Speakers costing range of 2500-3500 per pair

nitrobob..To bad you sold your Ascend Acoustics. You were using the wrong amplifier. The speaker is known for its killer bass and works best with gobs of power. You were using a Marantz 7500, a budget surround receiver with not enough power reserve to meet the demands of the Ascends. Don't be deceived by the price. They are designed on a level of the best studio and high end speakers on the market. The owner of the company,
David Fabrikant, is one of the finest acoustical engineers in the country who stays off the radar. Their word of mouth reputation makes up for a large cult following globally. David also is a speaker driver/designer. Their way ahead of the game, using a bamboo cabinet structure which is 500%
stronger than MDF capable of much higher resistance to cabinet resonance, distortion and internal turbulence. If you are into heavy metal, hard rock, the Nrt tweeter is better than the RAAL for that type of music. You would've been better off using a hefty 200 watts outboard amp that doubles at 4 ohms which would've transformed your Sierra Towers to a performance level you were not aware of. No wonder you got 6 buyers in eight hours.

Another vote for Vandy 2Cs. Love mine

Spend money,
The Arie 936 are a great speaker, especially for the money!  We have the Arie 936’s and matching center and subs.  Your Denon will be fine with the speakers, yes a better receiver and amp will perform better but if that is not in the budget, you will be o.k. Seriously!  As for the speakers go, there are a lot of good speaker but when it come to value and performance the Arie are hard to beat!  They look great as well, mine are in piano black and the contrast is wow!  Speaker wires will go a long way and unfortunately another huge topic.  I like making my own at this point.   http://www.tempoelectric.com/cables.htm Are a great reference and insight on cables.  It makes a noticeable difference!  My wife also really liked the Arie 936’s because of the sound and you can easily incorporate the speakers into a home theatre setup.  That was her deciding point and what we ended up doing.  We were torn between Spendor D7’s  but the Arie’s 936’s could expand.  I can personally tell you that the Arie’s have not disappointed and absolutely puts a smile on everyone’s face!  We did like the 948’s the top speaker in the Arie line but our room was better set up for the 936’s.  We generally have it set about 10-11 feet away which is their wheel house, the soundstage, imagining, and Projection is outstanding!  You also do not need as much room as other speaker due to fact that they fire forwards.  I find myself or really my daughter and wife listening to a lot of music through the Arie’s.  On that note speakers will last your av receiver will go out of date and should be considered a distant second, there is always new technology very little in speakers they last!  I also run Anthem receiver and amps for the setup.   I do have my own listening room, but that is strictly listening and that is for another time.  Get the Arie’s you won’t regret it!  

I'll take the Ascend Acoustics Sierra Towers over Vandersteens any day of the week. In order to survive, Richard had to take on outside engineers to keep his company afloat during the past twenty years. Richard is not a acoustical engineer nor had an education in electrical engineering. He started out as a DIY guy building speakers in his garage in 1977. Their good speakers but over priced, and Ascend Acoustics designs superior drivers. The goofiest thing I ever came across years ago when Vandersteen updated their website, Is his article on " The truth about pistonic drivers"..when I shared the article with my high end friends they couldn't stop laughing. Great piece of hyperbole.

More than likely, Vandersteen is using "ghost writers" to answer your technical questions online. I mentioned in a recent thread I started under amps/preamps on the new Belles Virtuoso integrated of the very bad experience I had with Richard Vandersteen, having to deal with his explosive temper which he is known for. In the summer of 1998 I spoke to him on the phone and asked him a technical question regarding the 2CE,
wanting to know what the SPL/weighted db level the speaker could reach. He replied "What do you mean?" He had no clue what I was talking about and went dead quiet on the phone. I repeated the question and he yelled at the top of his lungs " I don't have time to answer technical questions" and slammed down the phone. Worst treatment I have ever experienced from an audio company in forty years.