I hate when this happens ......

Dun be fooled by the setup, what you hear actually is warm rich and emotional music, that's what everybody want to hear, but what everybody do is ruin that by keep upgrading audio system, definitely there are better speakers, better amp, better setup, better room out there, but not necessarily better for eternity, nothing is forever but the music recorded is! Surprisingly, I heard quite some people hate the SF Olympica, guess taste can be different, financial can be difficult at times, and balance up all these what we need to do. But if you are cost no objective, then do not hesitate to go for the speakers lol, and share the great with us!

I was always wondering as to how people know exactly that whatever sound they heard, not in their own setup, is due to speakers or pre etc., and not to anything else, for example to acoustic. ;~).

Try updated your speaker cables Wire World and Kimber ,Purist interconnects .That is why different speakers that you think sound better . And cables you can keep for Life.

I'm curious if you have a dedicated line? For me in the past when I've done it, the sound stage opened and became more transparent. It's a pretty powerful tweek. 

...the grass is always greener effect...;)

Except for the Oppo 105s and a pair of KEF LS50s (I now have 7 LS50s), all my components were purchased on the preowned market for well under MSRP.

It’s just another evidence that good sound sometimes don’t require large investments or even home-equity loan.

When analysis and research done proper way, the system is built with satisfactory success. It took me several years to find BEST deal near decade ago when I purchased Aerial 10T speakers for $1100 used for CASH. Prior to that I hit late-running auction and won Sunfire 300 amp for $417 shipped. I doubt that ANYONE can match better deal EVER in matching or better PRICE/PER/PERFORMANCE ratio that I ALWAYS use when purchasing components. I betcha none of my components depreciated by a dime since then.

I solved the problem; I don't go to audio stores anymore. I DO go to audio shows ... but most of the rooms affect the sound negatively to the point that my home system sounds better than 90% of what I hear at the shows. The other 10% is so far out of my league financially that it doesn't matter anyway. Case closed.

As others have alluded to above, you listened to the Martens on their home turf hooked up to a system designed specifically for them.  That said, it does seem that the system may have uncovered that you may desire a little more detail than you're currently getting from your system.  You have great speakers and you obviously chose them for a reason, and I agree with others that it's well worth experimenting with cables and upstream gear to see if you can coax some more detail out of your SFs.  Heightened detail can often sound attractive on first listen in a strange environment, but over the longer term it can often become fatiguing.  My guess is part of the reason you chose the SFs in the first place was that they avoided this, and it is quite possible that if you plugged the Martens into your system you may quickly tire of them.  Perhaps a good idea would be for you to share what electronics, cables, etc. you're currently using and that might elicit some good suggestions here for some things you could try.  My guess is you'll be able to capture most if not all you feel you might be missing now, so chin up and have fun experimenting.  The good news is you know what you're looking for and may be very close to achieving it, which is more than many audiophiles can say. 

garebear, my post was presumptuous, and I apologize for that.  But at financial web sites a common woe is the realization on the verge of retirement that sufficient funds have not been accumulated.  Saving simply wasn't a priority in the early years when compounding could have been most effective.  Being 80 and retired for 25 years has given me perhaps a peculiar perspective about the use of debt.

If you are not seeing/hearing "deep" into the music as you say, I would not lay the blame on the Sonus faber Olympica III’s. They give a huge emotional/physical connection to my heart/ears and musicality is their forte.....I would look elsewhere in your setup/system.

Garebear, I had a couple of similar things happen to me recently which made me re-examine my system and the sound I was looking for in terms of the overall sound. These experiences made me realize that while the bass in my system was good it did not have enough bass impact.

The first thing I thought of doing was changing my speakers, because auditions of speakers from Rockport and Wilson Benesch were what led to my re-examination of the sound from my system. My current speakers are to one of the speakers Proac D 40r.

What I ended up doing was changing amplifiers. I am now completely happy with the bass in my system, as well as the overall system balance.

It took some time, advice from an audio dealer I know, and the thoughtful help of my local audio dealer to determine the best course of action.

Best of luck in your search for the sound you want.

Best Regards,

Jim Perry

dpphd - thank you for your response but I am not real sure of what you  are getting at. My post was about speakers and not about how I handle my personal finances. Thank you just the same ..... 

There is always something better out there, it gives you a perspective, and that's good.

douglas + 2
You can bet on it that what you hear in a salon will not sound the same in your room. The Marantz Reference SACD player I auditioned sounds so much better in my room than in the showroom. It gave hints to it's potential but it's in my system that it struts it's stuff. It impressed me so much that I got the matching integrated and couldn't be happier.

As for speakers, you can get a good idea of how it will sound at your place but you should be able to take a pair home and hear for yourself.

All the best,
Nonoise

You financed speakers!  Unless you got a special zero interest deal, which speaker twiddled your sonic interest wouldn't be a priority concern for me, financial planning would.

Its just a new flavor which too will be tiresome ....you will then like your Sonus speakers until you tire of them....then.....its a vicious circle.

This should be expected whenever the audiophile goes to dealerships or shows. There are hundreds of superb sounding systems out there. Some will connect better than the one we are currently using. 

You have a choice; either put more money and time into redoing your rig, or buy the speakers. But, there is no guarantee those speakers will sound better with your gear. The shop has optimized the system, whereas unless you buy the entire rig you will have to go through the same process via a different route. 

Frankly, the considered change looks to me more like a sideways move than a big step up. You will lose some attributes of the SF in the process, and you may regret it. Both are very nice speakers, but you may wish to redo your electronics and cables to achieve better results. My guess is you haven't come close to maximizing the speaker you currently own. 

It happens all the time. When I first started demoing speakers I brought my Mission/Cyrus 782's with me. The day I heard the SF Cremora auditor M I said that's the sound I want but at the time wasn't ready to spend 7K. I kept looking until I heard Dyn C1's. Very similar to the SF but more dynamic with deeper lows with slightly clearer mids IMO. So I bought them. Couple of years went by and when Dyn released the MKII/Signature I bought the sig's without even hearing them (loved the mocca finish which were on some Sapphires). Glad I did because with both the SF and original C1's they sounded best when you turned them way up. The sig's sounded great at mid listening levels and up. I never thought I would ever get rid of them. Then my local dealer picked up the Raidho line. After hearing both the D1 and the D3 I was ruined. It was a sound presentation and quality/clarity like nothing I ever heard. 

...sorry my bad typing as they were ; NOT the XL version.