When paired with a good sub for music or movies, you won't miss a thing as far as bass goes. The Ascends are very neutral, very detailed, and image like they couldn't possibly be that affordable. I compared my 340/170 setup directly with several speakers from Paradigms' Monitor series and it really was no contest to my ears. The Ascends had better mids, better highs, better everything. You're welcome to check mine out if you like. I'm in Irondale. That being said, the Paradigm Studios are great speakers, but when paired with my VTF-3MkII, I don't think my Ascends give up a thing. Especially when I got all 5 of mine for less than the retail price of one pair of Studio 60's.