Revel or Aerial

I personally think that speakers make the biggest difference, but if your happy then go for electronics. To answer your question, I did not compare them in the same room but similar systems. My friend owned the Studio2's and I owned the F208's. To be honest thought I bought magnepan 3.7's after I sold the revels and I love them, in my system they have more bass than the F208's had etc. I was pretty disappointed in the 208's. After hearing the Magnepans in my system my buddy with the Studio2's actually sold them and bought 3.7's. He says that they are better than the studio's were to him. Associated equipment in both systems are pass labs amps, esoteric SACD players, and tube preamps.

the post by Harri009 is proof that what we hear and like is totally personal preference, and emphasizes why you have to listen for yourself, and buy what you like the sound of, instead of taking a review or someone elses opinion over your own ears and room. if it sounds better to you, who cares what anyone else thinks. I listen to maggies all day long at work, while I respect what they do well, I would take revels any day hands down, they seem more like live music to me, so thats what I own. I will say however, look into a better source, it will bring the best out of whatever speaker you like.

Harri009,
I've heard the Magnepans and I prefer dynamic loudspeakers.

Chrissain,
I understand completely what you are saying and I often say,"there are no absolutes, just preferences!" That being the case, I still like having the conversation. I always let my ears and wallet determine what I purchased. I started this thread in hopes of getting a sense of the best way forward. Studio 2s or Aerial 7s; stay with the F208s and improve the source/electronics? My goal is more detail/clarity. My priorities have always been soundstaging and imaging. I submit the F208s do both very well.

I agree guys, that's part of why I said if you are happy with them you should go for electronics though. I went through about 5 different pairs of dynamic speakers when I moved away from the 3.6's before ending up back at the 3.7's. If you like the speakers you have you should get them sounding their best and then perhaps in the future move speakers

"I started this thread in hopes of getting a sense of the best way forward. Studio 2s or Aerial 7s; stay with the F208s and improve the source/electronics? My goal is more detail/clarity. My priorities have always been soundstaging and imaging."

If that's your goal, I would suggest that you seriously consider upgrading something else other than your speakers. Both Revel and Aerial get imaging and clarity right. In order to do that, though, the rest of the system has to be up to the task. Electronics are every bit as important as the speakers when it comes to those two qualities. Looking at the rest of your system, I would get either a new preamp or CD player first. There's nothing wrong with either of them, its just that they fall short of your stated goal for upgrading. It doesn't really matter what kind of speakers you have. If the rest of your system can't take advantage of what the speakers can do, you won't hear them at their true potential.