You know I have this song in my mind from Holly Cole "I can see clearly now" Substitute See with Hear and that's what basically happened when I did my comparisons.

You still have to be careful with positioning - no speaker can get around that - nevertheless they have relatively simple recomendations for best results - most speaker makers do. AN themselves have tested their speakers in over a hundred different kinds of rooms/shapes etc - once agian I as a customer am not privey to every bit of technology associated with their speakers - there are info bits here and there.

I suggest you make your next vavcation to Victoria BC and pop in - compare the Paradigm of your choice - spend the day bring your SPL or borrow theirs etc and pick any of their rooms and set it up any which way you wish - allow them to set the AN's just by ear alone. Then compare. Real simple. You will be pleasantly surprised to learn that you've been led down the garden path. But hey I was - But "I can hear clearly now the advertising hype is gone."