These speakers are extremely good for their price range and size. Excellent for home theater OR an audio only surround system. Because of their size, the placement options that are already difficult for surround speakers is made a little easier. Even though the drivers are small, they have quite a bit of range without sounding tinny or tubby. Very neutral sounding, they provide a nice clean, clear sound that leans more towards detail while not going over the edge to an etched sound. The bipolar/direct radiating modes are very useful if you prefer one over the other - just the press of a button provides either. Yes, there are other surround speakers that are better BUT not at this size or price. You would have to spend at least 2X to get appreciably better and they probably won't be nearly as compact. They strike the perfect balance between price, size, audio quality and flexibility.