340c vs Paradigm CC-470 or CC-570?

[kitzi]

I'm about to upgrade from my Atoms/CC-170/ADP-70 to either a 340/170 setup or a studio-20/cc-570/Atom setup. Obviously the price is much better with the Ascends and from what I understand the surround would be much better and the fronts would be pretty close, but what about the center channel? Anyone done any direct comparisons?...cost isn't a factor here...It would be for 90% home theater use...

Thanks for all opinions,

Steve

[jojo]

I was going to get paradigm mini monitors before i found out about ascend. well the mini monitors was a big upgrade form the klipsch 1.1's i use to have. and i thouhg the mini sounded good. hear in canada a pair of minis was $500 and the 170's is about $415. i also got the 340c and i love this setup for the money you can't go wrong. very clean sound comes from these. i dont have a problem with thier looks. besides my wife loves the sound of these so i have to keep them :D

[metalaaron]

cost is still a factor in my mind. the ascends fall in line with the price point of paradigm's monitor series. the cc-570 is $800 for most people. the cmt-340 is $298. i would hope that a speaker selling for $800 warrants a price justification for those who keep it. only, i sold mine on ebay because i didn't feel that the price justified its performance.

is one series better than the other? depends on what constitutes your determination for better. both speakers cover the audible range above 60Hz w/o significant nulls or peaks. the ascend center is nearly 1/3 the price of the 570. i believe the ascends set the bar for the price/performance leader. i've tried many many brands and i'm confident of that statement. there's a certain level of buyer satisfaction that many ascend owners have after they've heard speakers at higher price points. look at all the media you could purchase for the $ saved.

paradigm offers a signature sound. whether or not you like that sound is up to you. it has changed very little over the years, but there are still some basic properties to the digm sound that have remained. ascend also has a signature sound.

if cost isn't a factor then i encourage you to take advantage of the trial that ascend offers, and see what you find. or, is that hear what you've found?