ascend sierra tower with raal or Focal Aria 936

One thing about ribbons.  The school of thought on them is that they have specific characteristics such as being fussy for placement, and a narrow disbursing pattern.  

The Raal ribbon tweeter in the Ascend Sierra speakers is a game changer, and why both Salk and Philharmonic have now also turned to Raal for ribbon tweeters.  They are hand made and simply amazing. I'm sure Focal makes a fine speaker as well, but there you are paying retail, or discounted retail instead of buying from the manufacturer and saving upwards of 50%. 

Incidentally, I had some well regarded focal speakers in my car.  I did not care for Focal's approach whatsoever.  Too bright/harsh.  I've owned the Sierra 2 which has the Raal ribbon, and I can tell you the highs are very resolving and detailed, but not ever harsh.  

Well if you want to marry a pair of speakers, I guess.   The internet sales model is far different than the retail method, and is indeed based on what they cost to build.   The retail speaker brand will gin up its qualities and get print media types to "rave" about them so as to "command" a premium price.  Hey, its your money, spend as much as you want.

If you're surprised at this thread, then you must get surprised an awful lot, because EVERY audio forum is chock full of threads asking for owner's impressions of their gear. It's how people develop a short list these days as the internet has changed the game.

And of course you want to audition speakers before deciding, it doesn't matter if they cost $4000 or $40.  I'd rather audition speakers with my gear in my room over 30 days before deciding, rather than doing it in a sometimes badly set up sound room in an audio store, with a salesperson who may not know what they're talking about or who is pressuring me to buy now.  YMMV.