Advice for first time Ascend purchase

Hi everyone,

I am trying to figure out what ascend speakers would best fit our situation. We sit 7.5 feet away from our TV and predominantly watch movies. When we listen to music we are cooking, cleaning, etc — never sitting and listening. I use an old Denon 3802 receiver with 110w x 7 channels connected to Def Tech towers with built in subs. This system does its job being better than the tv speakers, but leaves a lot to be desired with clarity.

What are your opinions on a pair of CBM-170SEs with a subwoofer vs the Sierra-LX?

I live in Orange County and will hopefully be scheduling a demo when time allows.

Thanks!

First and foremost, if you can make it down to Ascend for an in-person listen, you should absolutely do so. Nothing beats hearing these in person. Plus Dina is just fantastic.

Now, the difference between the 170s and the Sierra LX is night and day. The 170 is a fine speaker for its price. The LX is a truly exceptional speaker, period—not just for the price. Obviously the LX costs quite a bit more, but the difference between the two is pretty striking.

You might also consider the Sierra1 V2 and a sub. I would definitely audition the LX vs. the S1V2 at Ascend and if you find the difference not that big (other than bass response, which is definitely better with the LX), you might take the money you save and use that to buy a sub. I find the LXs go deep enough for music (and I'm a bassist, so I'm pretty demanding on bass response), but for HT you really want to get even lower than the LXs go, which means you want a sub.

Personally, I'm still waiting on the S1 to S1 V2 upgrade kits to become available so I can hear the LX vs the S1V2 in person...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SunByrne

You might also consider the Sierra1 V2 and a sub. I would definitely audition the LX vs. the S1V2 at Ascend and if you find the difference not that big (other than bass response, which is definitely better with the LX), you might take the money you save and use that to buy a sub. I find the LXs go deep enough for music (and I'm a bassist, so I'm pretty demanding on bass response), but for HT you really want to get even lower than the LXs go, which means you want a sub.

---

Hey thanks for the reply. This option wasn’t even on my radar, but makes total sense.

From reading the forums, I got the impression that the LX was the preferred for small home theater (without factoring in its lower bass response) because of the mid bass character and wide dispersion.

Seems like I’ll have to make my decision on the demo room.

Yep, the (pretty new) S1V2 has similar dispersion characteristics to the LX (same tweeter, similar crossover optimization) but the woofer isn't as beefy, so it doesn't have the low end of the LX.

How many speakers are you doing here?

Listen, I have the 340SE2 and I have no complaints. Definitely worth consideration. The easiest speaker to drive out of all of them.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SunByrne

How many speakers are you doing here?

---

Just L/R +/- SW for now. At some point I’ll add a center and surrounds. I don’t mind putting the system together piecemeal.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MDinno

Listen, I have the 340SE2 and I have no complaints. Definitely worth consideration. The easiest speaker to drive out of all of them.

---

Thanks for the suggestion. We sit so close to the speakers that I wasn’t really considering something with a higher sensitivity, but will certainly consider.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dnaid211

Hi everyone,

I am trying to figure out what ascend speakers would best fit our situation. We sit 7.5 feet away from our TV and predominantly watch movies. When we listen to music we are cooking, cleaning, etc — never sitting and listening. I use an old Denon 3802 receiver with 110w x 7 channels connected to Def Tech towers with built in subs. This system does its job being better than the tv speakers, but leaves a lot to be desired with clarity.

What are your opinions on a pair of CBM-170SEs with a subwoofer vs the Sierra-LX?

I live in Orange County and will hopefully be scheduling a demo when time allows.

Thanks!

---

Please let me know the overall room dimensions. If the room is small, I would likely recommend going with LX because you might be able to save a lot because you can probably go without a subwoofer. If not, S1V2 + sub would be terrific.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MDinno

Listen, I have the 340SE2 and I have no complaints. Definitely worth consideration. The easiest speaker to drive out of all of them.

---

This is incorrect. The term "easy to drive" refers to the load the speaker presents to the amplifier (a combination of the speaker's impedance + reactance). In our line of speakers, the Sierra-1V2 is currently the most amplifier friendly speaker (easy to drive) that we currently offer.

CMT-340SE2, with its very high sensitivity, would be the speaker we offer that gets the "loudest" with the least amount of amplifier voltage. However, with high sensitivity comes a sacrifice of low frequency extension, and since the OP is not presently using a subwoofer, 340SE2 would only be a good choice if the OP buys a subwoofer at the same time to help supplement the lows.

LX / S1V2 are the better choices.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by davef

Please let me know the overall room dimensions. If the room is small, I would likely recommend going with LX because you might be able to save a lot because you can probably go without a subwoofer. If not, S1V2 + sub would be terrific.

---

Thanks for the recommendation. The speakers will be for our family room, which unfortunately opens up to the whole downstairs.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dnaid211

Thanks for the recommendation. The speakers will be for our family room, which unfortunately opens up to the whole downstairs.

---

In this case, a subwoofer would definitely be recommended.