High value, giant killer speakers?

I wanted to add that I recently purchased a used pair of Dynaudio 42's, and to me they sound pretty similiar (from what I remember) to the original cbm-170. I'd say the Ascend has less bass, a brighter tweeter and a more detailed midrange. The 42 in comparison has a thicker, darker midrange, more bass slam and a much better tweeter. Overall they are both ruthlessly revealing and sound fantastic with certain music, but too harsh on other music. Both are much differen't than a forgiving speaker like a psb.

I have been comparing Maggie LRS with Zu Dirty Weekend - powered by Schiit Vidar monoblocks and a Freya preamp. 

The Zu's are very good with a sweet sound and beautifully-made cabinets from Utah.  They also let me go a little past their 60-day full-refund period while I waited on Magnepan LRS's to arrive. 

The music started out of the LRS's before I even sat down and I knew I was listening to something more profound.  I listened to Mahler's 2nd and was even moved to tears in the 4th movement.  That totally surprised me and pretty much made my decision. 

And the usual caveat:  this is true for me and my partially damaged ears in my particular listening room.   I think the LRSs'bass is somewhat muddy on genres with a driving/thumping bass lines, so eventually I will find a subwoofer to fill out the LRS's.  But surprisingly, I really liked the way the LRS's handled bass on jazz trio and vocal music.  The Zu's do a very decent job from high to low.
Brian

@esch,
I concur with your opinon regarding the Zu vs. Maggie.
I, too, tried a pair of Zu Union, and Omen speakers. In both cases, they were very close to my Vandy speakers (Treo's and VLR's), but seemed to lack the 'refinement' Vandy offers. I suspect the same occurs with Maggies.
Re Bass:
One thought that occurs to me is that the Schiit Vidar Monoblocks aren't up to the task of powering Maggies. Yes, they work, but I think you would be surprised if you put in a nice Class A amp, Heck, even an AB amp like McCormack should probably tighten up that bass. Schiit makes an impressive product for the money, but Maggies really like a good power source to deliver the goods.
My 2 cents...
Bob

The Schiit Vidar isn’t a muscular amp. Pushing Maggie’s is beyond its capabilities. 

Incorrect.  The Vidar is a very robust design that Schiit has even demoed with Maggies.  They wouldn’t do that if it revealed weaknesses in their amp.   The little LRS is getting 200wpc with the Vidar.

when I got the Vidar I was surprised that it had more impactful bass than the 200 wpc(@ 8 ohms) it replaced.