Who has heard the new Avalon's?

I pretty much agree with you. I used to own the Eclipses and I read that book cover to cover several times. I always felt, however, that its arguments about the bass were a bit specious--he said something about the Avalon approach conveying what the musician intennded instead of some artificailly enhanced bass. Oh really? A rock musician intends for you to feel the bass, and I rarely did with the Eclipse. And as much as I love what a .5 Q bass sounds like (tuneful to the max), the quantity of bass I got from my Eclipses was ultimately unsatisfying.

Sirspeedy,
I agree wholeheartedly on the Avalon Ascent Mk.2
Ever since I first heard them (plenty of times for hours on end) I maintained the notion that not too much else could hold a candle to them, even to this day.
That's not saying the newer or lesser models are bad, it's just that a lot (including that massive external x-over) went into that speaker, and I hear it too !
I really like the Ascents very much.
I will have a pair soon................ I own Dahlquist.

Drubin.What can I say?Performance is in the taste of the listener.I agree that you could not possibly be happy with the sound of a 2 way,8 inch woofer driven design like the Eclipse now that you have indicated that a priority of yours is to reproduce the kind of bass response that a "rock" musician wants us to hear.I don't think that was a design goal of that speaker.I'm sure there are loads of speakers for you on the current audio scene.Good Luck.

You missed my point. But given your tone of voice, I won't waste any more time on it.

Drubin,I'm truly sorry if my response appeared to you to be offensive.Please accept my apology if that was the case.No response is needed.Just wanted to put it out there.