Pimp my speakers: Sonus Faber vs. Focal

I have owned Sonus Faber Cremona, Olympica 3, and now Amati Traditional. I listen to Jazz, World, Blues, Electronic, Classical, and Rock.

I bet those Amatis are incredible!  What the SF house sound like?

I listened to both and am waiting for the Olympica III’s to ship in. Although the Kantas offered more bass, I found the highs to be a little aggressive and the Olympicas more musical, natural and relaxing.

Just reviewed speakers with my wife tonight. She’s sold on bumping up to the Sonus Faber Olympica Nova V. Woohoo!

bigtex22,

lol!, if you got the wife involved it has to be Sonus Faber. They look amazing and sound good too.


After demoing the Olympica III among others I bought Revel 228bes but my wife still talks about putting Olympica’s in the living room (the revels are in the basement theater). She can’t remember the name just the looks lol.

Yes every woman's dream is a flashy Italian model adorning the living room. She made the right choice. Don't feel bad though. She chose you too.

The Sonus Faber sound is, of coarse, dependent on what you feed them. They are coherent from top to bottom and are overwhelmingly musical. While earlier models had a notable bit of warmth, newer ones are pretty neutral. When I compared the sound of different speakers in the same price range, I concluded the incredible finished exterior is free.

I think they do all types of music well.

About ten years ago, I realized there was something wrong with my end goal, my steps improved the sound quality, but I wasn’t sure it was getting better. My problem had been that when I improved my system, one kind of music would get better and several other kinds would lose something. So I started listening to live acoustic music, Jazz, and classical mostly. Immediately some Sonus Faber speakers I had heard years earlier that had stuck in my mind for there unique sound (not good or bad… just very different) popped into my mind… this response was very strong.. especially for a random audition years ago. To test my theory I bought a used pair of SF Cremona. I was shocked… that was it… the real sound of music. I dumped my ribbon speakers (I had been a planar guy for decades) and ordered a pair of Olympica 3… from the first shipment that was currently on water, going to the West coast. They were way better than the Cremona. I was very happy. The character of my system took a huge jump towards musical. Much better rhythm and pace, top to bottom coherency.

Over the next ten years I slowly swapped out components, moving toward better components that sounded more natural. So, instead of each move giving better imaging and more slam with a cost to something else. Each move, made all music types better, technically imaging and bass got better also. This had been what was missing. My system sounded more musical with the SF and each component change just made them better. Finally my electronics were better than the Olympica, so I move up to Amati… wow, did that make an improvement. My system actually has more detail, images better, and has better bass than ever before. Only, the details don’t stick out at you… they are there, just in the same way as they are there in real live music. It is easy to chase obvious sound characteristics and loose the real point… music. For me Sonus Faber you get it all in appropriate perspective. And the simple gorgeous fit and finish is free.


My audio guy prefers my system to any he has put together or owns. He occasionally will come over to evaluate flagship components.

I have always liked Sonus.  They are built to a different standard.   My Dads Concerto still sound great and they have to be over 20 years old.   I bought them on the old Want Ad weekly for $1000 with stands.  What a great deal that was.      I would love to find a pair of Cremona used locally....  I am always looking but they seldom pop up used

Well, I just put my 50% down on my order.  Got the Sonus Faber Olympica Nova 5s and a new Roon Nucleus + server.  Can’t wait until they get in!

That will be a great purchase for a longtime, enjoy. 
I might have gone that roughy if I was not worried about the kiddos and what they call “grills”.  

Congrats on the Nova 5's!  Thanks for the thread, as I'm also currently going between Focal and Sonus Faber.  I'm interested in Sonetto VIII, but you cannot find nice used sets and the list price is $7k.  For that much money or less, you can find nice used sets of Kanta 2! 

OP congradulations.