Quick Follow Up
So, I did go ahead and purchase these speakers to give them a try. I have the following observations at this early stage...the Audioholics review of the speakers is bang on and I would like add/emphasize a couple points:
1) The delivery was extremely quick - 2 days after I ordered them the speakers arrived double boxed and very well packed - really impressed;
2) The speakers look great cosmetically, they far exceeded my expectations on this point for speakers at this price point;
3) Although I have not torn them apart, the build quality of the cabinets seems really well done with heavy duty gold lated connections, and a nice finish overall;
4) These speakers are heavy and big. I took some pictures once set up to show them in context of a 50" LCD on a stand but could not see where to attach a photo - but beware they are towers;
5) I used them for 10 hours listening to Bell ExpressVu music and TV and then cranked them up - holy cow they have some punch and as 'gene' mentions they have a real laid back sound with a definite bass bump. The down firing woofers aren't just a gimmick;
7) I am no pro like the gents that write for Audioholics, but, I would personally recommend these speakers to anyone looking for an entry level set of speakers - but make no mistake you may find you never upgrade them...
Love the work on this site, I would have never gotten these speakers except for review here...great work guys.