Thanks guys, I am happy to report I survived the encounter with my wife last night. Although now I understand exactly how expensive mother's day 2011 is going to be.
I really like the Monitor speakers. I compared them to Totem, B&W, and PSB speakers in similar price ranges, and I felt they had the best qualities all around. They have actually only gotten better with time and amplification. After I changed from a 30w amp to a 250w, they finally broke in and now sound better than ever. Until I got to the 80X series B&W's and the Synchrony line of PSB's, there was nothing that beat them.
Every speaker I have listened to that sounds significantly better is more than 2-3 times the price (or someone buys them from Tom before I get to, e.g. Aerials).