Sonus Faber Olympica III vs. Focal Electra 1038BE

Very different sounding speakers.

For one, the 1038be is hopefully the 1038be2 -- a far better version with a bigger tweeter and not as bright.  The 1038 is an incredible speaker but needs to be paired properly, and lots of time needs to be spent on room placement (and some room treatment).  Most speakers should, but these benefit from it more than usual.  There is a way to get them locked into the room where they become genuinely laidback  and absolutely stunning.  Extremely extremely musical.  The only problem is it's hard to achieve this and almost seems to happen by accident.

At that price range, I would absolutely be looking into the Kanta no2 (or wait for the no3), or a used pair of Sopra no2s.  Sopra is a more laid back speaker than electra but also needs placement/synergy to sound its best and not "bright."  They are incredible speakers and there is a reason you see them in so many rooms at audio shows. Kanta is in a lot of ways even more "musical" than the Sopra and you might actually like them better.

Try to find a place that has Kanta's and the Olympicas to compare.  Or even better -- Kanta, Electra, and Olympica.  :)  All are great speakers -- I would personally lean towards the Kanta or Sopra myself.

thank you for your perspective.  what is your perspective on the Olympica III being "laid back" and lacking detail?

You don’t say what types of music you like. It makes a difference. No speaker does everything just right.

I went from Martin Logan SL3 to Sonus Faber Elipsa SE speakers. My electronics are all Audio Research. It was hard to a find box speaker that I liked for anywhere near a reasonable price. I always thought it was either a sideways move or I just preferred my SL3s. I finally ended my search when I heard the Elipsa SE. Sonus Faber speakers are not overly analytical. They are smooth and just get the timbre right. I remember reading a review that said, Some speakers sound one way and some speakers another. But Sonus Faber speakers just sound like music. I have found this to be true.

My Audio Research dealer carries both Focal and Sonus Faber. I have heard the Olympica lll a number of times, they are very nice sounding speakers. But I would not buy any speakers at this level without hearing how they sounded in my system.

I have both sets of these speakers. I use the focals in my home theatre and the Olympicas in my audio set up. For music, the Sonus Fabers are a better speaker. I run them with an Airtight ATM 2 tube amp so they make a warm sound but all in it’s just right. Still, the focals are a very good and accurate speaker. It’s just that for music they can be fatiguing. 

I've actually owned both speakers for considerably long periods of time. I've also owned a number of other "high end" brands. And to be perfectly honest with you, there's not much difference in the two. They both become sort of "intoxicating" while listening for long periods of time. To say that the 1038's are fatiguing is not accurate at all. In fact they are the least fatiguing of all of the brands that I've ever owned except, maybe, for the OIII's. Actually, the only reason I sold the OIII's was to purchase a pair of the 1038BE's for a $6,300 (delivered and set up). I also inquired  about the 1038BE "version 2" argument. I spoke with several Focal distributors people at the time who know all about Focal and was told that 1038 was actually the upgrade of the 1037. And since I bought the 1038's at the very end of the production life for the Electras, it didn't seem logical that Focal would create a version 2 of the 1038's while creating the Focal Sopras and Kantas and discontinuing the entrire Electra line.

Back to the original question; I think that the focals are a much better looking speaker by far, so I would have to choose them. Both pairs were in the "piano black" finish. However I wouldn't toss either pair for anything else. They provide excellent detail, soundstage and drive. Just my humble and honest opinion. I think you would have a very hard time finding a better speaker that affordable. 

Why in the world do people dig up these old threads is just beyond me.

^^^^^
....to correct your mis-information. There is no "2" version....

contuzzi maybe because a Google search about a product they are interested in led him here/there.  Have a cup of coffee  :)