Sonus faber Olympica G3 Revives the Iconic Olympica Collection With Italian Elegance and a Proper Dose of Attitude, Con Brio

Sonus faber does not build loudspeakers for people who want their hi-fi to disappear into the wallpaper, and Olympica G3 is not some polite British box pretending restraint is the same thing as passion. The Olympica G3 is the third generation of the Italian manufacturer’s iconic Olympica family, and it arrives as a carefully considered five-model range led by Livio Cucuzza and his design team.

Starting at $13,000 per pair for the compact Olympica I and rising to $24,000 per pair for the Olympica III and $30,000 per pair for the flagship Olympica V, this is not entry-level high-end audio. The matching Olympica Center is $10,500 each, while the slim Olympica Wall is $8,000 each.

That said, Olympica G3 occupies a far more realistic rung on the Sonus faber ladder than the brand’s more rarefied Homage Collection, Reference Collection, and the flagship Suprema system. Nobody is mistaking a $30,000 pair of floorstanders for a casual purchase, but Olympica has always been where Sonus faber’s design language, Italian cabinetmaking, and serious acoustic engineering become attainable without requiring a villa outside Vicenza or a family crest.

The new range does not appear to be a cosmetic exercise with a fresh badge and some nicer wood veneer. Sonus faber has brought technology developed for Suprema into Olympica G3, including the Camelia midrange driver and Organic Basket chassis, while the Olympica III and V add cork-lined mid-high chambers and revised crossover work. The cabinets retain the collection’s familiar elegance, but the engineering underneath has been given a far more serious going-over.

That is what makes Olympica G3 significant. Sonus faber has taken its time, filtered proven flagship technology into a more approachable collection, and avoided the temptation to call a new veneer and a revised badge a generational leap. In Vicenza, even an update gets properly tailored.

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Palladio’s Vicenza

Olympica has always drawn its identity from Vicenza, Sonus faber’s home and the city of Andrea Palladio. Its name points directly to Teatro Olimpico, Palladio’s final major work: a Renaissance theatre built around proportion, perspective, material, and function rather than decorative excess for its own sake. Palladio died before it was completed, but the building remains a useful reference point for what Sonus faber is trying to do here. 

The original Olympica arrived in 2013, and G3 keeps the family resemblance intact with the asymmetrical lute-shaped cabinet that has long defined the range. The new version adds a 45-degree herringbone wood veneer inspired by Sonus faber’s Stradivari loudspeaker, along with more substantial machined-aluminum detailing. It is still undeniably Italian, but not in the usual “add more leather and hope nobody asks about the crossover” sense. The design has a job to do: create a cabinet that looks like Sonus faber while supporting the acoustic work inside it. 

Suprema Technology Comes Down the Mountain

The more consequential changes are under the veneer. Olympica G3 borrows several ideas from the flagship Suprema platform, beginning with Sonus faber’s in-house Camelia midrange driver. Its flower-inspired geometry is intended to reduce unwanted resonance, while the new Organic Basket driver chassis uses a honeycomb-like structure designed to improve airflow and mechanical stability. Sonus faber also adds an aluminum phase plug and damping-ring treatment intended to reduce air turbulence and compression around the driver. 

The Olympica III and Olympica V go further with sealed cork-lined mid-high chambers. Cork is not there for rustic theater; it is being used as a damping material to help control internal resonances and reflections around the midrange and tweeter assembly. Add revised crossover work and the goal is clear: retain the visual and tonal identity that made Olympica successful, but give the larger models a more controlled and technically mature foundation. Whether that translates into a meaningful sonic step forward will require proper listening, but this is plainly more than a new veneer and a strategic application of Italian nouns. 

Sonus faber Olympica G3 Lineup

Olympica G3 is a complete five-model family rather than a stereo pair with a matching center channel awkwardly bolted on afterward. The range starts with the compact Olympica I standmount and extends through two floorstanders, a dedicated center channel, and an on-wall model designed for music and cinema systems. Every speaker uses Sonus faber’s familiar lute-shaped cabinet language, combining hand-finished wood, aluminum elements, and leather detailing, but the driver complement, bass reach, and intended room size change significantly as you move up the range.

