Sonus Faber vs Wilson

I haven't heard the Sonus Faber line in a couple of decades.  The ones I heard some time ago sounded really good to me.  However, I have been to my new favorite store in Atlanta three times this past year with my eye on a pair of Wilson speakers to replace my Thiel CS6's.  I dragged a case of records and CDs to the store a month ago and spent a day critically listening to the Alexia 2's.  They even put ARC preamps (phono too) in the room to more closely match my system at home.  I love the sound of these Wilsons.  I'm vacillating only because the Thiels come close lacking mainly the very clear strong bass of the Wilsons.  I was also waiting to buy until I installed a wood floor in my listening room.  Then two weeks ago I heard the new Vandersteen Model 7 XTRM speakers at the same store.  They sound fantastic.  Oh but the cost...

Tonywinga I don't think it is unusual that you are drawn to the Vandersteen's.  The Thiel's are time and phase correct like the Vandersteen's.  That turns out to be a big deal for me.  I put Vandersteen Quatros in my space a year ago and all I do now is shop for vinyl as I am so happy with my system.  You say the XTRMs cost..., but everyone looks at the Kento as the baby 7.  I am sure Atlanta will be happy to show them to you.  The last time I was in Atlanta they ran them with the Vandersteen M5-HP amps and the ARC front end.  It was heaven.  The combo is about the same cost as the Alexia's if I remember correctly.  I thought it may be something fun to hear on the next visit. 

I owned Wilson and SF.  My wife hated the looks of the Wilson speakers.  I had the SF Amati Tradition Homage speakers that I picked over the Alexx 1.  I thought they sounded better.  I also thought the SF speakers looked really good to go along with the sound.  My wife still disagreed.  Now I have Viking Acoustic Grande Voix Dual Horn speakers which the wife loves and everyone who comes into my house thinks they are an art piece.  A happy wife is a happy life and the Viking Speakers blows away the Wilson and SF's by a long shot.  

tonywinga,

I once almost went from Thiel 2.4s to Wilson Sophia 3 for the improved bass. I ended up buying two subs and high passing them at 60hz and have surprisingly been happy. My system is a bit upside down now with my speakers only making up 25% of my system cost but you know how it goes lol….
The wilson are fine but I lost interest when the Sophia turned into the Yvette and went up $10k. But honesty even if I had the Sophia’s I would want to run subs with them. Once you have true 20hz bass you can’t go back. 
Imo mid size well designed speakers (Sopra 2, Olympica iii, 228be, Thiel 3.7 etc) with subs give these large very expensive speakers a run for their money. In reality mid sized speakers with subs are often better as you can tune the bass to the room. Once you run subs it is hard not to question the price of these large speakers unless you truly have a large room and sit far away. If you have a large room but sit within 10’ then it is irrelevant again. 

Hi James633- I actually have subs in my room.  I put them near the corners behind the main speakers.  After hearing the Wilson Alexia 2's for the first time, I came back and "tuned" the subs to the room better using what I heard at the store.  I phased the subs based on their relative position to the main speakers.  I did some math using 30 Hz as the reference point and came up with a phase angle of 29 degrees.  I think I'm more lucky than smart but after some experimenting, 29 degrees phase angle dialed into the subs seemed to be where the bass really popped.  I also have the subs roll off starting at 34 Hz so they do not interfere with the Thiels.  I don't think the subs are quite as fast as the Thiels but they do a great job supporting that last half octave down below 20 Hz.  And I do sit 10 feet from the speakers.  
Then, just recently I added a really expensive power conditioner to my system (the front end).  One advantage- the highs improved dramatically becoming so smooth now- even digital highs are creamy smooth now.  So that is my dilemma.  How much sound improvement will I really gain with such a large expenditure to acquire the Wilson's?  The clarity of the bass is still not quite there to match the Wilson's but it is close, real close.  I have one CD with some strong bass (Stanley Clarke) that I used as a reference.  One CD to make a large purchasing decision.
Hearing different outstanding systems is always a good thing, especially when It helps us to see where our own system's deficiencies lie.  I gained a lot of ground but I still am fighting that bug in me to get new speakers.