They're brand spanking new. They came in late yesterday, I got them out of the box and up on the wall today on a floating shelf system also from Amazon. They had to be put pretty high on the wall and I placed them upside down so the tweeter was more at ear level. The power plant is a recently purchased Yamaha R-S202, a very barebones receiver that features the cleanest, fastest power I've ever experienced. The 100 watts per channel @ 8 ohms is supplying more than enough juice for these speakers, so far 2/3 power is confortably loud, 3/4 I've not yet dared to tread. In other words, I have ridiculous headroom. The primary source is a Hiby R3 Pro DAC, also from Amazon which I prefer to feed hard wired, rarely Bluetoothed. The Elacs complete a pretty dreamy sounding stereo system. It ain't high-end, but at under $600 it's amazingly close. Now for the breaking-in. To inaugurate my purchase I started off with a rousing baroque fanfare for organ, brass and tympany from a sparklingly sonic, out-of-print DGG CD called Awake The Trumpet's Lofty Sound, just to let the Elacs know that their primary thrust will be classical. Then I cut loose with some Chicago Transit Authority, and the eponymously titled Pastorius, which sounded comprehensible for the first time. I went on to Up Front from David Sanborn, and Imaginary Worlds by Sammy Figueroa. Big music all, to show off the outstanding immersive power of the Elacs and to loosen up the internal workings of the drivers, an endeavor that will continue for some time. Whereas I will put off complex symphonic selections until the breaking-in process is a little more advanced, I see no reason why something like the Hammerklavier and other super dynamic pieces for solo piano should be excluded. So onwards and upwards, I'm loving these speakers. I'm absolutely blown away by these speakers and I recommend people grab 'em before the price goes up.It has now been around 6 weeks since the Elacs came in. I'm loving them, my jazz and rock sounded great from the start but I'm finding a rather lengthy break-in period to be most valuable, especially for many of my classical selections. I have not gone out of my way to push them hard or for long periods at a stretch, just normal listening. The reviewer who mentioned the shortcomings in rendering classical during a 3 speaker system comparison was absolutely correct. Much material, strings, alto recorders, certain piano notes have sounded initially on the raggedy side. I'm thinking right around the crossover frequencies, the upper registers of the woofer and lower registers of the tweeter. But much of this has worked itself out and continues to work itself out over time. The guy never gave these speakers a chance. With each passing day I grow more impressed and gratified by my purchase, particularly as I see that the cost has gone up by $90. Recently, I have had occasion to push the volume, namely on the beautifully engineered DGG Mutter recording of the Sibelius violin concerto. Wow! Wow! Words fail me. Enough said. At any rate, when I get around to it I'm going to install my other receiver, the 120 WPC Harman Kardon HK3490. After all, if 100 WPC sounds great, etc., etc.. Besides, I want to utilize my graphic equalizer, and the Yamaha lacks a tape loop. So to conclude for the second and final time, these Elacs are definitely keepers. After even an incomplete break-in period the imaging, tonal and dynamic qualities of the system are simply fantastic for their size and price, and just continue to get better still.It's now a little over 3 months of enjoyment with the Elacs. I have switched over to the 120 RMS per channel HK and it has indeed proved a better match, resulting in increased breadth, depth, separation and clarity to the musical program, a much more cogent soundstage and power to (relatively speaking, of course) inspire awe. It truly demonstrates the difference between the loudness of the Yamaha and the all together desirable volume provided by the HK. Additionally, I do believe that in the enhanced amplification of frequencies and timbres the breaking in process has been accelerated. By now only rarely do I hear a wayward tone, so I think the Elacs, after perhaps an overly long period of time can be considered just about broken in. But now that they are I can really appreciate the full capabilities of the speakers, how their innate neutrality of sound allows them to complement so many styles of music and how their power handling enables the experience of total immersion in clean, clear unsullied music. So much speaker in such a small, inexpensive package. Well, I've said all I need to say about these wonderful speakers. This is my final sign-off. My final, final sign-off. Seriously.