Sonus faber Olympica V G3:

At $30,000 per pair, the Olympica V G3 is the flagship and the speaker for buyers who want the biggest scale, deepest bass extension, and most ambitious stereo performance in the collection. This is a true three-way floorstander with a dedicated 6.5-inch Camelia paper-cone midrange, three 6.5-inch paper-cone woofers, and Sonus faber’s 28 mm DAD Arrow Point silk-dome tweeter.

The important bit is not simply that it has three woofers. The Olympica V places the midrange in a sealed cork-lined chamber while the bass drivers work in a vented enclosure. Sonus faber is using the cork to manage internal resonances around the midrange, while the larger vented section gives the speaker its claimed 37 Hz low-frequency extension. That should make the V the obvious choice for larger rooms and listeners who want a genuinely full-range presentation without automatically adding a subwoofer.

Key specifications

• System: Three-way; sealed cork midrange chamber with vented bass enclosure
• Drivers: 28 mm DAD Arrow Point silk tweeter; 165 mm Camelia midrange; three 165 mm paper-cone woofers
• Crossover points: 370 Hz and 2,390 Hz
• Frequency response: 37 Hz to 40 kHz, -3 dB
• Sensitivity / impedance: 90 dB / 4 ohms
• Recommended amplification: 50 to 400 watts
• Dimensions: 46.3 × 16.7 × 20.8 inches, H × W × D
• Weight: 97 pounds each
• U.S. price: $30,000 per pair

Sonus faber Olympica III G3:

The $24,000-per-pair Olympica III G3 is likely to be the collection’s sweet spot for many buyers. It retains the same basic three-way architecture as the V, including the 28 mm DAD Arrow Point tweeter, 6.5-inch Camelia midrange, sealed cork chamber, and vented bass section. The difference is a pair of 6.5-inch woofers rather than three.

That drops the claimed bass extension slightly to 42 Hz, but it also produces a narrower, shorter, and 20-pound-lighter cabinet. At 43.5 inches tall, it is still a substantial loudspeaker, but not one that will immediately dominate every living room like an Italian supermodel who has parked herself in front of the television.

Key specifications

• System: Three-way; sealed cork midrange chamber with vented bass enclosure
• Drivers: 28 mm DAD Arrow Point silk tweeter; 165 mm Camelia midrange; two 165 mm paper-cone woofers
• Crossover points: 365 Hz and 2,460 Hz
• Frequency response: 42 Hz to 40 kHz, -3 dB
• Sensitivity / impedance: 90 dB / 4 ohms
• Recommended amplification: 50 to 300 watts
• Dimensions: 43.5 × 14.8 × 18.1 inches, H × W × D
• Weight: 77.1 pounds each
• U.S. price: $24,000 per pair

Sonus faber Olympica I G3:

The $13,000-per-pair Olympica I G3 is the smallest stereo model in the collection, but “bookshelf” should not be read as “put it between a plant and a stack of cookbooks.” This is a serious two-way standmount intended for proper placement on its dedicated stands, which bring the total height to 41.4 inches.

It uses a 28 mm DAD Arrow Point silk tweeter and a single 6.5-inch paper-cone midwoofer with a copper cap in a vented cabinet. Claimed bass extension is 57 Hz, which is entirely respectable for a cabinet this compact, but it also tells you where a subwoofer might become useful in a larger room or a system with serious home-theater ambitions.

Key specifications

• System: Two-way vented standmount
• Drivers: 28 mm DAD Arrow Point silk tweeter; 165 mm paper-cone midwoofer with copper cap
• Crossover point: 2,300 Hz
• Frequency response: 57 Hz to 40 kHz, -3 dB
• Sensitivity / impedance: 87 dB / 4 ohms
• Recommended amplification: 30 to 250 watts
• Speaker dimensions: 14.6 × 8.3 × 14.6 inches, H × W × D
• Dimensions with stands: 41.4 × 12.6 × 16.3 inches, H × W × D
• Weight: 24.3 pounds each; 60 pounds each with stands
• U.S. price: $13,000 per pair

Sonus faber Olympica Center G3:

At $10,500 each, the Olympica Center G3 is not an afterthought for people who happen to own an AV receiver. It is a proper three-way center channel designed to match the Olympica G3 family in a serious music-and-movies system.

