Just Purchased Sonus Faber Oylmpica III's - Need Advice On Best Amplifier Options

Highlander

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Dec 31, 2016
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As the title says, I am the proud owner of a pair of the lovely Sonus Faber Olympica III's, as of yesterday, on a great end of the year deal from an area dealer. I had been auditioning many, many speakers for literally a month (at least 60-70 hours of actual auditioning) and fell in love with these after hearing them extensively on two different sets of electronics. Surprisingly, to my ears, and those of an audiophile companion, the Olympica III's sounded even better (more musical/more lively, more smile inducing) than a pair of the Ellipsa's they were also offering me quite a large discount on. The Olympica's sounded absolutely wonderful being driven by the Audio Research REF75, and even moreso by an incredible McIntosh system composed of the C1100 preamp, and MC1KW monoblocks.

Unfortunately, the REF 75 (an amp I am very fond of) is balanced only, and will not pair with my preamp, and my finances cannot begin to afford that Mac system I noted, sadly.

I would greatly appreciate any insight or expertise you might be able to offer as to some amplifiers to consider which will allow the Olympica III's to truly perform optimally. I've heard that they are not an easy speaker to drive, as they dip down to 2 ohms at times, and have heard, conversely, that they are not that difficult to drive, but do require an amplifier with a lot of gain. A number of people, including the salesman and the tech at the audio salon, have recommended at least 100wpc tube/150wpc solid state. As for my tastes in amplification, I am a longtime tube aficianado, but suspect I may not be able to afford a truly high quality tube amp of sufficient power for this application. A solid state amplifier with a somewhat warm, liquid midrange and sparkling treble would be acceptable. My budget is a maximum of 5k (US) and I would preferably purchase used gear to maximize my chances to acquire the best possible amplifier. Thank you very much for any assistance with this.

JC
 

SoundQcar

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Oct 12, 2011
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I drive my Olympica III's with a Pass Labs X250.8. Excellent match and I seriously couldn't be happier. Without knowing what preamp or front end you're using, a wholesale recommendation is difficult, but a used X150.8 would be within your budget, and could possibly be a very nice pairing.
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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First of all, congrats and happy new year. A great deal is a great way to finish 2016 and to begin 2017! If you are truly impressed by the combination of ARC 75, perhaps you should take it home, hook up your Single Ended Interconnects with a simple RCA-XLR adaptor and see if it works?

I have been using the CJ GAT preamp with a Gryphon Colosseum amp for years now...and in fact, i used to have CJ ACT 2 and Gryphon Antileon...so we are talking all the way back to 2008 or so. At some point, I will have my ICs reterminated when i next upgrade them so that they are SE-XLR, but am extremely happy right now.
 

microstrip

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May 30, 2010
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The Olympica III's are a Sonus Faber best buy - congratulations. They sound excellent with ARC - the best I listened to was using a REF150. As far as I know you can use the REF 75 in SE mode with an adapter - only the older series of ARC amplifiers could not be driven SE.
But for a fantastic match you can try the fabulous SMC Flex Connect/ http://smcaudio.com/products/flex-connect/. Although it is expensive its insertion has improved the sound quality of the systems where I tried it, if using different brands of preamplifier and amplifier.
 

Highlander

Well-Known Member
Dec 31, 2016
63
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133
Thanks to everyone for your excellent and valuable suggestions which I greatly appreciate. I joined this forum after following quite a number of discussions and being consistently impressed by the knowledgeable, friendly and helpful members and my first experience has been in that same vein. I'm very happy to be here.

Just about an hour ago, while checking the new Audiogon listings, I came across a pair of monoblocks that should be an outstanding match for my new speakers and snapped them up immediately. They are the Red Wine Audio Renaissance Edition Lilliana's. These are hybrid, battery powered amplifiers that I heard a few years ago and was remarkably impressed by. At the time, the $6,000.00 cost was simply not within my budget. I got them, in perfect condition, for a mere $2k, which I feel is a steal. If you are not familiar with them I've included part of a review, below, by the very knowledgeable Scott Hull of The Part Time Audiophile, describing them driving the very difficult load presented by the Magnepan 3.7i's (and the Tekton Pendragons). After that, my Olympica III's should be a piece of cake for them.

JC

" Amplifier: Red Wine Audio Liliana

Speaking of tubes ….

Vinnie Rossi of Red Wine Audio has been steadily exploring the limits of battery-powered designs for the better part of the last decade — one of his latest (and currently the most powerful in the lineup) is the Liliana. 115 wpc into 8 ohms and doubling down into 4, the Liliana is a not only battery-driven but features a 12AX7 tube.

