I would recommend these speakers if you like the all-black industrial look. I don't have the audiophile words, but they have a kind of good overall sound with nothing to blow me away which is excellent for filling holes in my 13.2 channel great room system. They don't seem to have excellent depth or put you in the location themselves, but at a distance, the sound flowers like a lot of speakers, especially within the context of different types and brands of others in carefully calculated locations. For the money, they are definitely worth it, and the photos don't do them justice. I think Monoprice would have done much better selling these Audition and Encore speakers with better promotional photos. The Encore towers are also delightful, cheaper, and really even more aesthetically pleasing with glass plates on top. High attention to detail in packaging including a specially sewn black satinate bag for each speaker seems almost overkill. I'm not sure where to store those or what else they can be used for while using the speakers. The packaging is not styrofoam, but a higher grade foam specially cut in all the necessary pieces which can be reused for many purposes, if you have them, but they seem a shame to throw away. I bought a sit/stand desk from Monoprice with the same exacting engineering and loving attention to detail and packaging for very little money which I can recommend; although I made it into a tv stand/lift for a 65" tv. Great intentions. I just hope people know to how good they are to buy them! You can even customize these speakers for your own decor by paint, veneer, or letting your imagination go wild.

I've had these for a couple of weeks now and I'm very satisfied with them. I bought them on sale for $89.99 each.

Pros: Sound is clear.
They take up about the same amount of space as the
bookshelf speakers on stands they replaced.
Cons: At this price none.

I use them in a bedroom setup. The amp has rudimentary room correction, mostly in the bass region. I use them with a subwoofer with the crossover set at 75 Hz. In good quality recordings that I've listened to many times I hear a bit more detail than I did with the previous speakers. I also use them when I watch videos on my tablet. It's connected to the amp with a DAC. I find speech a bit clearer.

All in all, at this price, I think they're a great value. I don't think I would have bought them at full list.