Focal Aria 948 Question, No area to demo near me

If you listened to any ADS speakers in the room the focals are going and liked them you’ll love them!

I would try to get a home demo of the the 948s before purchase. I heard them at a dealer in a pretty decent sized room, and the sound was just too much, seemed like it was overloading the whole room.  I will admit that the room needed treatments, so that could have been part of the issue.  Unless your listening room is pretty big, the Aria 936 may be a better option.

I visited my local dealer about three years ago to audition the Revel F208s.  He happened to have the Focal 948s and Sopra2s set up, as well, and offered me some time with them.  I liked the Revels a lot, actually, but listening to the Sopras immediately after was a mistake.  Those sounded much better to me.  They're much more expensive, so not a surprise.  The real surprise was the 948s.  I found the step up from the F208s to the Sopras was large, but the step down from the Sopras to the 948s was remarkably small to my ears.  I think the 948s are a steal, especially at the price OP mentioned.  For me, I decided against the F208s.  The smart move would have been to pick up the 948s.  But I loved the cosmetics of the Sopras - the orange finish option really struck me.  So, I'm still kind of biding my time and saving my pennies.  By the time my budget is ready, I'm sure some new shiny thing will come along...

What finish are they? There is a discount online retailer (legit) selling new walnut for $3499/pair. It appears 37hz at the low response still leaves a bit of room for extra grunt so would not think overbearing. Do you have an opportunity to go listen as they are local? Also, consider your room as those are fairly large speakers. I’d say try them out if you can but does seem like a deal.

I’d snag them up.

There's only one transaction record of the Focal Aria 948 in the audiogon bluebook, from about a year ago at $2814. There's no information about the age or condition.