I am at day 30 of my demo with an Ascend 5x CBM 170 & Hsu VTF-2 combo. I have only been able to listen to them in a 2-channel set-up so far,(delays in getting 5-channel going too lengthy to get into) but they aren't going any where. Very musical and transparent. They make my even my 20-year-old 35 watt p.o.s. receiver sound good. In a word I would just describe them as "clean" sounding. They are anything but full-range and leave a bit to be desired aesthetically (CBM170s) but they're worth the price of return shipping just to demo. Then again I do not know how much it would cost to return them, nor will I find out.

Mike