The new wooden faceplates add a retro and classy look to the — again — very maneuverable amps. Who says you need big iron to drive your speakers? Ha ha! Seriously — my back was just loving this lineup — and honestly, it’s one of the reasons this whole super-swap was even possible. But I digress … again. Back to the wood — there are a few options available to you, so you can mix and match to your taste. My wife suggested that the amps would look better with wooden knobs, and I promised to pass that along. To be fair, with winter approaching and random static electricity build-ups now arising magically with the cold and the dry, the less metal I have to touch, the better.

Moving from the Veritas to the Liliana was something of a whipsaw — I was clearly back to a “tone amp”. Where the Veritas has created a sense of mastery and control, the Liliana brought organic life to the party. I was immediately struck by how similar the Red Wine sound was to the Odyssey — warm, rich, tonally dense — but it then added another level of refinement and some very welcome top-end finesse.

With my Maggies, I was struck by the sound stage, which seemed to take what the Odyssey offered and built on it, specifically extending it backwards and away — we were going deep and wide, kids. Nice view! Bass was round and fast, and if it wasn’t as controlled as the Veritas, it wasn’t far behind.

With the Tekton, I found the pairing to be just as rewarding — tonally three-dimensional, with a huge sound stage and a non-fatiguing presentation. That latter bit was again reminiscent of the Odysseys, but I found that the sound stage was the least detailed of the group — at least initially. The crickets on Chris Jones’ “Roadhouses and Automobiles” seemed to take a quiet step back, falling deeper into the image.

I was puzzled by this, because with the battery-powered design, I figured we’d be talking “This Void has been brought to you by Blacky Blackerstein”, but that’s not what I was hearing. In fact, I was getting a detail-stealing quiet buzz out of one of the loudspeakers — not audible at the listening position, but there when you got closer. And then I found that hitting the ground lift button on one of the amps’ chargers completely eliminated the little buzz. Ahem. Anyway ….

Contrasted with the Veritas, the presentation was certainly warm if not quite buttery-smooth, but the image of me covered head-to-toe in delicious dairy fresh deliciousness was hard to shake. You’re welcome. Ha!

And that’s when I took that extra step. I sat back, squared my shoulders, and told Sulu to “Engage!”. Okay, no, but it certainly felt like that, after I wandered over to the rack and turned the amplifiers over to “full battery mode”.

Oh myyyy.

The trickle-charger is almost invisible. Almost. But that faint veil, once gone, was actually completely noticeable — especially on a 95dB loudspeaker. The noise floor becomes laughably absent and every bit as empty and hopeless as Clooney spinning off into deep space during Gravity. Detail, formerly obscured, sneaks back into the sound stage, which also manages to take a firm step up to reference-cabliber. The end result was deep, soul-scratching satisfaction.

The only nit? The play time. May be an issue for you, or not, but all-battery mode will not carry me through my all-day blast-a-thon. The manual says 6-8 hours on a charge, and I find that this is a fairly accurate assessment. I’m told that there may be options for those of us with this “issue”, but we’re now way out of scope ….

Honestly, the trickle-charger sounds damn good. But having the all-battery mode “in reserve” kinda makes the Lilianas feel like they’ve got this hidden nitrous injection option. Can’t use it all the time, but when you really need to, you can just nail it and take the performance to eleven. And that is pretty awesome.

Late Edit (1/18/2014): I spent some time swapping tubes — and I’m glad I did. With different tubes, everything changed. Well, no, not everything, but my nits about detail and smoothness were entirely tube dependent. Swapping out the tubes in the amps through a variety of choice vintage selections yielded surprising results. You want quiet? Got it. Want more tone? Got that. Want more bass? Sure, no problem. The trick is finding the “everything” with a single tube — a problem common to all tube rollers. Coolest bit? Tuning to taste. I am going to be really disappointed when these leave!"
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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Congrats and enjoy! Look forward to reading all about it when they arrive.
 

Highlander

Well-Known Member
Dec 31, 2016
63
16
133
Congrats and enjoy! Look forward to reading all about it when they arrive.


Well, after working through some weather issues that affected delivery, the speakers finally made it here. The trained sound technician, who was part of the delivery team stayed and spent close to two hours ensuring that the speakers were optimally placed to his (and my) ears. The Red Wine Lilliana Renaissance monoblock amplifiers arrived later that day, but due to the 5 degree temperatures outside, (and in the back of the FedEx truck, I'm sure) needed quite some time to gradually work their way back to room temperature.

After enough time had passed, I fired everything up, and can honestly say this is the most natural, musical sound I have ever experienced in my room. Sonus Faber says 100 hours of brreakin are necessary, although the sound tech said probably 200. So, things will continue to improve, I expect. I've had a total of three listening sessions and am extremely happy with what I hear. The speakers are also works of art themselves and really lovely, even if they cannot quite match the Stradivari, Amati, and Aida for sheer splendor and grandeur of appearance. Of course there are cars that cannot manage that either and some of those speakers cost about as much. :)

I am also absolutely thrilled with the performance of the amplifiers. Everything that Scott Hull of The Part Time Audiophile" described (that I included in my previous comments) is carrying through in my system.

