Newbie looking for guidance on what to buy…

Hi,
I am wanting to move on from soundbars but I am completely overwhelmed by speaker choices and price points. Ascend speakers seem to be mentioned quite a lot on the AVS forums and they’re definitely on my radar. Like a lot of people I have size constraints. My tv currently only has about 7” clearance between it and the media stand. I am going to see if I can raise my tv up more by adjusting the brackets. I am hopeful I can at least get 8” or slightly more clearance.
I specially wanted to ask about Ascend’s center channel options. I am very concerned about off axis performance. Our two main recliners are about 13ft away from the center of the tv…but my wife typically sits on our couch on the perpendicular wall. If I were to guess she’s probably about 45° off from center at about 10ft.
I’ve been reading a lot about the flaws with most MTM design centers and how they’re not good for off axis. I’ve heard 3-way speakers or concentric speakers like KEFs are best for this issue. I saw Ascend has these Sierra 2ex v2 centers. They are not designed like any other centers I’ve seen since they only have one woofer and one tweeter. How does this design choice translate to off axis performance? I think the looks of the speakers are awesome too, but the two array design is kinda throwing me off just cause I haven’t seen it before. Would this speaker be a good choice for me? Thanks.

I suggest you call Ascend to discuss and see what they recommend.

I used an S2 as a center for awhile. It was very good, although can't comment on the off-axis, particularly at 45 degrees, as we are on-axis, plus/minus a few degrees.

I did upgrade to the Luna Duo - which I felt was better than the S2 (particularly in dialog clarity).

Now I have the Horizon - best so far. It's big though. I had to build a new TV riser for it to fit in my setup.

Hi

I'm new to Ascend forum, but have been using their speakers for a very long time. CMT 340 SE2 will be a better choice for you. I own a 340 SE & extremely happy with it's performance. You would definitely need a sub as it's not a full range speaker. You can consider Rythmik subs for the perfect combo.

I upgraded my primary theater room with much more expensive speakers, but still reluctant to sell my ascends. I hooked them to my living room and using it primarily for music and movies.

I should say it is a stand out performer for critical music listening with warm & accurate tonality in mids and highs.

For center channel placement, this post from dave is helpful.

http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/showthread.php?t=939

If possible, it could be helpful to post a picture of the front of your room. If you can get 14.25" of clearance, than you could place a Sierra LX vertically. That would have ideal off axis performance.

Why do you think the 340SE would be better? From a previous post in here I saw Dave rank the speakers in order as far as various benchmarks. For off axis viewing the 340s ranked last of the 4 choices. Off axis is important to me. Maybe the “lobing” issues aren’t as bad as some people make them out to be with MTM designed centers…but I don’t want to risk it.

I don’t see an option for posting pics on this forum

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by natetg57

If possible, it could be helpful to post a picture of the front of your room. If you can get 14.25" of clearance, than you could place a Sierra LX vertically. That would have ideal off axis performance.

---

Attachment 2603
Figured it out. Guess you can’t be using the mobile optimized forum version. Have to switch to full site version.

Another shot from the zoomed out lense on the iPhone. Attachment 2604

That looks like a decent setup. If it was me, I'd get three Sierra-LX. One on it's side under the TV, and two on speaker stands on either side of the entertainment center. Possibly move the cabinet to the left a little to maintain clearance with the arched doorway. You could also mount HTM-200s or Lunas on the wall and place the center channel on the cabinet.