ascend sierra tower with raal or Focal Aria 936

Unless you're buying those Ascend at some sort of discount, you're not looking at a speaker in the Focal 936 price range. You're talking more like a couple hundred away from 948's and I'm sure you can talk a dealer down a couple hundred. Personally, I think the 936's are 98% the speaker the 948's are. 
My antique rig has a pair of ESS AMT1's in it and I've heard a lot of AMT-type speakers. I like AMTs a lot and if you really want to burn 4 or 5 grand on something with a pair of them, go listen to a pair of big ESS with that massive dipole on top. They do things no other speaker does so we'll. 
All of that said, ribbons and AMT's are far more fussy about placement than the Focal will be, though 936's will want some consideration and tweaking. I'm also skeptical of the dispersion claims made of AMTs. I think they're better than ribbons, but they have practically no forgiveness for vertical off-axis listening. It basically doesn't matter with the Focals. Nobody is listening to 936's or 948's on tweeter axis unless they play in the NBA. 
Just some considerations....

One thing about ribbons.  The school of thought on them is that they have specific characteristics such as being fussy for placement, and a narrow disbursing pattern.  

The Raal ribbon tweeter in the Ascend Sierra speakers is a game changer, and why both Salk and Philharmonic have now also turned to Raal for ribbon tweeters.  They are hand made and simply amazing. I'm sure Focal makes a fine speaker as well, but there you are paying retail, or discounted retail instead of buying from the manufacturer and saving upwards of 50%. 

Incidentally, I had some well regarded focal speakers in my car.  I did not care for Focal's approach whatsoever.  Too bright/harsh.  I've owned the Sierra 2 which has the Raal ribbon, and I can tell you the highs are very resolving and detailed, but not ever harsh.  

I've never read one single review of the Aria series that's described them as bright or harsh. 
I also don't believe buying factory direct buys a better speaker for the money. Speakers generally command a price based on their qualities, not what they cost to build. 
Beyond all that, I'd never buy a speaker I can't hear first. Choosing based on hear-say, opinions, and reviews is like choosing a wife based on text messages. 

Well if you want to marry a pair of speakers, I guess.   The internet sales model is far different than the retail method, and is indeed based on what they cost to build.   The retail speaker brand will gin up its qualities and get print media types to "rave" about them so as to "command" a premium price.  Hey, its your money, spend as much as you want.

I seriously doubt what they ask has anything to do with what they cost to make. What's more, speaker companies hardly go around petitioning the likes of Stereophile to review and rave about their products. If a product is that good and that attention-getting at audio shows it'll be competently reviewed. 
If I had to choose between speakers sight unseen, some from a company renowned around the world for it's quality, engineering prowess, and for supplying the drivers for many other renowned speakers, and some from a company who's products I couldn't find with a search warrant, I'm going with the former every single time. 
Maybe there are speakers better than 936's, but I wouldn't dream of buying $4000 without extensively listening to my options. I'm always surprised when these kinds of threads pop up because nobody's opinion is going to matter in someone else's listening room. Ya just gotta listen to the things. The 936's we're the best I was able to find and listen to. If a manufacturer can't appreciate the importance of physically placing their product in the marketplace, but would rather depend on internet ad copy to win the day, I wouldn't take them very seriously. 
Just one guy's opinion... But it sounds good in my listening room.