Kef Ref 3 or Focal Kanta 2

Congrats on the Kanta 3 they should provide you many years of enjoyment.

Thanks for the responses. After another round of demoing, I've ordered Kanta 3s. To my ears the Kanta 3 and Kef Ref had similar soundstage size and I like the mids better on the Kantas. 

It ultimately came down to my gut. Everytime I walked out of demoing Kantas, I wanted them and it was a struggle to not just put the money down. Whenever I heard the Kefs I would appreciate them but never found myself endlessly mulling over having to have them. Instead they were a, "I could be happy with those". 

To top everything off, the dealer I worked with on the Kanta's was awesome and worked an incredible deal for me. Looking forward to getting them this week and thanks again.  

I’ll add my $.02 worth of opinion/bias here.  Speaker preferences are just that - bias and opinion resulting in preference.  

Both are very well respected lines. Toward that end, regarding Focal: Are they detailed? Check.  Transparent? Check. Dynamic? Check. Accurate? Check.  Build quality? Check.  Any other boxes I may have missed? Check.

KEF Ref 3 checks all the same boxes by the way.  I would add imaging is superior to the Focal (and probably everything else in this price range).

Plenty of listeners will disagree with me - and perhaps even the majority - but I’ve yet to hear any Focal (from $ to $$$$) that I’d consider buying.  No matter the source or electronics, when I’ve heard them, I didn’t listen long.  They were initially exciting and fun, but ended up being fatiguing with time.   

For me, given my biases and my ears, the KEF would get my cash.  And, I particularly think they are the better match with your current NAD M series electronics which are quite good.  
Again, only my $.02.  

https://www.stereophile.com/content/focal-kanta-no2-loudspeaker-measurements 
https://www.stereophile.com/content/kef-reference-5-loudspeaker-measurements 
https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1668:nrc-meas... 
 
The KEF Reference Line has better imaging, but the Kanta has a wider soundstage. 
 
The bass in Kanta decays quicker, whereas treble in the KEF decays quicker; and since long decay is more noticeable in the treble, I’d give the nudge to the KEF in terms of “tightness”.

Both are great, but I’d go Kanta personally.  Although, I’d get the Kanta no3 for barely more money.  It’s a dramatically better speaker than the no2 for a nonsensical up charge.