Aside from the one qs8 that had to be reboxed (as per my post in "questions"), I got all my speakers yesterday.
I got: m60s, vp150, qs8s. (I've got a sub which I will eventually upgrade, but it's quite sufficient). The qs8 should come in today.

First of all, they sound excellent. I tried them out with all ranges of music that I had on hand, and then I asked my girlfriend and my roomate. (I am a young 20-something, in an apartment, with no wife to make me sleep on the couch for spending all my money on speakers. The girlfriend loves them.) So, after trying every category of music from classic rock to techno, and then from classical and opera to heavy metal, the verdict was pretty much clear. These things rock, at any volume I can drive them to. Most of this listening was in PLII, but I set it to stereo for a while (with no sub) and that sounded excellent as well.

Unfortunately the room is extremely akward, so I can't set it up quite how I want to. But, that just means when I move into a better space, they'll sound better

Congrats! If ya got any pics to post, that would be great. I've had my speakers for a week now, and I am still finding it a bit hard to fall asleep at night just thinking about them!

I will see what I can do about pics. Since I haven't settled down in a house yet I haven't gotten a nice large tv. So it's very amusing but the vp150 is the same width as my television. I see pictures on here of people with massive rear-projection sets that make the vp150 look small, which it is not at all.

Not to spark a cable debate, but I do need new cables. (The ones I have are worse than generic 14 gauge.) Everything I have read on here has been on quality, and I know I can't tell the difference between expensive and generic cables. (read: no comment on whether or not a difference exists.) So this question is simply about convenience. Do people think it's worth the convenience factor to get some banana plugs?

Also, govols, I think we have the exact same kenwood unit. You said it cut out on you once? Did you have it cranked way up? With it at around -20 I found it was loud enough that I could hear the vocals clearly in the street outside. (Granted through 4 large, but closed, windows.) I don't imagine in that room I will ever need to turn it up beyond that point.
-A

ringmir,
Here was a discussion sometime ago that DJ and i had about bananas. In short, i've found them to be very convenient and alot easier to plug into the components than tinkering with bare wire. However if you plan on never moving the equipment for the next 20 years, don't worry about it. For some reason i'm always tending to move things around, take them to friend's houses and back again, etc. I'm not really sure why.

I didn't have my Kenwood cranked up close to maximum. We were watching "Pirates of the Caribbean" when it shut down. Probably was in that -30-to-20 area. Since I don't have a sub, my guess is that the amp just couldn't withstand the demands the rest of the system was putting on it...I am certainly not an audio-tech guy, but that is what I have been told.