Timinwi-
I used to have ML Aerius i mains, Cinema center and (still have) Stylos rears, along with a REL Storm sub. These all worked great together, though I occasionally found the Cinema to be the first speaker in the bunch to show any strain during big HT dynamics.
Just like you, I use an EAD TheaterMaster Pro-series pre/pro and Sim Titan amp, now running Talon front & center speakers, a REL Stadium III sub and the ML Stylos rears. I actually have a deposit on a DVDMaster 8000Pro player, so I could REALLY use your advice about it's potential as an all-encompassing disc source and its synergy with a TM processor and Sim amp, especially using the analog pass-thru of the TM.
Anyway, the Stylos rears are superior to the Scripts, but are also way too rare to suggest you wait around for a set of those. The Stylos was basically a full-sized Aerius re-designed to be mounted on the side walls w/swivel mounts. They stick out only 6 inches from the wall, but are 6-feet tall, and were very expensive ($2800) when new. So I guess your best bet would be to consider either some self-standing ML's in the rear (like a set of Aeons) or the Scripts if you need wall-mounted units.
To match your front speaks, I would recommend the Theater model instead of the Cinema if you have the room for this beasty-large center speaker and the funds to layout for one. It is probably one of the best centers made, and has the timbre-matching and dynamic headroom to coordinate with your Ascents. And the convex-instead-of-concave stat panel shape increases the size of the center's dispersion pattern over the Cinema, giving you a larger sweet-spot for HT/m-chnl audio.
As for subs, I have gone through 5 models from M&K, REL, Martin Logan Descent, Talon and now back to REL. The Stadium III just seems too versatile and seamless to ignore since it works great with BOTH the LFE output of the EAD processor *AND* the 2-channel output of my Sim amp (via a speaker-level sampling tap). This is extra-important for me as I use a separate 2-channel tube preamp for Redbook stereo playback, and need one sub that could interface with BOTH my HT pre/pro and my 2-channel setup at once.
In my situation, it is basically like snapping on the missing bottom octave to the base of my front speakers - that is all. It can be tuned to act as subtle or as overt as you want it to be in either situation...
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