Wilson Sophia 2 vs Revel Salon2--fair comparison?


I've narrowed my search to these two speakers. The prices are in the same ballpark for my current situation: I would be buying the Sophias from a local authorized dealer vs buying the Revels new/barely used here at Agon (since I have no local dealer).

I have been able to audition the Sophias and loved them. Since there is no local dealer, the Revels have remained unheard. The praise in the press and various forums have still kept them in the running though.

They will be palced in a 20x27' room. Power will come from an all Bryston front end including the all new 4B SST squared. Music is a mix of classic rock and jazz. I tend to value bass slam and depth as well as the ability to disappear. Coherence is also important.

So what does the forum think? Is this a fair fight? Should I just go for the Revels? Thanks!
e30m3
I would be hesitant to buy a speaker I had not heard over one I had heard and liked no matter how well regarded it is by others. All speakers sound different, even the best, and preferences will differ. If the price differential is large enough you can buy the Revels with the idea of reselling them if you don't like them but this is a poor second best to hearing them before hand. However, it is often impossible to do so, I have heard some speakers I know to be good sound quite dire on demo if badly set up.
The prices here at Agon for the Salon2 would be similar to what the local Wilson dealer wants for the Sophia2. That's what makes the Salon2s tempting even though I have not heard them.
I have posted this before but FWIW, at CES 2008 only four speakers that I heard stood out. The Wilson WP8's and Revel Salon 2's were two of them.

The Wilson's had about $100,000 of VTL equipment in front of them and the room was really dialed in. They sounded great.

The Revels were in the back corner of a room promoting chip amps. Just thrown together with maybe $2000 of front end equipment, if that, and they sounded great.

I will not comment on the nuances of either as I did not spend enough time to do so and it has been a while. But that said, I think that I would have bought the Revel's over the Wilsons.