Congrats on the towers. The RAAL tweeter was the reason that the Sierra Towers (black bamboo) were on my short list. Until I went nuts and tripled my budget. (keep saying - I like ramen). In fact, the Song 3's were also on the list, but only because I was interested in a stupid-fancy cabinet. But, having zero speakers was a deciding factor in the end. Especially mixed in with a lockdown and my already tenuous mental condition.
I'm also a fan of larger midranges, which the Ascend have. Even if the Salk had faster availability, I had issues with their choice of midrange drivers (and the 3-A's Accuton had its own list of potential issues). Maybe it's just my bias from older speakers, but my past experiences always seemed a smaller midrange sounded congested. I'd only had an opportunity to listen to Ascends a couple of times, both times with RAAL and both times I was really impressed. TBH, I thought they ate the Dynaudios they were compared with alive (not to mention being a fraction of the cost). Same sort of dynamics and speed, but a-i-r.
Thanks for posting that info on the tweeter(s), if that's in their marketing text I missed it. One of the major complaints I've heard in the past is the tweeter completely falling apart on "proper rock played at proper volumes" by some reviewers. I wasn't aware of the power handling differences between the two, or which is used in what product.
TBH, I'd keep those beauties as far away from a nasty old TV set as possible, but I'm a 2-channel curmudgeon anyway. I'd hook 'em up to a sweet little tube amp and turntable, lock the door and settle into my comfy chair with a Scotch.
