Preference for speakers that are half the price. Has this ever happened to you?

It happens all the time and has for years.  B&W 802 series sound better than 801 series except in very large rooms especially when 2 subs are added and properly positioned.  That is just one example.  A lot of this has to do with the subs of course.  It is often a mistake to over buy and wind up with speakers that are just too big for the space.  Dealers are the worst offenders, but they want to display their best and have to work within the confines of available floor space so I can’t really blame them.  Years ago I worked for a McIntosh dealer and when the first speakers were introduced we could never get their biggest and best ML4C to sound as good as their smaller ML2C or actually even their bookshelf ML1C.  The problem wasn’t the speakers, it was the room.  Later when Magneplanar introduced their IV-D it was very tricky to get them to sound right because they needed a lot more space than any of their other speakers.  We lost sales because of customer disappointment do to nothing more than that.

Assuming all variables are the same, including the same music, room, loudness, etc....,  I have found when listening to towers like you are, I tend to prefer more "volume filling" speakers over "higher detail".  I believe the speaker manufactures favor more detail as the price goes up, and sometimes this does not go well with our expectation regarding "filling the room" or "thick" vs "thin", etc...   For example, I like towers with big bass and if I do not hear that, then, the speaker goes down on my list.  Speaker synergy is also something we hear, and if a speaker favors highs, mids, or bass depending on our expectation we may or may not prefer that.  

The one thing I would caution any new buyer is that sometimes speakers that sound very detailed in the store after 2 minutes sound harsh and difficult to listen to after an hour.  While you should please your ears, be aware that this trips us all up. 

Thank you very much for your feedback and experiences, which help me see things more clearly.

I thought it was a unique opportunity to buy the best Sonus faber speakers at a “more reasonable” price (we're talking about speakers with a list price of $160,000...). Maybe they're not right for me after all. Or maybe I'll ask to listen to them a second time to be sure.

In any case, I really appreciate getting all these responses so quickly. Thank you again.

If anyone else has any other experiences to share, I'd love to read them (and even better if you've already heard the Aida 2...).

@audiozx Speakers like any other components can take months to break in . Also  getting their position right in your room takes time too.

I bought a new pair of passive ATC SCM 100s earlier this year and they have been a nightmare. One channel overpowering the other but have now come good and are excellent. Took six months......arrgh!