ascend sierra tower with raal or Focal Aria 936

I believe there is no point in continuing this discussion, perhaps we can at least agree on that.

There are many factors on the Emotiva company, believe whatever makes sense to you.  I've been simplifying the discussion so those unfamiliar with business concepts could understand the basic issues.

One reason internet companies do not charge a full retail price on their products is specifically YOUR mind set. Many couldn’t be persuaded to try Ascend or Axiom or Aperion Audio or Hsu Research or Odyssey Audio or Oppo or any other such company. To succeed they have to discount their products to a point where enough are willing to try them out in their homes.

The first such product I ever bought was an Emotiva XPA-3 for around $500. The equivalent amp from Parasound was about 3000. I was willing to save 2500 and possibly get an inferior product. Since then I’ve purchased many pieces from the Oppos of the electronics world.

Some will try, but many like you won’t. Do whatever makes you happy.

I also do not believe all internet direct companies pass along the savings. SVS and Emotiva showed that when they switched and pricing stayed the same for a lot of products while adding the standard dealer margin. 

I like Focal and others that design and manufacture all of their parts and drivers. There are a lot of companies that do not do any research and just buy off the shelf drivers. That costs less then doing research. 

I'm pretty happy laying out a few hundred bucks more for the certainty of hearing what I'm buying and supporting my local independent retailer. It's in their best interest to make me as happy as possible. Not the case with the factory direct crowd. 

The factory direct companies live or die by their online reputation, they have to make you as happy as they can.

I can only go by my own experience.  Paradigm is a loudspeaker company that designed and made their own parts and drivers for decades, and I owned their second from very top of the line speaker, the Signature S6, which cost over 5000.  I owned these speakers for 7 years, and ran them first with Emotiva gear, then Parasound.  In my time, I've also owned 5 other models from Paradigm, from the Monitor and Performance series.  

And I can tell you that you can get equal performance of those $5000 speakers for much less money from Ascend(I've also owned 3 different pairs of Ascend speakers).  I compared them side by side and could not believe my ears.  

Believe whatever makes you happy, and spend multiple thousands like I did.

That's great for you, but do you really believe people's tastes and listening environments are so monolithic that Ascend's products are ideal for most? The Focal Aria 900 series is broadly considered better than Paradigm's competitive products, and you're saying you loved them and you now love Ascend? I'm not sold on Ascend right there because I've heard Paradigms. They're nice, but I think Golden Ear has a solid edge on them with their AMT and I think the Focal 936 trounces them in terms of imaging, dynamics, and neutrality. Beyond that, people who love B&W's dark tone rarely like Focal. Ascend can't possibly be that ideal of a speaker.