Still spending time listening to these new ZU Omens with different equipment, so far tubes and solid state both holding there own. I'm not sure about 98db rating as a pair of Klipsch Heresy;s played louder at all the same settings. Overall these speakers seemingly have set the bar at a new level for performance vs. price. If you told me they cost $3000.00 or better I'd believe it. I really like the look of these speakers I bought the black finish but all the finishes look pretty cool.