The old Avalon Ascents were among my favorite speakers, very musical and a holographic soundstage. My only complaints about them were they needed more power than my JA80s could give them and, at their then-list price, I would expect deeper bass response than they could give. Haven't heard their latest generation of speakers, but would expect, with the right electronics, they should be at or near the top tier of speakers. If you're looking at Alon, give a listen to their Lotus SE speakers, maybe not in the same sonic league with the others you're talking about but one of the best speakers I've heard from them and very easy to drive.
