"I now understand just how much difference good equipment and room acoustics impacts sound." That was a quote from my first post. Yes, the room had quite a bit of acoustical treatment. I believe that all 3 add value-speakers, equipment and room acoustics. Take any one away and it will impact the SQ in a particular room. All I can speak to is my experience at my house and the listening rooms at the audio store. When I added different equipment at my house with the same Axiom speakers and room acoustics, it made a world of difference in the sound. The Axioms came to life and performed the way they were designed to perform. And they could probably sound even better if I treated the room differently with bass traps, etc. I realize that the rooms at the store are setup to sound the way they do. I'm just trying to get more of what I heard with what I have.