What speakers to get? Focal or B&W

Bar81. I love Alto Utopias, and they are one of the best sounding speakers that I've ever auditioned. But perhaps you should heed your own advise and not throw in random speakers that OP has not requested.

I don't have any negative to say about Nautilus 804 that I used to own, and if you re read my post you'll agree to it.

I'm not sure why you were compelled to bash 1037BE. I merely mentioned it because that's my current speakers. However you are the first one to say that 1037BE is not balanced. What they are not is an easy load. The impedance drops significantly at 1KHz and down. They will require amps that can supply a lot of currents at low impedance, otherwise they will sound lean. Perhaps your previous impression was hampered by inadequate amps. I'll just leave it at that. If you want further discussion perhaps you can start another thread.

Everyone's entitled to their opinion; I don't view my comments as "bashing" (rather they are a compliment to how good the midrange and tweeter are); and that wasn't my intent. I can see how someone would be happy with the 1037Be; it just wouldn't be me.

btw, the Halcro top of the line monoblocks that were being used, are, frankly, on a whole other level than the 1037Be and a best case scenario so I have no concerns that I heard all the 1037Be was capable of (although I'm sure it didn't help my opinion of the 1037Be that I was comparing them in the same system to the new Revel Studios and then the Altos).

Bar81 - A room that is suited to Studios and Altos will not be successful with 1037Bes. Your dealer may have mated great gear to them but then he failed on the most obvious and important of matters: mating the speaker to an appropriately-sized room. The Altos and 1037s may have similar bass specs on paper but in practice, they are quite different, and that shouldn't be overlooked.

Also, the 804S are current models, priced at $4500 as stated. The N804 was the previous generation and last retailed for $4000.

Arthur

Arthur,

That's a very good point and may explain the issues with the bass I heard (and frankly probably makes sense as I've always been confused as to why the bass "issue" hasn't been mentioned in reviews). In light of that, I'll withhold further comment on the 1037Be.