I own the Sonus Faber
Olympic II Speakers and like them very much. They provide great musical sound and I highly recommend them. I am using Hypex NCore NC400
Bridged Mono Block class D Power Amplifiers to drive these speakers. The addition of these power amplifiers (no pre-amp) into my system provide more natural sound, clearer music, more bass, an overall lack of
noise, excellent dynamics and musical details. Another layer of sound is also presented
WITHOUT THE pre-amplifier in the system. My Bricasti M1 DAC (with a volume control) is going direct into these power amplifiers.
I compared them to the Sonus Faber Olympic III Speakers and decided there was too much bass in the Sonus Faber Olympic III Speakers for my space. In addition, the Sonus Faber Olympic III Speakers were large and not a good fit for my living room (not a dedicated space). The Sonus Faber Olympic III Speakers are excellent but my sense is they require a large space to really sound good (you need to verify this in your own space).
Speaker selection is not an easy process so I suggest you listen to the speakers you are interested in and not rush the process. I suggest you listen to several songs from 3 of your favorite albums to help you decide. Unfortunately, this might take several listening sessions since sometimes I really liked a speaker on one day and did not like it during other listening sessions. The main point is you have to listen to music you are familiar to ensure you make the right decision. Comments from Audiogon are interesting but you have to make your own decision based on your existing equipment, space and listening experiences. Please let us know what you decide.
I compared them to the Sonus Faber Olympic III Speakers and decided there was too much bass in the Sonus Faber Olympic III Speakers for my space. In addition, the Sonus Faber Olympic III Speakers were large and not a good fit for my living room (not a dedicated space). The Sonus Faber Olympic III Speakers are excellent but my sense is they require a large space to really sound good (you need to verify this in your own space).
Speaker selection is not an easy process so I suggest you listen to the speakers you are interested in and not rush the process. I suggest you listen to several songs from 3 of your favorite albums to help you decide. Unfortunately, this might take several listening sessions since sometimes I really liked a speaker on one day and did not like it during other listening sessions. The main point is you have to listen to music you are familiar to ensure you make the right decision. Comments from Audiogon are interesting but you have to make your own decision based on your existing equipment, space and listening experiences. Please let us know what you decide.