Unlike the floorstanders, it uses a smaller 18 mm DAD Arrow Point silk tweeter and a 4-inch Camelia paper-cone midrange, flanked by two 6.5-inch paper-cone woofers. The midrange works in a sealed enclosure, while the cabinet is vented for bass support. Sonus faber rates it down to 58 Hz, so it will not replace a subwoofer, but it should have enough body for dialogue, score, and front-stage integration without sounding thin or overly “cinema speaker” in character.

Key specifications

• System: Three-way; sealed midrange enclosure with vented bass section
• Drivers: 18 mm DAD Arrow Point silk tweeter; 4-inch Camelia midrange; two 6.5-inch paper-cone woofers
• Crossover points: 600 Hz and 2,900 Hz
• Frequency response: 58 Hz to 40 kHz, -3 dB
• Sensitivity / impedance: 90.5 dB / 4 ohms
• Recommended amplification: 50 to 300 watts
• Dimensions: 8.9 × 27.8 × 16.5 inches, H × W × D
• Dimensions with stand: 27.8 × 27.9 × 17.7 inches, H × W × D
• Weight: 46.3 pounds; 83.6 pounds with stand
• U.S. price: $10,500 each

Sonus faber Olympica Wall G3:

The Olympica Wall G3 costs $8,000 each and exists for the buyer who wants a legitimate Sonus faber installation without sacrificing half the room to floorstanding speakers. It is a two-way, sealed on-wall model using the familiar 28 mm DAD Arrow Point silk tweeter and a 6.5-inch Camelia paper-cone midwoofer.

Because it is sealed and intended for boundary placement, the Wall G3 is not trying to mimic the bass reach of the floorstanders. Its claimed response begins at 78 Hz, making it the clearest candidate for subwoofer support in a full cinema setup. That is not a defect. It is a sensible application of a compact on-wall speaker, and a far better route than pretending a shallow cabinet can casually reproduce the bottom octave.

Olympica Wall G3 makes the most sense as a surround, height, or discreet front-channel speaker in a premium theater installation, especially where free-standing loudspeakers would be visually or physically impractical. It can also work in a two-channel system, but its bass specification makes a carefully integrated subwoofer the logical partner.

Key specifications

• System: Two-way sealed on-wall speaker
• Drivers: 28 mm DAD Arrow Point silk tweeter; 165 mm Camelia paper-cone midwoofer with copper cap
• Crossover point: 2,300 Hz
• Frequency response: 78 Hz to 40 kHz, -3 dB
• Sensitivity / impedance: 89 dB / 4 ohms
• Recommended amplification: 30 to 200 watts
• Dimensions: 22.1 × 12.1 × 8.4 inches, H × W × D
• Weight: 19.8 pounds each
• Installation: Supplied mounting bracket; designed for near-boundary placement
• U.S. price: $8,000 each

Comparison

The Bottom Line

Olympica G3 is unique because Sonus faber has created a complete luxury speaker family, not just a pretty stereo pair with a center channel added later. Suprema-derived driver, cabinet, and damping ideas now extend from the compact Olympica I to the flagship Olympica V, plus matching Center and Wall models for serious home theaters.

This is for buyers who want genuine high-end performance, proper Italian craftsmanship, and loudspeakers that belong in a living room rather than a recording-control room. The Olympica I suits smaller spaces, the III is likely the sweet spot for most rooms, and the V is the full-range choice for listeners with the space and amplifier muscle to support it.

At $8,000 to $30,000, Olympica G3 is not inexpensive. But it offers a more attainable route into Sonus faber’s top-tier design and engineering than Homage, Reference, or Suprema.

For more information: sonusfaber.com

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