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View Full Version : Need Advice: 340 SE or 170SE room set up?



Cork33
07-29-2007, 05:19 PM
Hello Ascend,
I'm a budget and quality concious newbie that is in the process of building a new HT system. I plan on using my sytem 50% for music and 50% for movies and television. I have an HK 340 AVR and I am currently shopping for speakers. I plan on spending $1500 at the most and purchasing my speakers in segments over a period of a year as follows (planned budget):

1st - Left Front & Right Front ($500)
2nd - Center ($350)
3rd - Sub ($300)
4th - Surround Left and Right ($350)

Of course like every other budget conscious consumer I want the most bang for my buck and in this particular case I am most concerned with the actual sound of the bang. I had all but settled on Paradigm in particular the new Titan v5 which are now part of the montor line but during the audition I had also listened to the new Studio 20's v4 and soon found myself wondering if I should blow my budget and timeline and step up to the Reference Series. That is when I began to research more and dig deeper and I found out about Ascend Acoustics.

After lots of additional research I'm almost ready to take the leap and order the Ascends for an in home audition but I still have a couple of questions and concerns.

1. I don't know if I should go with the 170SE or 340SE? Especially with music am I going to get all of the sound, and depth that I want with the 170SE or is that enough reason to step up to the 340SE? My current room is 12X20 and my set up is on the width if the room with a large window at one end and a bar/cutout that leads to the kitchen on the other end?

2. As far as the set up goes I would be buying the matching stands for whatever set I decide to purchase but I am most concerned with the rear porting and the distance that these speakers need to be placed from the wall because my set up is on the 12 ft width of my room I can't envision them floating 2 feet off the wall. What is a good distace? Next I have a door leading into a bedroom on the wall where my entertainment center cutout is so I can either position the speakers 6ft apart with little or no toe in to the listening position or 13ft apart with more toe in. Any suggestions, or concerns?

Thank you for taking the time to read my post I am looking forward to your response.

Kevin
"Cork33"