ascend sierra tower with raal or Focal Aria 936

Again you’re assuming they’re taking the “let’s  prices low and just sell more” approach.  I’m sure they are in some sense, but not the the extent that you think.

Also, Focal speakers are hand made in France and they make all their own drivers.  This includes the Aria series.  So technically they are saving money there as well and keeping costs down too.

Remember, SVS and Emotiva were both Internet direct “value” brands, yet magically they are at the same prices via retail with full dealer margin now.

It’s not as simple as you think.

Yeah, I am surprised a lot. I don't value the opinions of total stranger all that much. The entire reason a professional review is worth selling ads and magazines is because those writers are continuously building a body of work that gives the reader an impression of what the writer is hearing and the reader can make personal estimations of the review based in their own impressions of the some of same gear reviewed. I've read plenty of amateur opinions accompanied by pics of their listening room repeat with big glass display cases, discombobulated architecture and room arrangement, and speakers jammed against a wall 4 feet apart, and there they are gloating about the awesome sound. One well written review tells me more than 1000 amateur opinions in a forum. 
A lot of companies sell factory direct with 30 day in-home auditions. That jazz makes me scratch my head. How do you break in a brand new speaker and tweak the room to their quirks in a month? A pair of Focal 1008Be, same price as Aria 936's take at least a week of 24/7 use before they're worth listening to. And what do you do with the third or half of the used speakers people send back? Are you really saving money when you have to throw away or deeply discount a significant portion of your production? Is their product really so good 2/3rds of the people who hear them simply must own them? I don't think such a product exists! I'm sure Focal never sees the kinds of returns Ascend sees, nor do they loose the money. 

Contuzzi,

1) I am not assuming anything.  They don't need to make as much on each pair of speakers because of what I've previously outlined.  


2)  The difference with Focal is, they have the manufacturer  -  wholsaler -  retailer chain.  They cost more because of this, and their marketing/ad costs.

213runnin: amazingly, you still don’t get what I’m saying.

Can you prove to me somehow that Ascend is passing on the savings of not going through a dealer network, not dealing with advertising cost, etc?

The internet direct brands want you to have that impression, but it makes no sense for them to do so. Did you just completely ignore the point I made about Emotiva and SVS earlier?

”they don’t need to make as much”  – spoken like someone who has no idea how a successful business works.  They will and should sell for as much as
they can get based on the perceived and actual value of the product.  Again, refer to my SVS and Emotiva examples that you seem to have ignored.