Down side of speaker swop from AZ to Tonian Labs ?

Ah, my friend, you have an itch to scratch! That's a pretty radical adjustment if you follow through with it. When you want a change, you don't mess around. Fundamentally different experience between those two speakers, and imo not an absolute upgrade/positive move in all parameters. 

I am listening now to a speaker that is closer to the Tonian line and there are wonderful aspects to it, but also aspects that are forfeited in comparison to a speaker like the AZ. 

My recommendation? Own both!  :) 

Yes the 12" driver model I heard (12S?) was incredible. The source was an Acurus CD player and the amp was a non-descript integrated, and demoed in a hotel room with little in the way of room treatments. Tony played some drum tracks which certainly left me with the impression the musicians were in the room (my Jazz Modules did the same, and my ESLs I use now are a small step above). Vocals were also very realistic. Unfortunately I did not hear them on more complex tracks.

Tony used to demo the Tonians with an Audiolab 8000 and he still swears by them. Only one output device per channel made for great speed.

All the best,
Nonoise

That was the amp I heard the speakers with. Thanks for jarring my memory.

Wig,
How much you want to spend? I think Horning Aristoteles would be excellent for what you listen to.

I have the Horning Eufrodite Ellipse which are the next speaker up and love them. They ended my speaker search after over 40 years of being in this hobby.