Anyway...Ascend Acoustics Sierra Towers (RAAL tweeter) vs. Focal Aria 936:
Not a true scientific experiment: did not have a speaker selector -- changed speakers by switching the speaker wire connections; clearly not even single-blind let alone double-blind! Focals played slightly louder than the Sierras for the same volume setting on the pre-amp -- I stepped up the volume for the Sierras when the played, but they were then just a tad louder than the Focals. I had no way to completely equalize the volumes between them.

Still, my buddy and I could make the change in less than 30 seconds and compare the same tracks that way. We had four of us comparing at most, although often just two of us.

Associated equipment: Emotiva power amp (150 watts per channel); Apt-Holman pre-amp; Technics SL-1200 turntable, w/Audio Technica cartridge; Pioneer Elite DVD player (for CDs, SACDs, and DVD-As).

Speakers were placed in an AB/AB arrangement. No subwoofer. At least 3 feet from side walls and front walls. Room open to the back (to the home theater). Speakers approximately 7.5 feet apart and 8.5 feet from the listening positions (almost the desired equilateral triangle). Ear height approximately equal to the tweeter height (exactly for the Sierras; a couple of inches below for the Focals)

Music: soft/folk rock (Jackson Browne, Carole King, etc.), harder rock (early Chicago, The Who, The Beatles, The Stones), classical (various symphonies,various composers), The Great American Songbook (Ella, Frank, etc.). So, a pretty fair representation of the music we listen to.

Hat tip to Hanson AV in Dayton, OH (perhaps the best hi-fi store in central/southern Ohio -- Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati) for letting me take the Focals home for a couple of days for this shootout.

Initially, the Focals sounded better on most music -- but they were completely broken-in while the Sierras were right out of the boxes (after having been delivered cross-country earlier that day). Over time, most of us thought that the sound of the Sierras improved significantly. I have never been a believer in speaker break-in, but this was clearly a case where it occurred. The other listeners probably had never even heard of this before, but they all said that the Sierras sounded better the second day. The Focals were completely broken-in, as they were the display models.

For much of the music we listened to, there was not a lot of difference between the two (on the second day). This comparing a $2,700 pair of speakers with a $4,000 pair (although on sale for $3,000)! But the Sierras gave a better sense of "presence" on "smaller" or "live" music (Jackson Browne Solo Acoustic, vol 1, for example) -- it clearly sounded as if he was in the room playing relative to the Focals.

The Focals appeared to have more "depth" on many recordings, while the Sierras had a smoother high-end (love that ribbon tweeter).

I think what may have occurred here is that the flatter response of the Sierras and the flat (but not as flat) response of the Focals gave the appearance of more depth to the Focals -- it may have been some emphasis in the lower mid-range that did this. With no test equipment, I couldn't tell for sure. But in addition to break-in, I think that those of us listening eventually got used to the flatter response of the Sierras and this was an additional reason why most of us (but not all) thought that the performance of the Sierras improved in day 2.

I had to return the Focals at the end of day 2, as the store needed them to lend to someone else. I had until today to decide if I wanted to purchase the Focals at the (really good) sales price, or not. The Sierras, of course, have the fantastic return policy of Ascend Acoustics, so I can return them later.

Which one did I choose?

I'm away on business for the next week, but when I return home I will take a photo of the winner and post it here (hopefully right side up!). (And if you think that my returning the test Focals gave it away, I can get new ones delivered next weekend in the color I want, and they and my wife will set them up -- so you still don't know!).

Stay tuned!