Revel’s Sound Signature

I think the persona series is akin to the Ultimas. There is a grandiosity to Salons, though, that is hard to replicate. I think are similarities to JBL Synthesis line as well, in that they both dry, big and dynamic.    

Nowadays, there are few and far between good audio stores to demo new speakers.

I wonder that phenomenal myself.  I've read a study that show younger generations don't really care for "cars" as much and for them "cars" are just something to get from point A to point B.  I wonder if it has to do with the Internet.  Younger people are probably using the Internet as a mean for "escape" so music reproduction (such as a hi-fi system) is not that important to them.

Kef has similar design goals with wide flat response and both brands need gobs of power while neither will bowl you over with their bass 

Revel needs way more power than KEF IME

I would say that SOME of the Revel line requires a bit of power to get singing (Ultimas) but not that it is a universal given across all of their product line.