CEDIA 2013

Sonus Faber's trademark gorgeous craftsmanship and design were in evidence at the CEDIA Expo, where the company showed its new Olympica series speakers. Besides the fact that they were arguably the best-looking new speakers at the show, they're notable for two reasons. First, they're the first Sonus Faber speakers in which all the drivers were designed by the company. Second, they have a unique asymmetrical design with one of the coolest bass ports ever created.

See that perforated metal strip on the rear of the speaker, on the left side of the photo? That's the port. Only a relatively small part of the strip is actually the port, but according to the company, the port still has enough surface area to minimize acoustical impedance and, therefore, minimize port noise and "chuffing."

Top of the line, for the moment, is the $13,500/pair Olympica III tower, which has two 6-inch woofers, a 5-inch midrange and a 1-inch tweeter. The $10,000/pair Olympica II omits one of the woofers and has a slightly smaller enclosure.

There's also the Olympica I bookshelf speaker and the Olympica Center, plus a larger Olympica IV tower speaker on the way.