With most of the research cost already sunk in the Source 10, a smaller and cheaper version is something that makes sense. I've seen and heard the Source 10 (pretty nice sounding speaker), and while I liked how it looked, it struck me as being a bit too large for a lot of rooms as far as aesthetics are concerned. The Source 8 should find favor in most domestic settings. If bass extension and high volume capability are the primary areas of compromise vis-a-vis the Source 10, that won't be too bad because it struck me that the Source 10 had plenty to spare in these areas. If it is efficiency that suffers the most, that would be a bigger deal as the best sounding amps (to me) are somewhat low in power.