I also did the research, listened to what I could, and then bought the Axioms. Very satisfied that I did. And I might have been just as satisfied acoustically with the Ascends, but I will never know. The reason that I will never know is because the Ascends are so damn homely I wouldn't audition them. True, we buy these things for the sounds they bring us. Some will say that appearance doesn't matter, and all this being truly subjective, it may not matter to them. But ugly speakers are a peeve of mine. It doesn't cost all that much to pay some attention to asthetics, so I'd rather buy a good-looking speaker that sounds wonderful than an ugly one that sounds wonderful.
Along similar lines, Dr. Hsu are you listening? By all accounts, you make wonderful subwoofers. But I'm about to buy a similarly wonderful SVS. Not for aesthetics alone, but I can get one of thier comparable products in four colors. Why not one of yours? Seventy years ago Henry Ford offered cars in 'any color you wanted , as long as it was black'. That philosophy from Hsu is being met the same way it was met from Ford - people will buy elsewhere.
To Ascend and Hsu - it doesn't have to be ugly and it doesn't have to be black. Axiom and many others offer good-looking products with some degree of choice, at a competitive price. Aren't these things sort of obvious to the average marketing person? Obviously not.
