170se/340se decision and help

I have almost made my mind up about replacing my old Sony speakers. I have a few questions if everyone can bare with me, LOL. To give you an idea of the room layout, My room is 13x22x9 and it has a 14' opening to one side and a 5' opening in the back corner.

1. I am looking at going with the 170se for the L/R and getting the 340se for the center and keeping my sony bipoles for surrounds <--(wife approved). Do you think this would sound good? I know matching the speakers will sound best, but my wife doesn't like the idea of a 12" high speaker hainging off the wall.

2. I am placing these bookshelfs in a entertainment center, will I have a problem with the ports making noise or cause them to sound funny?

In answer to part 1, you should be OK with the mismatched surrounds as long as you do not listen to a lot of multichannel music (SACD or DVD-A). In most movies the surround speakers do not see much action. You might notice that the speakers are different in certain movie sequences where things pan from back to front or vice versa, but usually you can not and a lot of people including myself have back speakers different from there front. It is VERY important to present a seamless soundstage for the front speakers as they get the most use.

You did not ask about this, but I would consider getting all 340se accross the front. Your room is HUGE, especially with all the opening to other rooms and I have a feeling you will need the extra power the 340's provide.

As far as question number 2 your speakers in general will sound so much better if they are not enclosed in any form. However you will probably be OK as long as you have sufficient space in back of the speaker for the port (maybe like a foot or so). It will help if you can nudge the speaker so they stick out a little in front of the stand a little. This question is really something you should e-mail Ascend about as my answer is pretty much based on a guess as I have never actually experimented with this. Ascend has excellent customer service and can give you a much more qualifies answer usually very quickly.

I have 170's in a 13'x 20'x 8' room with two openings equaling 6-7 total feet with no problems, except when my kids tell me it's too loud!! :D

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Originally Posted by Jorge_Burrito

In answer to part 1, you should be OK with the mismatched surrounds as long as you do not listen to a lot of multichannel music (SACD or DVD-A). In most movies the surround speakers do not see much action. You might notice that the speakers are different in certain movie sequences where things pan from back to front or vice versa, but usually you can not and a lot of people including myself have back speakers different from there front. It is VERY important to present a seamless soundstage for the front speakers as they get the most use.

You did not ask about this, but I would consider getting all 340se accross the front. Your room is HUGE, especially with all the opening to other rooms and I have a feeling you will need the extra power the 340's provide.

As far as question number 2 your speakers in general will sound so much better if they are not enclosed in any form. However you will probably be OK as long as you have sufficient space in back of the speaker for the port (maybe like a foot or so). It will help if you can nudge the speaker so they stick out a little in front of the stand a little. This question is really something you should e-mail Ascend about as my answer is pretty much based on a guess as I have never actually experimented with this. Ascend has excellent customer service and can give you a much more qualifies answer usually very quickly.

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Thanks for the reply Jorge_Burrito. Luckily we listen to about 95% and 5% music. If I listen to any music it comes off of Dish network at low volumes. the 170se and 340se should work great together right? I know the 340se will be slightly louder but hopefully I can adjust for the difference when I calibrate them.

I was planning on getting the 340se all across the front but it goes over my budget and they are to tall to fit in the entertainment center.

I emailed tech support about the port question.

Thanks.