Thiel speakers are designed for accurate reproduction and coherence and soundstaging.... If you go with Thiel 2.3 make sure it's a newer model with the midrange upgrade. Andy make sure you have superb amplification - with a lot of power, very clean sounding source and high quality cables. And that you break in the 2.3's. Under the right circumstances 2.3's can sound magical.
Older British speekers are generally much more forgiving of faulty sounding gear or source material, and have a more relaxed sound.
It's not so much a matter of which is better, they serve somewhat different purposes.
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