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

Highlander

Well-Known Member
Dec 31, 2016
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I understand they were already broken in but some cables, especially Nordost, need time to settle again after moving.

I decided to give them another chance, and connected them back up last night, and had them burning in for about twelve hours in the system. No audible change from yesterday's experience when I checked a bit earlier..

JC
 

Highlander

Well-Known Member
Dec 31, 2016
63
16
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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

While I appreciate your thoughts on the matter, I can tell you that the amps and preamp are not, and have never been remotely bright regardless of what they were connected to, and I have tried quite a number of things. They sound superb with the existing cables, and several others, including a pair of Audioquest cables which a friend loaned me (which I unfortunately cannot afford).

JC
 

DaveyF

Well-Known Member
Jul 31, 2010
6,129
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La Jolla, Calif USA
While I appreciate your thoughts on the matter, I can tell you that the amps and preamp are not, and have never been remotely bright regardless of what they were connected to, and I have tried quite a number of things. They sound superb with the existing cables, and several others, including a pair of Audioquest cables which a friend loaned me (which I unfortunately cannot afford).

JC

Nordost are well known as being a cable that will not hide any warts at all in a system...none. SF's are somewhat speced on the warm side of neutral. IME, one of the biggest improvements due to the Nordost cables over the typical copper cable that is round round ( vs. ribbon) is the 'speed' of delivery that one notices. I say 'speed' as this term seems to apply to these cables. I replaced a very high end pair of Cardas cables with my first Nordost loom, the difference in 'speed' and overall resolution was immediately apparent. As you go up the line with Nordost, you notice even more resolution...but not necessarily 'speed'.
A 'slow' cable..and i use this word 'slow' to reflect my personal feelings on the difference, is a cable like Cardas or IME...Audioquest. Many will probably disagree with this, but I feel that there is too much loss of information and "speed" with these types of designs. YMMV.
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
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While I appreciate your thoughts on the matter, I can tell you that the amps and preamp are not, and have never been remotely bright regardless of what they were connected to, and I have tried quite a number of things. They sound superb with the existing cables, and several others, including a pair of Audioquest cables which a friend loaned me (which I unfortunately cannot afford).

JC

Yes, i could believe that. I know this was addressed to Davey before you'd disclosed your equipment. In fact, the reason I asked about your system component to check if there were any ostensibly bright components by reputation or that i'd heard elsewhere. i would not be surprised at all if you are totally correct about your equipment. So if the cable sounds the same in the morning, it seems it does not work for you. Take your time...you might have the right cable already for you. Or you might possibly try Cardas neutral just for fun. I have little experience with cables other than Transparent Audio, a bit of Purist Audio (mainly PCs) and 1 Valhalla and 1 Cardas Neutral (both were digital cables).
 

joey_v

Well-Known Member
Nov 30, 2015
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I also have the Sonus Faber Olympica 3... I have it paired with the big beefy Rotel RA1592 integrated, it's for my family room and I needed the swiss army knife features of the Rotel to make it work.

Congrats on a fine speaker choice.

Btw, I run AQ cabling, I don't find them slow at all.
 

Highlander

Well-Known Member
Dec 31, 2016
63
16
133
I also have the Sonus Faber Olympica 3... I have it paired with the big beefy Rotel RA1592 integrated, it's for my family room and I needed the swiss army knife features of the Rotel to make it work.

Congrats on a fine speaker choice.

Btw, I run AQ cabling, I don't find them slow at all.

Thank Joey. I'm extremely happy with the speakers. Just disappointed on how the gamble on the Nordost cables turned out. Oh well, yet another item to put out there on Audiogon.

JC
 

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