on drums and Charlie Persip on double bass hold down the passage of structured time, Dolphy, Carter, Booker Erwin, and Waldron dance over the top, slowing and stretching the pace eliciting Matrix-like wonder. I’ve been using this track as a hifi comparator for well over 10 years, dragging it to hifi shows around the globe, and the Nova III do all of the important parts real justice. The wonderful variation of voice and interplay between double bass and cello, sax and clarinet, coupled with that dance around time are all faithfully reproduced by the Nova III. This translates into edge-of-the-seat listening for me, like a carnival fun house ride with all of the excitement of twists, turns, and sonic surprises leaving me lost in music time, which is exactly where I want to be.
A Feast For the Eyes and Ears
All things considered, and I mean everything including price, the Sonus Faber Nova III are a very easy speaker to recommend. Offering exceptional build quality, elegant looks, and exceptional sound from tippy top to fit bottom, the Nova III seduce rather than reproduce.
Sonus Faber Olympica Nova III
Price: $15,000.00
Specifications
System: 3 way, full para-aperiodic vented box “Stealth Ultraflex”, floorstanding loudspeaker system.
Loudspeakers
Tw: H28 XTR3, Neodymium “cup design” motor system with DAD™, Ø 28 mm
Md: M15 XTR2-04, CCAW wire on a “eddy current free” voice coil, Ø 150 mm
W: 2 x W18XTR2-08, Ø 180 mm
Crossover: 250 Hz – 2.500 Hz
Frequency Response: 35 Hz – 35.000 Hz
Sensitivity: 90 dB SPL (2.83V/1 m)
Nominal Impedance: 4 ohm
Suggested Amplifier Power Output: 50 W – 300 W, without clipping
Dimensions (H x W x D): 1104,5 x 376 x 459,8 mm | 43.5 x 14.8 x 18.1 in
Weight: 35 Kg ea – net weight | 77.1 Ib ea – net weight
Company Website: Sonus Faber