Mac, I agree with you. At the time, I was considering a pair of Monster 78's. I needed to R/O any value to the AC 30's. There was not any.
I suspect marsound was considering the SS Magnum's might be a more versatile ski for western skiing because they are "wider". Hopefully marsound will see the wisdom of your posts and dan.boisvert's post re: SS Magnums (any forum readers who enjoy the SS Magnums, please speak up )
Bottom line, the iSS is a great ski for the PMTS student.