2. speakers
  3. 128669-388

Sonus Faber Olympica II Speakers vs. something else?

I visited my retailer recently and asked some questions about my Aurender N10 I purchased from them. During the conversation, they recommended I listen to the Wilson Audio Sabrina speaker as a replacement for the Sonus Faber Olympica II speakers.  I have listened to various Wilson Audio speakers before and did not like the way they sounded.  I have not heard the Sabrina and probably should (maybe).

My friend suggests the PMC twenty .26 speaker (he owns them) is an excellent replacement for my Sonus Faber speakers.  He claims the "PMC speaker does what it supposed to do by faithfully reproducing the input signal regardless of genre of music.   He feels the PMC .26 is very musical and sounds natural".  

While I am not unhappy with my Sonus Faber Olympica II Speakers, it might be interesting to hear the speakers mentioned above, or maybe some other speaker options.  My speakers are in my living room and any new speaker needs to be approximately the same size as my Sonus Faber Olympica II Speakers (41.5” high, 14.5” wide and 17” deep.  Since my wife needs to approve the size, I am trying to keep the same speaker size I already have (approximately).

My system includes the Aurender N10 Music Server, the Bricasti M1 SE DAC and Hypex NCore NC400 Bridged Mono Block class D Power Amplifiers.  I am not using a preamplifier since the Bricasti DAC is going direct to my Hypex NCore power amplifiers.   All connections are using James Romeyn Pure Balanced POWer Fully Balanced Interconnect cables with Cardas Rhodium XLR Connectors.   

Do you have any comments regarding the speakers mentioned above or any suggestions of speakers I should listen to?  Thanks.

hgeifman
mtrot
804 posts
 
Lots of nice options suggested here.  In the $7K size and price range, I'd certainly try out a set of Legacy Audio Signature SE.  You get the Air Motion ribbon tweeter and mid tweeter, as well as true 22Hz bass response.  I was able to do some extensive listening to the Signature SE in Black Onyx(which is absolutely gorgeous) and the sound is fantastic from top to bottom frequencies.  The only reason I did not buy a set is that I'm looking to pick up a set of the Focus SE.

If you're going up to the price and size range of the Dynaudio Contour 60, you may as well go all out and get the Legacy Audio Focus SE, which brings an additional mid-woofer and two 12" bass woofers, which brings bass response down to 18Hz.  I recently heard the Focus SE playing the Sheffield Lab direct to disc LP of Harry James & His Big Band -- the king james version.  Man, that is one dynamic recording and I could swear Harry was in the room with us!  The whole band just sounded fantastic.
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
You might want to see if you can get your ears on a pair of DeVore Fidelity gibbon X's.
About the same price as the Sabrina's, but easier on the eyes and ears, IMHO.
44”H x 9”W x 17.5”D (not including feet).
marqmike
838 posts
 
Those are awesome speakers. Did you try several amps with them. I wonder if a different amp would improve those speakers quite a bit.  
4425
861 posts
 
You owe it to yourself to audition Revel especially the new model using the beryllium tweeter. Kevin Voecks is a genius with tons of money behind him. The cabinets are gorgeous as well. 
david12
1,454 posts
 

I have heard The Olympica II's and the Sabrina in adjacent rooms at a small dealer's show and there was no comparison. Both are lovely speakers and at the price the Sonus Faber are great sounding, but the Sabrinas on the end of ARC amps, which they seem to suit, were quite exceptional, room filling, detailed, very dynamic.

 However and there is always a "however", the price is way outside my pay grade. I would certainly like a pair, but I will wait till they start appearing second hand, perhaps when the Sabrina II, comes out and there is always a II, even 3, with Wilson.

More to discover