Never been keen on the tannoy series, but the REv X's dont look as bad as the others for sure.

as you say it is all about getting a good quality pair of nearfields and then finding out where the holes are in their range...

multiple testing on all sorts of speakers is defo the way to do it. in the car, on the hi-fi, on your mates hi-fi, on the cheap shit computer speakers etc etc etc. and most importantly a PA if thats what you are designing for....