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

Had a nice visit at Hanson Audio in Cincinnati today.  Had the listening room all to myself which was fantastic. They teased me with the SF Cremonese.  Crimany those are great speakers. They should be at 55K.  Of waaay out of my price range.  He knew it but fun to listen.  Next up was the Sorento. Nice speaker but at $5K no thanks.  Then we got down to why I went. Magico A3. Build quality is fantastic. They look much better in person however I really wasn't impressed with the sound.  Nice deep bass but was tubby almost. Extended highs and decent midrange. Hate to say it not for me.  But the salesman said my amp was not a good match.  A3 needs some solid state juice to make them sing. So my review take it with a grain of salt. I'm sure with a higher powered solid state amp they would sing nicely. They better but geez kinda disappointing.  Lastly,  the Olympica Nova 3. Night and day difference. First few notes and WOW.  This is music.  The soundstage really opened up and instruments floated in the air.  Depth, detail, focus and overall musical. The bass was tight and tuneful. No congestion whatsoever. My Audio Research Ref110 was a perfect match.  The salesman said and I'm not bullshitting, I've never heard the Olympica sound so good.  Honestly,  I think he was dead serious.  All music was streamed with Qobuz. Overall an impressive speaker. 

Then for shits and giggles we went into the Magico room. I think they were M5's but while they through a huge Soundstage, too detailed for these ears. At $135k those puppies better pour me a bourbon lol. My opinion they are not for rock or really dynamic music.  Jazz, classical yes. They were powered by huge Boulder monos. And I mean HUGE. Speakers are a personal choice but Magico not for me.  Build quality very impressed. 

Magico A3 needs good SS power. I tried with 100 watt AHB2 and it was pretty bad. Today, I am actually using 2 AHB2's for a speaker even more demanding than the A3. The A3 did sound great with the Mark Levinson 585 integrated and the $20K each ML separates.

The A5 is supposed to be a much bigger step up from the A3. 

My favorite Magico is the S3 MKII. 

Samzx12,

I am glad you like the Olympica’s. Sonus faber has a winner there. They have really upped their game lately. Do you feel they are more than a lateral move for you?
I have not heard the Magico A3 but when they came out I was interested. Good to hear some input compared to speakers I have heard. 
I still think it is worth trying to hear the current wilsons. Not that they are better than the Sonus Faber. I feel the Wilsons are a little more dynamic but I don’t think Audio Research tubes drive them (weak bass on AR) well even though it is a common paring.  

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.

Prof,

The room I was in also very well treated. Dead quiet. In my opinion the A3 was rather warm compared to the upper end Magico line. But overall not a well rounded speaker. Just didn’t have it’s stuff  together so to speak as with the Olympica. I never found them fatiguing just not musical. With the right amp however I’m sure this would improve quite a bit.

James,

Is this a lateral move I’m not sure. I was hoping someone here could tell me. Believe me I’ve asked myself the same question. The O3 have different sound and it’s very pleasing to my ears. I wish I could compare my Thiels side by side. Different rooms also throws confusion into the mix. But what I do know is the O3 sounded oh so right to me. After discussing with a friend last night who I totally trust I think its a smart idea to change out my speaker cables and one set of interconnects before making a speaker change. This may get rid of any harshness I’ve heard and smooth things out. Overall better articulation. The Thiels aren’t harsh by any means just to clarify.
My cabling is Morrow Audio SP4 and MA5 which are silver coated and present some unwanted energy unlike their newer line up from what I’ve been told. It’s even documented on their website.