Hi folks...thought I would let you know that I decided to forgo the factory outlet route and change my order to A-stock. They arrived yesterday and not only do they sound incredible but they are beautifully built. The cabinet edges are so perfectly finished its hard to tell they are veneers at all. I am still awaiting cables from Heartland but decided to hook them up with the wire I had available from the old system (I just couldnt wait). I calibrated the system and set the speaker levels with the RXV2500 YPAO optimizer. I had some trouble with the EP350 turning on so I had to adjust the sub input level from the RXV manually to set the level to reliably turn the sub on. Once everything was set, I used 'Pearl Harbor' and Pat Metheny's "Still Life Talking" as my movie/music preview material. Bass response during the Pearl Harbor bombing scene was very tight and well-controlled. Best description is 'omni-present and enveloping but not overly so'. I was really impressed with the VP100 center channel performance; dialogue was not muddy or disconnected but very crisp considering the speaker size and seemed to emanate from the screen rather than from a localized source. The Bose were notorious for this. The 5.1 source was presented very well; overhead fly-bys, explosions, etc. were reproduced very well and provided an engaging experience. Listening to Pat's guitar in stereo mode was nothing short of a spiritual experience. I highly recommend 'Last Train Home' and 'Third Wind' off of 'Still Life..' as a great way to audition these speakers. The combination of acoustic, electric as well as vocals provides a great combination of transition material to experience these speakers with. I am very, very happy with my purchase (and the wife hasnt complained about how they look either!) and thank everyone for helping me make this choice.