Polk RTi12 vs. Ascend Acoustics CMT-340SE

I have a pair of Polk RTi12 and a pair of Ascend Acoustics CMT-340SE. I use a Pioneer 1019 receiver to power them.

I tried to listen to both with different kind of music and movies that I have and found them to be similar sounding.

Both speakers have the same efficiency: 90dB

Polk's driver components are:
Woofer 3 - 7" Diameter Polymer Composite with Rubber surround
Midrange 2 - 5-1/4" Diameter Polymer Composite Dynamic Balance with rubber surround
Tweeter 1 - 1" Diameter Silk/Polymer composite dome

Specs: http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/specs/recent/rti12/


Ascend's driver components are:
Woofer (2) proprietary 6.5 long throw polygel cone woofers w/phase plug, non-resonant polymer chassis, rubber surround, shielded
Tweeter (1) High-definition 27mm soft dome tweeter w/damping chamber and wide roll surround, ferrfofluid damped voice coil, wide dispersion faceplate, magnetically shielded

Specs: http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/cmt340m/cmt340mspecs.html

If cost was not an issue how should I go about zeroing in on the speakers. Polk is definitely more attractive.

Thanks!
-sks2131

Since you brought up the topic on price, I bought the Polk RTi12 for $800 and Ascend CMT-340SE for $670 with the pedestal stand. I am considering Polk CSi3 if I go with Polk and CMT-340SE C if I go with Ascend. The price with the center channels are close to $1100 for both Polk and Ascend.

What other speakers would be good at this price range (for front+center)?

I prefer to go for new ones because this is the first time I am going to own a music system and I have waited long

Thanks Ron. Apart from PSB all other speakers cost upward of $1200 for front speakers. Adding a center channel would mean I have to increase my budget by $500. I'd prefer to stick to $1100 for L/R/C.

Another speaker I came across was Klipsch RF-62 though I've not auditioned it. Any thoughts on this? What is a Klipsch sound that I keep seeing on other threads?

How much importance should I give to a speaker's sensitivity considering I use a Pioneer 1019?

I'd like to thank you for your suggestion through posts or votes.

I decided to go for a used Rocket RS-850 for the fronts and skipping the center channel for sometime. I felt the RS-850 had a better clarity for the high notes when compared to Polk and Ascend.