Everything down through mid-bass is exceptional. Timbre and tonality of instruments and voices are spot on. They do midrange and highs extremely well. These speakers produce great soundstage with depth, clarity, and resolution. Overall, in all areas with one exception - I have been very happy with the decision to make this purchase. That experience caused me to sour on my original decision to go with the Axiom M80 ($1,300) fronts reasoning that if the center has brightness issues, the mains would be the same. In fairness though, I may not have given it enough time to break-in. It proved to be a bit too bright for my taste. I ordered these after returning an Axiom VP150 center channel speaker. One should also keep in mind that these speakers need to be used with a sub. By the way, changing out the standard jumpers to Paul Speltz anti-jumpers produced a noticeable improvement in clarity and resolution. When used with a well recorded CD/SACDs, these speakers are capable of producing the wow factor. In fact, in 5-channel stereo, the 3 Ascends across the front produce a very coherent, blended wall of sound. She made a point to come in and comment about how really smooth the system sounded. But how does it sound? Well my wife (anything but an audiophile) was in another room working while I was playing a few discs.
Taken into account against what is considered high end gear, this is a fairly modest priced system end to end. I did a lot of research here on Audio Review, as well as A-gon and the Asylum. With the exception of LAT 300 interconnects (Sony CDP to Pre/Pro), all other cabling and power cords are from Signal Cable. Im using a Denon 3805 as Pre/Pro with Outlaw mono-blocks running the front Ascends. I was looking for a combination that would perform well, both as fronts for my HT set-up and speakers that could deliver in 2-channel pure direct listening mode. They are combined with the Ascend center channel, Cambridge Soundworks S300 rears, and Hsu Research VTF-2. These speakers are very accurate, uncolored, and detailed in their presentation. (Note: I didnt ask to hear anything above $3,000 not even for S & G)
Against the Ascends, those same recordings sounded as good or better than most everything in the store. I brought along my own CDs for reference. Nothing under $2,000 performed as well as the Ascends. I auditioned Def Tech, Klipsch, Martin Logan, Vienna Acoustics, and few other models at my local Magnolia shop (inside Best Buy). Speakers that cost so little are not supposed to sound this good but they do. They sounded great right out of the box and after the recommended break-in period (50 hours), the Ascends settled into a zone that defies their size and cost. But based on my personal experience, this is the best speaker I have heard under $2,000. Of course the term best implies direct comparison to all the available alternatives. Here's a user review I wrote on another site: For good quality, versatile (HT/2ch) speakers in the same budget category take a look at Ascend Acoustics.
The home audition works if you're willing to pay return shipping.
I had the VP150 in for an in-home audition, but sent it back due to brightness.