Olympica Nova III or V?


Hi there everyone,

I have an option to buy either the Sonus Faber Olympica Nova III or Nova V. We have a 19.6’ by 22.9’ living area (6mx7m). Ceiling is sloaping, loft-style 1 1/2 volume. I love the Nova but I don’t have the opportunity to demo these in the space unfortunately. I’m also limited in how far forward from the walls I can place them. 
 

Do I go III and risk it sounding thin, or V and risk being overwhelming for room?

 

Which would you recommend if it were your decision? Any advice would be welcome! 

 

any comments or feedback would be great. 

stephenwerner

@stephenwerner During my demo, the Nova 3 and V 

Both demonstrate the Sonus Faber house sound I am not a fan of.

 

Initially was a fine presentation on sections of the song that had a lot of harmonics but became grating over time.started becoming edgy, clanky, piercing, edgy and clenched sounding and this was with the prescribed amps being used in the demo. Dealer said those amps "matched the synergy"

 

Unfortunately, they didn’t to my ears. It initially always starts as a wow microscopic view on the overtones, brass instruments and sounded clear but with each song I played, that colouration lost its novelty fast.

 

Never liked them. Can wow on first listen but stay with it and it becomes a niggling annoyance in the upper registers of frequency response.

That’s just my singular opinion though as I feel you can do much better for the asking price unless you don't index for tonal balance. Others may chime in.

Great question, and you’re right to think objectively.

Based on your dimensions, the room is certainly not small or constrained. The added height from the loft effect will increase the sense of air and spaciousness, but also means bass energy can “escape” upward instead of loading up as much as in a sealed low-ceiling room.  So the room itself leans toward being able to support a larger speaker without immediately overwhelming you.

It is 'generally' recommended to have the Nova V's two to three ft from a rear wall. However, I live in an apartment with a lounge area slightly smaller than yours and placed my Nova Vs about 1.5ft from the rear wall, without any compromise or negative impact. It sounds phenomenal.  I auditioned both Nova III & V, and without a doubt the V outperforms the III in every way. There is no 'boomy' bass or bass bloat - at least not in my system (feel free to check out my complete system on my profile).

That being said, one cannot detetermine suitability without evaluating the source and amplification as a complete cohesive system - and understanding how to get the best out of the complete design. With a McIntosh MC611 driving each Nova V, I intentionally wired each speaker to the 2ohm tap, instead of the 4ohm tap (McIntosh Autoformer capability). This allows my MC611s to behave as if it’s driving a more difficult load, so it “over-supplies” current to my Nova V. In my system this translates to a tighter, more controlled bass and a sense of ease on dynamic swings. The higher damping factor also prevents the Nova Vs from sounding loose or bloated. 

The Nova IIIs are designed to fill medium to medium-large rooms with balance. They are tighter, quite forgiving in placement, without risk of overloading a room. If you listen at moderate levels and want easier placement, the Nova III is the safer bet. If you want to enjoy moderate, as well as dynamic scaled audio, the Nova V will not dissapoint in any way.

hope that helps

 

 

My room is 16 x 28, 10 feet of that being behind my listening chair. I auditioned the V’s and fell in love with them. And after years of searching for the right speaker at the budget I had to work with, I decided to buy the III’s as they were still more than I had budgeted. The dealer told me that if I found the III’s to fall short, he’d let me upgrade.

But I decided that these were more than adequate across the board, in fact a few of my listening buddies insisted I had done a great job incorporating my sub, but my sub is only active in 5.1! 
 Then about 6 months in I upgraded my speaker cables from Cardas Golden Cross to the ClearReflection which immediately added bass that is well beyond my expectations, not to mention the mids entered the soundstage more prominently placed and the highs backed down just the right amount.
But as mentioned above, due to your room volume, I would go V if you have the means. You can always dampen the bass with acoustic absorbing effects, but can’t add it. I just got lucky with my system. Other factors amplification, cables etc.as you know will contribute to the overall result.  As they say better to have it and not need it, rather than need it and not have it.

Good luck and I have never looked back on buying Sonus Faber 

Get the V's.  Even at low leveling listening, they would be so much more enjoyable.

I have had the Vs for several years and never thought about upgrading my speakers.   Tweak your source/DAC stuff to move up the listening ladder.