Sonus Faber Olympica G3 III review

At What Hi-Fi? we feel very few mainstream speaker manufacturers can hold a candle to Sonus Faber when it comes to visual flair. Luxury detail, unusual natural materials and innate appreciation of fine aesthetics have been baked into the Italian brand’s DNA from the very beginning in 1983.

These Olympica G3 III floorstanders are a great example of the company’s wares. They are part of the Italian brand’s new high-end Olympica range that sits around halfway up the company’s speaker hierarchy.

This third-generation range consists of five models, with the Olympica III on test here being the smaller of two floorstanding choices. They are complemented by a standmount, a dedicated centre speaker and an on-wall model that’s ideal for surround duties. It can be used as an unobtrusive option where space is tight too.

While their sophisticated aesthetics grab our attention first, these Olympica towers also feature an impressive amount of technology and clever engineering.

Build

In basic terms, they are relatively compact three-way floorstanders for the money. Their 110.4cm height is pretty modest by class standards, and their slim proportions mean that they are unlikely to dominate in all but the smallest of rooms. Not all high-end customers are blessed with huge listening spaces, after all.

Sonus Faber are past masters at integrating a range of materials to produce a cohesive and stylish whole, and that is the case here. We love the Olympica G3’s mix of wood, aluminium and leather. The III’s appearance is classy and elegant, yet refreshingly understated.

Their curved cabinet feels immensely rigid and is covered in a nicely matched high-quality walnut veneer. Its shape not only looks elegant, but it reduces the build-up of internal standing waves. There is also a darker wenge finish option for those who prefer a less traditional look.

Neat details abound, from the inlaid metal branding on the top panel to the neat, leather-covered baffle around the tweeter and midrange. Lovely.

Design

The Olympica G3 III’s drive units, particularly the midrange and tweeter, deserve a careful look. The ‘Camelia’ midrange design was originally developed for the brand’s flagship speaker system, the Suprema, which retailed for £695,000 / $750,000 on launch back in 2024.

If you are a keen gardener, you will know that Camelia (often spelt with a double l) is a rather pretty flower. The Olympica G3 III’s unpainted, white paper pulp midrange cone is shaped like its namesake. Its distinctive geometry is claimed to avoid the resonances of a conventional circular cone and so produces cleaner, less distorted results. This 16.5cm driver has a solid aluminium phase plug at the centre to help improve dispersion at the top end of its operating range.

If you were to remove the drive unit from the cabinet, you would find it and the tweeter have a dedicated closed enclosure, which is damped by a specially developed cork structure. The cork’s curved shape and innate properties reduce standing waves and minimise structural resonances.

The midrange crosses over to a 28mm silk dome tweeter at around 2.5kHz. This tweeter uses Sonus Faber’s unusual Damped Apex Dome (DAD) technology, where the movement of the dome centre – the part that is least well controlled – is restricted by a small damping cone that’s supported by the metal band that sits vertically over the driver. The advantages of DAD are claimed to be reduced distortion and greater clarity.

Those twin 16.5cm paper cone bass drivers take over below 365Hz. These are tuned by a rear-firing port that is mounted asymmetrically on the back of the speaker. This arrangement opens up interesting possibilities as far as positioning is concerned.

The Olympica G3 III isn’t an unusually difficult speaker load for an amplifier to drive. Its sensitivity is a healthy 90dB/W/m, and while the nominal impedance is a lowish 4ohms, most price-compatible amplifiers will be fine with it.

In our 3 x 7 x 5m test room, these floorstanders sound best with a bit of space to breathe. We have them around 70cm out from the wall and well away from the room corners. At first we tried them with the rear ports pointing inwards, but this results in a congested and ponderous low-end that doesn’t integrate well with the midrange.

Switching the speakers around so that the ports fire outwards fixes those issues, giving more balanced and agile results. Regardless, these floorstanders still need a notable amount of toe-in towards the listening position to render a solid and focused soundstage.

Given the price point, it doesn’t make any sense to short-change these speakers. They deserve top-class partnering equipment, even if their relatively unfussy nature means that they will produce decent results with more modest partners.

Our system is Naim’s ND 555/ 555 PS DR music streamer and a Technics SL-1000R/Kiseki Purpleheart record player feeding a Burmester 088/911MKIII amplifier. We also try an Audio Research LS-2/S-200 pre/power and a PMC Cor integrated to hear how the Sonus Faber handles more modest electronics.

Sound

The first word that comes to mind is balance. The sound of these speakers is defined by a broad range of strengths rather than a specific superpower. Despite their relatively modest dimensions (by class standards), these towers produce a large-scale sound with plenty of authority. They go loud when the music demands and do it with suitable grace, holding off hardness and unwanted aggression well, even at higher volumes.

The quartet of drivers are seamlessly integrated, gelling to an extent where it becomes genuinely hard to pinpoint where one hands over to the other. That sense of balance extends to the frequency range. While we wouldn’t describe these speakers as wholly neutral, their character is likeable, blending solidity with plenty of refinement and bite. Indeed, be warned that the tweeter can be provoked into sounding a little spiky with poor recordings or aggressive partnering equipment.

The Olympica III’s low-end is taut and tuneful, tracking the undulating bassline of Michael Jackson’s Who Is It well. It is true that alternatives like Audiovector’s larger R6 Arreté dig deeper and truer, but the Sonus Faber still satisfies on its own terms.

In absolute terms, these speakers don’t quite convey rhythms with as much drive as some rivals, but they remain an entertaining listen regardless.

We have no issue with the way the bass is integrated into the rest of the frequency range, but it is also fair to say that the innovative Camelia midrange unit is unusually crisp, clear and agile. There is an obvious improvement in these respects as the frequency of the sound rises through the lows and into the midrange. The result is that vocal-based material shines.

We can’t help but admire the way these floorstanders handle the beautifully recorded Mount The Air from The Unthanks or the more stark debut set from Tracy Chapman. Voices come through with impressive clarity and nuance, capturing the emotional message of the music well.

The top-end is almost as good. That unusual DAD tweeter is responsive and detailed, and on the whole goes about its job without drawing too much attention. That’s just the way it should be.

As we move to larger-scale works, such Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Mahler’s 10th, the Olympica III continues to do well. Without challenging bigger alternatives, it sounds powerful and authoritative. There is a good sense of scale, and we appreciate the ability to swing large-scale dynamic shifts without too much stress. Composure levels are pleasing, as is the speaker’s ability to remain organised when things become busy.

Stereo imaging is suitably out-of-the-box, once the positioning is optimised. The soundstaging is stable and nicely layered, with instrument locations rendered with precision. There is a good sense of depth too on suitable recordings.

Verdict

Sonus Faber’s Olympica G3 III are easy floorstanding speakers to like. They are beautifully made and styled with uncommon flair. Factor in the well-balanced sound and generally unfussy nature, and we think that they will appeal to a wide range of people.

At the very least, they deserve to be seriously considered if you are lucky enough to shop at this level.

Review published: 2nd November 2026

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Build 5
• Compatibility 5

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