FWIW, I demo'd the Sonus Faber Olympica III and PSB Imagine T3 side by side and from what I heard, there is no comparison. Not that more money necessarily means a better product, but the O3 tweeter and in-house developed cross-overs, technology, construction and design truly set it apart. A local audio store helped me with the comparison. Both speakers were hooked up to Bryston amp/pre amp set up (not sure model), set at same sound settings, and played the exact same digital FLAC playlists from opera, Movie soundtracks, vocal jazz, instrumentals, rock, rap and metal. I spent about an hour with each pair. Without a doubt, the O3s had such a tremendous presence with wide soundstage, open sound, clarity and precision that the PSB just couldn't keep up with. PSB makes a good speaker, but not great when compared to these from SF. They sounded muddled and boomy, with a decided lack of depth and dimension, The vocal clarity wasn't there, and the midrange was cloudy sounding. I don't pretend to know about the technical side of sound and how to sonically compare and describe the differences--you just have to sit and compare for yourself.
I owned pair of SF Venere 3.0 for about a year and a half, and knew I wanted to stay with this brand at least for now. I liked the sound of the Venere, and these were my first foray into better quality speakers. My set up is 18X15 room with furniture that acts as acoustic treatments, one James 15 inch subwoofer EMB-15 I believe, KimberKable and preamp/amp from Marantz 8801/8807. Obviously not super high-end equipment to drive these, but I want to get to know the sound with what I have first, then change things up a bit. I did end up purchasing the O3 from classified from this site (The seller, suspect1977, was tremendous by the way). I can't tell you how happy I am with these speakers--a logarithmic improvement in sound. I think the Marantz amps provide enough power, and to my ears, sound as good as I remembered the Bryston sounding. A big jump in price, but everyone has their pressure points and desire to improve just a little more...These speakers will be with me for a while, and I'll explore different amps or cables along the way.
PS> If anyone cares to suggest upgraded amp/preamp pairing with these speakers, I'm all ears.:) Since I just blew a wad of cash on these speakers, lets keep the price range say 8-10K? For NEXT YEAR...
I owned pair of SF Venere 3.0 for about a year and a half, and knew I wanted to stay with this brand at least for now. I liked the sound of the Venere, and these were my first foray into better quality speakers. My set up is 18X15 room with furniture that acts as acoustic treatments, one James 15 inch subwoofer EMB-15 I believe, KimberKable and preamp/amp from Marantz 8801/8807. Obviously not super high-end equipment to drive these, but I want to get to know the sound with what I have first, then change things up a bit. I did end up purchasing the O3 from classified from this site (The seller, suspect1977, was tremendous by the way). I can't tell you how happy I am with these speakers--a logarithmic improvement in sound. I think the Marantz amps provide enough power, and to my ears, sound as good as I remembered the Bryston sounding. A big jump in price, but everyone has their pressure points and desire to improve just a little more...These speakers will be with me for a while, and I'll explore different amps or cables along the way.
PS> If anyone cares to suggest upgraded amp/preamp pairing with these speakers, I'm all ears.:) Since I just blew a wad of cash on these speakers, lets keep the price range say 8-10K? For NEXT YEAR...