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

Samzx12,

do you like them better than your Thiels? Do you think they are technically better?

Thanks,

I have only spent a short time with the Olympica but they seemed like they had potential. I ultimately did not buy them because of the lack of real grills with small children around (detected room but I let them hangout with me in there). 

Cal3713,

wow! First order crossovers are not kind to drivers. 

Cal3713

as in your bottomed out the drivers or just wore them out?

Ok I can give my perspective. I am a long time Thiel 2.4 owner. I bought them as dealer demos super cheap and only planned to use them as a stepping stone to something better..... well 10 years later I still have them but added two JL E112 subs (treated the whole room too) and used JLs built in crossover with good results (55hz-ish crossover point in a large room). 
Anyway I have also tried to “upgrade” a few times. Below are my quick thoughts on things I have demoed or spent time with. I would add wilson audio to your list too. The Sabrina fits well with what you want. Sasha 2 and Yvette used would be great too. Sophia 3 has great strong bass and are a good deal used now but have a hot top end that is edgy. 
-Sonus Faber Olympica III and Nova III (classe front end). They are very good. I really like them. They are warmer in the bass than the Thiels. The bass is more round and less flat maybe. Impact might be blurred more on the Sonus Saber but hard to say. The mids have about the same tone to them (a hair thin, not chesty). The highs seemed better to me on the Sonus faber. Very detailed and never harsh. Very nice speaker but I tagged out due to the lack of grills (I have two small kids....) are they better than your Thiels? Probably not but you will probably like them better if you are tired of the Thiel sound. I would keep your Thiels. You will want them back some day. All in all the new Nova 3 is an under rated speaker and at $13500 I thought it was a good deal. I would like to hear what you think of them after you demo them. Soundstage ultra has a good review of them. 

-focal 1038be (never heard the Sopra), arcam front end. Bass is flat and has power but is tuned lean similar to how revel tunes their speakers in the bass (they sound like they measure to me...). The mids are much more alive and vivid than the Thiels and the tweeter is great but stands out a bit. These are very much “hi-fi” speakers. A little edgy but make for a great demo. They lacked dynamics a bit for my on hard hitting music and I like the Sophia 3’s bass much better. 
-Kef Referance 3. I hate these speakers. The bass sounded very heavily reliant on the port. It sounded very one note to me. The mids lacked dynamics (drivers too small?). Highs were a hair better than my old Thiels but the current focals laugh at them. It reminded me of a sub satellite system. They had good sound stage though no better than the Thiels. I never got lost in the music. Pop music sounded good on them with the heavy low one note bass...

-wilson Sabrina. Not a long demo so not much commentary. They are tuned on the warm side of neutral. Have good detail and tone, never edgy. Reminded me of the Olympica 3 honestly. Worth a listen. 

By no means is the Olympica Nova III midrange thin. It is just not colored to be thick. I pointed it out because Sonus Faber’s sound has changed (for the better imo) and they are know for being a relaxed speaker and this one is not. It seemed “natural” not thin not thick. 
It is hard to compare the Olympica III to the nova III. I did hear them in the same room (local deal 10 minutes away) and both on classe but it was 6 months or so apart. I feel like I will be making stuff up if I try to split hairs so take these comments with a gain of salt. I demoed the Nova 3 just a few weeks ago so it is very fresh as I might buy them (but the kids and those open tweeters...)
I can start by telling you how I felt but we all know mood greatly effects listening impressions. When I heard the III it was good. I brought my own music (CDs) I kind of had to look for what was good about them. Kind of an inner subtle good sound. Ok everywhere but not amazing anywhere. They seemed pretty flat with a little bass bloom from the room. 
I just happened to be in the shop looking at projectors and I asked how the Nova was. From the first note I thought they were great. I was pulled in from note one. The sound stage was much better than what I remembered. The highs seemed more detailed (relatively brighter than the III?) and the bass seemed to have better leading edge impact. Again a long time between them.

after hearing it I looked up what was changed on line. Did not seem like much other than the cabinet construction. Maybe I was hearing the result of a better cabinet. Maybe they fine turned the crossover, I don’t know. But in the game of finding subtle changes the nova was clearly the better speaker. I would take the Nova III over the B&W 803d3 they also have on the floor. Much more natural. 
The III vs the Nova III went from I would buy those to I want those...  the looks of the nova are much better too. I like the wood inlay front better than the leather. Now used prices of the Olympica are pretty good which could change everything because I could easily argue they sound the same too. It is a little hard to demo speaks as I would add my subs into any system I buy and they totally change the sound. They turn the Thiels into a different animal. 
Here is a good video comparing the two. Sound caparison starts at 13:48 https://youtu.be/Xv8dvVIdguk

I would still add the Sabrina. they are more alike than different (a lot of used ones these days). I did not hear them long enough to have a strong opinion as I went straight to the Sasha 2 that day. At a high level I feel the wilsons have better leading edge impact in the bass but I can’t comment on the rest of the sound in detail other then they had good balance with a bit of warmth in the bass (flat mids and highs).  Maybe I will start a thread asking about the two.  

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.  

Interesting on the cables. Once I change my preamp (benchmark) because I thought it was the root of my “harshness” but it turned out to be the CD that was in heavy rotation.... lol live and learn. 
I think at a certain level it all a lateral move. Just comes down to what you enjoy more at the moment.