"this isn't about the money"
Yeah right!
Actually I can't believe you guys are having such a hard time selling the XPL140's. What's wrong with that? Are people too scared? Are the XPL's too much loudspeaker for them?
"The L96 doesn't exactly suck (quite the contrary), but unless you can find a mint pair I'd go with the newer XPL."
The L96 is at least a decade older in design. No it doesn't suck but... the L96 is at least a decade older in design... that should suffice for summation.
Now... an LE10H, 093Ti, and 046Ti in an L96 sized enclosure with a sloped XPL250 type baffle...