B&W vs. Sonus Faber

I agree with  kren0006 as you have to be very careful what you are pairing them with
I have compared B&W 802d3 and 800d3 (which I ended up buying) with £150k Wilsons and greatly prefer the B&W .. as did my esteemed listening mate. I would also take issue with the B&W pairing with McKintosh amps which I have also encountered. Disaster in my view - just to weak and insipid. I use Bryston 7b3s which kick the B&Ws into action far better
Mind you all my speakers (about 8 pairs)  are waiting to be replaced by Kenjit's new speakers. Untested, not measured, not available yet ... but he says they are the best ever... so I (we all) have something to look forward to

I love how people talk about individual components having a defined sound.  Systems have defined sonic attributes in various rooms, but all else is extremely variable.  So much goes into the final sound of a system that discussing individual components having particular characteristics is misleading. I favor resolution because I want to hear everything in the music, right down to the traffic passing outside a club during a live recording.  Atmosphere needs resolution.  How you balance that resolution is key.  I love B&W’s diamonds...I have the 802D3’s. Power Cords, interconnects, speaker cables , room acoustics and amplifier characteristics all must work together in harmony.  

Having experienced both with Yamaha M/C 5000 pre/amp which are simply fabulous, the Sonos Faber ( and subwoofer ) are sublime, creamy.

In defence of the B&W, these are spritely and quick. They have a good sound, however the balance of the drivers, to me, don’t quite have the crossover balance quite right.

As inferred, the S-F needs the accompanying subwoofer to bring out all the frequencies to an enjoyable listen, for hours.
🇦🇺

Of course individual components have a defined sound.  How could they not?  If one has listened to a particular component (say speakers) across a variety of systems (say with 3-4 different amps) and the sound tends to have similar characteristics, one can make some pretty meaningful conclusions about the component.

Otherwise, under the contrary assumption, one would be forced to purchase an entire system (and perhaps a room) each time something is changed.  Of course that is not realistic.

I upgraded my speakers last year and was also between B&W 803D and SF Serafino (they were at a big discount).

I auditioned both in the shop with a couple of audiophile friends. I really wanted to like the SF, because I heard another model before and the discount. Although very nice and smooth, we were not very excited about what we heard with the SF. This is in line with some previous comments.

The B&W had more resolution and was more what I was looking for.
I had the chance to check also the 802D3, as I was hoping to get more bass extension. Besides the more robust, extended and solid bass, I found that the midrange was, to my ears, much nicer that in the 803s.

The 802S felt like a much better choice, more money but worth it. I ended up buying this and love them. Using Ayre pre/amp.
If your room allows for a bigger speaker, I would recommend trying the 802s, you could get them used and have a better speaker.