Hello,

I am a newbie here and i sent an email asking the same question to Ascend but figured this maybe a better place to ask.I am just getting back into the high end home audio game, i just bought a turntable and i am really enjoying vinyl I am looking for a pair of speakers for 2 channel music listening. I currently own a pair of NHT VT-2's that have served me well for years and i am looking to upgrade. I have been doing a ton of research online and while i have not auditioned any speakers yet i have seen many glowing reviews for the Ascend towers with RAAL. I don't know if you have ever heard the NHT's i own but i would be curious as to how your speakers would sound in comparision. Some of the reviews and articles i have seen online (i take most things with a grain of salt) have said that speakers with RAAL tweeters are not good for hard rock music or rock shouldnt be listened to at loud levels on ribbon tweeter speakers, is that true as I mostly listen to hard rock/metal so i am looking for a speaker that will sound great with that genre. I also like to keep the volume up pretty loud most of the time Some of the other speakers that i have been researching and have peaked my interest are the Klipsch RF-7 III, Focal Aria 948's, SVS Ultra Towers, and the Revel F208's, i have not had an opportunity to audition any of these yet. How do the Ascends compare to some of these other speakers, is there something better or something else to look at between $2-5k other than what i have listed for rock music?

Thanks
Frank