Upgrading from Thiel 2.7 to Sonus Faber or Focal???

Well, it's all subjective but...


I have the Thiel 2.7s and love them (Also owned the bigger 3.7s).I actually find my 2.7s to sound rather rich and even "warm" (I'm partial to rich sound - I also own Spendors for instance).  Though I'm driving them with tubes, CJ premier 12 monoblocks.  They still sound rich even driven by the Bryston 4B3 I have on loan. 



Having auditioned the Focal Kanta speakers and and the Magico A3, I certainly wouldn't call either of those speakers warmer than the Thiels.Just the opposite IMO.   The Focal will give you a more toppy high end - grain free, but more vivid.   They are warm in the bass, but not in the mids/highs IMO.



Magico is very "audiophile" in the sense that when listening you know you are listening to a highly engineered product with very low coloration and box colorations reduced to negligible.  Quite detailed.  But I found them actually a bit more fatiguing and more analytical than my Thiels.And most of all, to my ears, less dynamic.   I played some of my favorite tracks and the palpability and drive seemed to be missing.   When I got home and played them on my Thiels that density and dynamic drive was back.


Of course, those are just my own impressions.   But it is a little hard to get at what you want, when you mention wanting "warmer" while mentioning speakers that are not known for "warmth" but the opposite if anything.

@samzx12
Yeah, we get used to our speakers and want that extra hit of something new.   That's why I also picked up some Joseph Audio Perspective speakers a while back :-)

I like to switch between those and the Thiels.

I find the Thiels amazingly even-handed through the whole frequency spectrum.  Neither exaggeration nor thinness in an part, highs or lows.The mids/tweeter is as seamless as any I've ever heard.

And the Thiels have that famous density and solidity to their imaging.  Other speakers sound a bit less focused, more amorphous, next to the Thiels.

If I can fault the Thiels at all, I'd say the upper frequencies while very good, are a little less suave, gorgeous and incisive as some of the very best competition.   You'll get more of a "wow" from the highs of the Focal speakers - very lively top end but very grain-free.  So things like cymbals, guitar picking will pop out of the mix in a more arresting way (if that's what you want).

That's what I love about the Joseph speakers.  (Hey..you should look at the new Joseph Perspective Graphene!).   Their tone, especially in the highs, is a bit more grain-free, silky and informative than the Thiels.

But I don't know that I can ever let my 2.7s leave my house.  I got them on a killer deal, in my favorite ebony finish.   I agree with you those Sonus Faber are gorgeous.  But I also feel the Thiel 2.7 is one of the best I've seen for a suave, contemporary look.

FYI:   The Joseph Audio Perspective 2 (or 1) are easy loads for tube amps.   My CJ Premier 12s drive my Perspectives beautifully.

samzx12
I did a lengthy audition of the Magico A3 and had the same reaction.Especially the bass: it seemed a bit "flubby" even though it was in a room with particularly good characteristics for bass reproduction and was being well driven by an SS amp.   I also found the sound to be, at least at first, not too impressive.   After a while I did find the detail was very high, and while the highs did not stick out in an exaggerated way, there was still something fatiguing about the presentation that wore on me over time.

The Sonus Faber speakers sure get a lot of good press these days.  I'd love to hear the Olympica.

Sounds like you'll just have to get the SFs and keep the Thiels.

That's the route I took.
When I auditioned a ton of speakers as possible replacements I'd come back and listen again on the same tracks on my Thiel 2.7s.   This just showed how great the Thiels were.  They are just so even handed and competent from top to bottom, they make most other speakers sound more obviously colored. 

So I saved up longer so I could get the Joseph Audio Perspectives while keeping the Thiels.  I like to be able to use either pair for a while.   The Thiels for me are a sort of touchstone of confidence.  Keeping them means I can experiment with owning other speakers that may be more exciting in one way or another, but I always have a safety-net speakers were everything just sounds effortless and balanced.