Revel speakers - dealer scuttlebutt

I don't trust ANY dealer or manufacturer (be it audio, automobiles, appliances, sporting goods, etc.) who would badmouth his competition.

Once I hear that crap my money goes flying out the door never to return. How stupid (or desperate) can some of these people be?

The ironic part is that good dealers (regardless of the product) don't need to badmouth their competitors.  Good dealers can sell on their merits (experience, knowledge, stability).  When I lived in Oregon, I had a great dealer who knew my preferences.  On one product, they flat out told me that I would prefer the competitors product.  Guess who always got my business and my recommendations for others.  That dealer is still in business 20 years later.  

I've known two dealers that always dealt honestly with their patrons and many more that did not. If you are scraping to put food on the family table you will do almost anything to make a sale. It is just the way we are when survival is involved. So unless you are friends it is always wise to treat these situations with a degree of mistrust. The line that works for me is, "I'm not ready to buy today I'm just doing my research." Big smile then keep your mouth shut. The salesperson will come back with something like," we have this one pair with open boxes that we can sell you for a discount." Just smile, shake your head and keep your mouth shut. Never buy anything from a Human who is trying to sell you anything be it in a store or on TV. 

Your experience is kind of what I had when I went to a dealer near me.
He had Golden Ear, but I told him I remembered Vandersteen and liked them.
He said: 'Vandersteen is old tech'.
When I auditioned the Golden Ear and said I didn't care for them, he said:
'How can you? They are the Best Rated speaker out there.

Needless to say, I didn't go back.
IMHO, If you have a dealer badmouthing a brand, stay away.
B

Revel just announced multiple new models at CEDIA. That doesn't happen for brands Harman intends to drop. If they go year after year without any releases or updates... that's when a product line is in trouble. You can also normally find industry news when major brand designers are let go. Notice that Digitech (a Harman pro brand) hasn't released or updated a product in years, and they let go of the primary product designer. The brand is still around, but it's dead in the water as far as new development. Products will be sunset as their product costs go up and sales go down over time. Same would happen in luxury audio (Revel's division). 

All of the Revel designers have been retained since Samsung's ownership (to my knowledge), no revel products have been discontinued, and new products have been announced. That brand is doing just fine. 

I'm with Bob on this.  I only will deal with dealers who are honest.  Rutan at Audio Connection and I speak about a ton of gear.  Most of it is stuff he doesn't carry.  As he often says, I like X product, but it's difficult to sell for various reasons.  

Dealers are in business to make money.  You can easily make a great living and still be very honest and have fun.  

As for Revel, I haven't heard them in ages.  A former dealer of theirs actually said the same as posted above (they are going out of business). It wasn't sour grapes as we are very close (since 78) and often talk about companies (audio fun talk like here).  I highly doubt that Samsung would let Revel fold.  They are too good and their name is thought of as making a nice product.