Another thing I just now noticed. If you will look at Grog's pic above of the ASH2 and his Chophouses blades you'll see that the bottom blade (both actually, but to me the bottom one shows it clearer) handle drops down at the rear. I never noticed this before, but I believe I remember somewhere it being said that this lends to a better chopping experience for some reason or other.
My experience on handle angle: the "straighter" (in line with the blade spine) the worse it performs. A handle that angles "downward" seems to increase performance.
Completely unscientific, but my findings nonetheless.
