Hi Mike,

Just a couple of quick commments. The Ascends are very neutral speakers with excellent soundstaging. Really, that is their forte. They have the 'boxless' sound audiophiles crave. Make no mistake, these are budget speakers (at $350 a pr), however, they put other speakers costing far more to shame. They are bass shy and are designed to work with a sub. Especially while listening to music, you will need a good sub that does note just provide one-note bass. Hsu, SVS and the RAVA come to mind. What sub will you be using? With the Ascends being fairly efficient you should have no problems acheiving ridiculously high sound levels. Regarding the package price, Ascend has special discounted prices if multiple speakers are purchased together (or within a short span of time).

Hope this helps,
Ajay