here's a great thread from a guy who A/B/C compared the RC-10's, ELT525M's, and WAF-1's: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1191742
the RC-10's and ELT525's are very similar in terms of overall size and look and feel, but the RC-10's have better build quality (nicer drivers and binding posts, brushed metal baskets, the best quality real wood veneer, etc) and clearly better bass. They are also a bit more refined overall, better detail while still staying smooth. The ELT's can sound a wee bit recessed in the treble, they err on the side of "smoothness". The RC has a better tweeter so is able to maintain smoothness while still bringing out excellent detail. These differences are subtle though so a "good level above" is going to be subjective of course.
I have the RC-10's (rosenut) and my friend has the ELT's (cherry) and both are excellent, but the RC-10's are a bit better. As the poster in that thread summarized: "I felt the ELT525M fell short of the RC-10 in essentially the same areas I criticized during the comparison with the WAF-1. The RC-10 has better mid and high end detail, and has a cleaner, more articulate low end. I don't think the RC-10 blew it out of the water, but I thought it was the better speaker." So again... not a HUGE difference, but it's there if you are a critical listener.
One downside of the ELT's is that they have very low sensitivity. Not a big deal in a small room or a nearfield application, but they do require some juice to get really loud (e.g. for a home theater application).
By no means am I criticizing the ELT's btw... they sound great at my buddy's place. If you could find a pair for under $200 it's worth it... but I would rather pay a bit more for those cherry RC-10's
They just do everything (build quality, looks, bass, detail, etc) a wee bit better...