I swore I'd never buy speakers without auditioning them first, but the temptation was too great to perhaps snag some active monitors that by all accounts punch way above their price point. A big decision and potentially a bad one, but I went ahead and ordered a pair of Emotiva Stealth 8's. (Thanks to Sycraft for tipping me off to them in the first place. If they suck I won't blame you.)
 

There's a 30-day money-back return policy, because these are only sold direct from the manufacturer. Worst-case scenario is I have to pay to ship them back. I won't be tossing out the shipping cartons right away. But reviews have been 100% gushing positive, so I'm optimistic.
 
The specs sure look good: 200W top & bottom, flat to 30 Hz (-1.75 dB). They offer detailed measurements, which do indicate a fairly narrow sweet spot - as expected from a ribbon tweeter - but wider than my ADAMs. I had intended to get ADAM A8Xs, since they'd likely be closest to what I was used to. But they're 2 grand for a pair vs. $1,498 for the Emotivas, which are better spec'd. Recording Magazine compared them with $5,000 KRK Exposé E8Bs.
 
It's a leap of faith, I know. I'll post back here once they've arrived and I've had a chance to give them a workout.

Looking forward to your report on on the Stealth 8's. I can't vouch for their speakers but I have owned one of the XPA-5 power amps for my home theater for about 6 or 7 years. It is built like a tank (weighs over 70 lbs) and sounds great.
 
I have often looked at the powered monitor line thinking about trying them. Good luck with them. Emotiva seems like a good company to deal with.

brave lad.
 
we all benefit if your gamble is a good one,
share the wealth or cry us a river.
 

bitflipper 
It's a leap of faith, I know. 

How do you conduct your normal auditioning process so that it's not a leap of faith as well?

Oooo. Let us know how that works out. Hopefully this has a happy ending. I'm guessing it will.

drewfx1

bitflipper 
It's a leap of faith, I know. 

How do you conduct your normal auditioning process so that it's not a leap of faith as well?

Last time, it was listening to familiar music in a treated room with an A/B switch to compare the candidates I could afford against some that I knew I could not afford.

bitflipper

drewfx1

bitflipper 
It's a leap of faith, I know. 

How do you conduct your normal auditioning process so that it's not a leap of faith as well?

Last time, it was listening to familiar music in a treated room with an A/B switch to compare the candidates I could afford against some that I knew I could not afford.

Same way I bought my last (hopefully) car...I drove everything on the lot that I couldn't afford, and then bought a Forester!

Bet you made that car salesman's day.

bitflipper

drewfx1

bitflipper 
It's a leap of faith, I know. 

How do you conduct your normal auditioning process so that it's not a leap of faith as well?

Last time, it was listening to familiar music in a treated room with an A/B switch to compare the candidates I could afford against some that I knew I could not afford.

I would say that there are some leaps of faith there as well (at the risk of the people who have made the leap vehemently disagreeing).
 
And what I mean to say here is that we can't sweat things too much in an imperfect world and choosing monitors is an imperfect art.

Got the Emotivas today. Heavy buggars at 41.5 lb, extremely well packed for shipping. Got 'em up on the stands and then realized the thieves who'd stolen my previous monitors had also made off with my 1/4" balanced to XLR cables, so I had to improvise connections. Set them up with default settings, then decided to turn on the +1 dB treble tilt in recognition of my old ears' HF dropoff.
 
Now comes the hard part, listening to all my favorite records through them. It's gonna be a chore, but I am nothing if not diligent.
 
Currently on the playlist: Invincible by Two Steps from Hell. I am melting, and the volume is only at 25%. Bass so smooth and deep you'd swear there was a sub connected. Delicate parts are clear and crisp, and not a hint of hiss. I'm hearing percussive details I didn't know were in there. Even very low bass is well-defined.
 
They have a surprisingly wide sweet spot, not what I expected from ribbon tweeters. Although technically they're not ribbon tweeters, they're actually an exotic type of compression driver. I was a fan of my ADAM tweeters, but these are far better. Very clean and crisp, with wider dispersion. Unlike the ADAMs, these sound nearly as good 10' back as they do at 3'. 
 
It could be a few hours before I decide if I like them...