Now my only equipment related concern is whether a pair of the Nordost Frey 2 speaker cables, available locally for well less than half of retail price, would possibly be an improvement over my current SILNOTE AUDIO Poseidon Ultra Reference MKII Speaker Cables.

JC
 

DaveyF

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Jul 31, 2010
6,129
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458
La Jolla, Calif USA
Well, after working through some weather issues that affected delivery, the speakers finally made it here. The trained sound technician, who was part of the delivery team stayed and spent close to two hours ensuring that the speakers were optimally placed to his (and my) ears. The Red Wine Lilliana Renaissance monoblock amplifiers arrived later that day, but due to the 5 degree temperatures outside, (and in the back of the FedEx truck, I'm sure) needed quite some time to gradually work their way back to room temperature.

After enough time had passed, I fired everything up, and can honestly say this is the most natural, musical sound I have ever experienced in my room. Sonus Faber says 100 hours of brreakin are necessary, although the sound tech said probably 200. So, things will continue to improve, I expect. I've had a total of three listening sessions and am extremely happy with what I hear. The speakers are also works of art themselves and really lovely, even if they cannot quite match the Stradivari, Amati, and Aida for sheer splendor and grandeur of appearance. Of course there are cars that cannot manage that either and some of those speakers cost about as much. :)

I am also absolutely thrilled with the performance of the amplifiers. Everything that Scott Hull of The Part Time Audiophile" described (that I included in my previous comments) is carrying through in my system.

Now my only equipment related concern is whether a pair of the Nordost Frey 2 speaker cables, available locally for well less than half of retail price, would possibly be an improvement over my current SILNOTE AUDIO Poseidon Ultra Reference MKII Speaker Cables.

JC

JC, SF speakers and Nordost cables work very synergistically. I think you would get an excellent and noticeable improvement by replacing your current cables with the Frey 2. If you can source them at 1/2 off retail, then IMO they are a no-brainer.
 

Highlander

Well-Known Member
Dec 31, 2016
63
16
133
JC, SF speakers and Nordost cables work very synergistically. I think you would get an excellent and noticeable improvement by replacing your current cables with the Frey 2. If you can source them at 1/2 off retail, then IMO they are a no-brainer.

Oops, my mistake. Guess I wasn't quit as awake as I thought late last night. The cables I have access to, at that discount, are a demo pair of the Heimdall 2. I'm guessing the same synergy with those, even though they are one model lower on the Nordost chain than the Frey?

JC
 

SoundQcar

Well-Known Member
Oct 12, 2011
52
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Half Moon Bay, Ca
Oops, my mistake. Guess I wasn't quit as awake as I thought late last night. The cables I have access to, at that discount, are a demo pair of the Heimdall 2. I'm guessing the same synergy with those, even though they are one model lower on the Nordost chain than the Frey?

JC

Nothing wrong with the Heimdall 2's. I had those for awhile with the Olympica III's, and they work great together. When a very good deal for Valhalla's came up, I upgraded. Same basic signature, just more of it.
 

Highlander

Well-Known Member
Dec 31, 2016
63
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133
Nothing wrong with the Heimdall 2's. I had those for awhile with the Olympica III's, and they work great together. When a very good deal for Valhalla's came up, I upgraded. Same basic signature, just more of it.

Thanks. Just closed the deal on the Heimdall 2's, at a bit more than 50% off (these were demo's from Nordost). Also, no shipping costs or delays, as I can drive down and pick them up from the dealer.

JC
 

SoundQcar

Well-Known Member
Oct 12, 2011
52
15
913
Half Moon Bay, Ca
I hope you'll find the Heimdall's to your liking with the S.F.'s. Congrats.
 

Highlander

Well-Known Member
Dec 31, 2016
63
16
133
I hope you'll find the Heimdall's to your liking with the S.F.'s. Congrats.


Unfortunately, the Nordost cables, while bringing a new found amount of detail to the sound, were, in the end, simply too bright in my system. I had a lengthy listening session with a good audiophile friend whose ears I know, and trust, and we both had exactly the same reaction. When we finally replaced them with my original cables, things improved immediately and the excess brightness was gone. I realize that success is entirely system dependent, and I rolled the dice, based on Nordost's reputation and history, and simply came up empty this time. Hopefully I can resell these and recover the funding.

