Thanks everyone for the great input.
With two of my kids at their grandma's today, and with a little bit of free time permitted thereby, I was able to track down a Focal dealer who had the 948's set up to demo. I convinced my wife to go with me.
She loved them! She was almost as excited about them as I was, which is saying quite a lot. Suffice it to say, weeks ago she was horrified by my consideration of a $3500 (on sale) pair of speakers. She had liked the Klipschs and felt that "speakers are speakers," so why should so much money be invested in them? To say it was an uphill battle to convince her to even see my side of the story is a huge understatement. Well, today she finally heard the difference for herself and she was *blown away* by the Focals, as was I. She admired the leather work on the speakers, thought the speakers themselves looked "elegant," and was impressed by the detail and realism of the sound compared to the Klipschs. I thought very much the same things. Couldn't have asked for a better result from that audition. We also heard a $120,000 pair of Sonus Fabers, which was impressive... but I preferred the Arias at the time, to be honest. That may be a "defensive mechanism," though, since I'm not in the market for speakers which cost more than some small houses. I was grateful for the opportunity to hear them, though.
Anyway, I wish I could audition the Tektons to make an informed comparative decision. The nearest pair (that I know of) is in Raleigh, NC, which is about 2.5-3 hours from me. With 3 young kids at home, I would not be able to make such a trip. It's a shame since a lot of people really seem to love them.
I don't know if I will have the opportunity to hear the Revels, but I don't doubt they are a good speaker.
I know the Arias will sound different in my room than at the dealer's, but I still suspect I would be very, very happy with them based on what I heard today.
With two of my kids at their grandma's today, and with a little bit of free time permitted thereby, I was able to track down a Focal dealer who had the 948's set up to demo. I convinced my wife to go with me.
She loved them! She was almost as excited about them as I was, which is saying quite a lot. Suffice it to say, weeks ago she was horrified by my consideration of a $3500 (on sale) pair of speakers. She had liked the Klipschs and felt that "speakers are speakers," so why should so much money be invested in them? To say it was an uphill battle to convince her to even see my side of the story is a huge understatement. Well, today she finally heard the difference for herself and she was *blown away* by the Focals, as was I. She admired the leather work on the speakers, thought the speakers themselves looked "elegant," and was impressed by the detail and realism of the sound compared to the Klipschs. I thought very much the same things. Couldn't have asked for a better result from that audition. We also heard a $120,000 pair of Sonus Fabers, which was impressive... but I preferred the Arias at the time, to be honest. That may be a "defensive mechanism," though, since I'm not in the market for speakers which cost more than some small houses. I was grateful for the opportunity to hear them, though.
Anyway, I wish I could audition the Tektons to make an informed comparative decision. The nearest pair (that I know of) is in Raleigh, NC, which is about 2.5-3 hours from me. With 3 young kids at home, I would not be able to make such a trip. It's a shame since a lot of people really seem to love them.
I don't know if I will have the opportunity to hear the Revels, but I don't doubt they are a good speaker.
I know the Arias will sound different in my room than at the dealer's, but I still suspect I would be very, very happy with them based on what I heard today.