Speakers costing range of 2500-3500 per pair

To answer OP's last question, neither the Focals nor the Ascend Acoustics match well with your AVR.  They both greatly outclass it,.  In addition to probably not having enough quality watts to get the most out of them, the preamp sections of most AVRs are not good.  And as many audiophiles will tell you from personal experience, the preamp is one of the most important factors in the ultimate sound you get out of your system.  If you're planning on upgrading to this level of speaker, I hope you are planning to upgrade your electronics too. 

Have to ask what your goals are?  Is your priority movies or 2-channel music listening?  If the latter, what are the most important sound reproduction characteristics to you from a speaker perspective?  At this price level for speakers I think you're outclassing your receiver and won't get the best out of what speakers at this level have to offer, unless your plan is to upgrade your upstream electonics fairly significantly in the future.  Don't mean to be a buzzkill here, but without knowing the answers to these important questions it's really impossible to make an informed recommendation for your specific situation.