JC
 

Frank750

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Jul 8, 2011
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Unfortunately, the Nordost cables, while bringing a new found amount of detail to the sound, were, in the end, simply too bright in my system. I had a lengthy listening session with a good audiophile friend whose ears I know, and trust, and we both had exactly the same reaction. When we finally replaced them with my original cables, things improved immediately and the excess brightness was gone. I realize that success is entirely system dependent, and I rolled the dice, based on Nordost's reputation and history, and simply came up empty this time. Hopefully I can resell these and recover the funding.JC

I think the cables would have benefited from at least another couple of days to settle in.
 

SoundQcar

Well-Known Member
Oct 12, 2011
52
15
913
Half Moon Bay, Ca
Sorry to hear that they didn't work for you. Cables are definitely a synergistic beast, not a cure all for every system to be sure.
 

DaveyF

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Jul 31, 2010
6,129
181
458
La Jolla, Calif USA
Unfortunately, the Nordost cables, while bringing a new found amount of detail to the sound, were, in the end, simply too bright in my system. I had a lengthy listening session with a good audiophile friend whose ears I know, and trust, and we both had exactly the same reaction. When we finally replaced them with my original cables, things improved immediately and the excess brightness was gone. I realize that success is entirely system dependent, and I rolled the dice, based on Nordost's reputation and history, and simply came up empty this time. Hopefully I can resell these and recover the funding.

JC

Highlander, one of the problems with going to a more resolving component or cable is that all upstream components are put under a magnifier. If any of them have a coloration, that coloration is going to be exposed! I suspect that you actually were hearing the 'true' sound of your amp and/or preamp with the Nordost. Like you said everything is system dependent. Personally, I would have looked at replacing the amp and/ or the preamp instead of the cables in order to be able to enjoy the greater resolution while addressing the brightness problem.:D
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
14,376
2,497
1,398
Well, after working through some weather issues that affected delivery, the speakers finally made it here. The trained sound technician, who was part of the delivery team stayed and spent close to two hours ensuring that the speakers were optimally placed to his (and my) ears. The Red Wine Lilliana Renaissance monoblock amplifiers arrived later that day, but due to the 5 degree temperatures outside, (and in the back of the FedEx truck, I'm sure) needed quite some time to gradually work their way back to room temperature.

After enough time had passed, I fired everything up, and can honestly say this is the most natural, musical sound I have ever experienced in my room. Sonus Faber says 100 hours of brreakin are necessary, although the sound tech said probably 200. So, things will continue to improve, I expect. I've had a total of three listening sessions and am extremely happy with what I hear. The speakers are also works of art themselves and really lovely, even if they cannot quite match the Stradivari, Amati, and Aida for sheer splendor and grandeur of appearance. Of course there are cars that cannot manage that either and some of those speakers cost about as much. :)

I am also absolutely thrilled with the performance of the amplifiers. Everything that Scott Hull of The Part Time Audiophile" described (that I included in my previous comments) is carrying through in my system.

Now my only equipment related concern is whether a pair of the Nordost Frey 2 speaker cables, available locally for well less than half of retail price, would possibly be an improvement over my current SILNOTE AUDIO Poseidon Ultra Reference MKII Speaker Cables.

JC

Great news! somehow missed this post, and saw your more recent adventures in cabling. What is the rest of your system again? Redwine, Olympica and...? Ultimately, you are finetuning i suppose at this stage, and surprisingly, that is a very important part of the balancing act. I have only ever heard Nordost a few times, and only once seriously auditioned (a 2nd hand Valhalla digital cable vs TA Ref digital...kept the Valhalla even though we use TA everywhere else in the system).

Take your time with cables.
 

Frank750

VIP/Donor
Jul 8, 2011
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They came directly from a local vendor who had over 1000 hours of burn in on them.

JC

I understand they were already broken in but some cables, especially Nordost, need time to settle again after moving.
 

Highlander

Well-Known Member
Dec 31, 2016
63
16
133
Great news! somehow missed this post, and saw your more recent adventures in cabling. What is the rest of your system again? Redwine, Olympica and...? Ultimately, you are finetuning i suppose at this stage, and surprisingly, that is a very important part of the balancing act. I have only ever heard Nordost a few times, and only once seriously auditioned (a 2nd hand Valhalla digital cable vs TA Ref digital...kept the Valhalla even though we use TA everywhere else in the system).

Take your time with cables.

The system consists of a PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium preamp, the RedWine Lilliana Renaissance Edition monoblocks, a ModWright Elyse DAC, an Aurender N100 connected via a Mutec MC3+USB, and the Olympica III's. And yes, you're correct, I am in the fine tuning stage. I had hoped the Heimdall 2's would represent an upgrade, but the sound is far better overall, more natural and musical, with the Silnote Poseidon Ultra Reference MKII cables previously in use.

JC
 

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