Some more subjective impressions (again I’m just posting these because the actual blind test won’t likely happen for a while, since when I do it I will want to do it as correctly as possible, informed also by the discussions here):
Subjectively and in sighted comparisons, it is honestly really hard to choose a winner now as I branch out to more modern and synthetic music. I think the soundstage width/depth advantage of the Revels give them a clear advantage on some songs, but with more modern music and EDM style tracks, I am finding the Genelec are more often preferred.
On some songs with a lot of environmental spaciousness built into the recording, I think the Genelecs comes close to the soundstage size of the Revel Salon2’s, but while maintaining more precise pinpoint imaging and perhaps a more crystal clear sound in general.
My current impression is that the Genelec’s are more versatile, and superior in most ways aside from the soundstage and obviously bass extension. But the latter (bass extension) doesn’t entirely count as a victory, since you can buy a matching Genelec sub and still be under budget vs the Salon2’s. And I think one could argue that the Salon2’s soundstage is almost artificially enlarged to create a width and depth not necessarily accurate to the recording (though in practice, this may be preferred regardless, depending on the content and listener preference), although it doesn’t really lose much if anything in the process so I definitely consider it an advantage.
Bottom line is, if someone asked me right now which of these speakers to buy, and I knew nothing else about their situation, room, music preferences, etc. I would recommend the Genelec 8351B without hesitation over the Salon2. Part of this is because they’re better value per dollar, but also I think they’re a bit more versatile and universally likely to get great results, in addition to the convenience of relative compactness despite so much power capability.
Of course this doesn’t change what I said about the Salon2 sounding better on some songs, however as I listen more and more I start to think that over a wide diversity of music, the Genelec probably pulls ahead overall.
Take this all with a grain of salt since these are all sighted impressions. However, I also do see just how important music selection is on the outcome of tests. I understand also the criticisms of blind tests in general given that they are necessarily using a small set of test tracks. That can vary the results quite a lot depending on which tracks are chosen, perhaps more so than any other factor. What I am learning about these over time as I listen in the same room would be very hard to capture in any arbitrary blind test, because of the diversity and sheer volume of music you have to go through to get the full picture of how versatile each speaker is.