New Ascends Arrival/CBM-170

My Ascends arrived yesterday,CBM-170's all around. Was up at 5am waiting for ups to arrive. Speakers arrived at 11am well packed and in great condition.

Some thoughts

Build Quality-The first thing that went through my mind was these are little battle tanks. Very heavy and sturdy with rugged binding posts. Great fit and finish and well worth the money from a build standpoint.


Set-up

I set up the rear surrounds on 40in stands and the fronts on 28 in stands. The center was mounted on a speaker stand tilted directly at the listening position. The front speakers were toed in directly at the listening position. All speakers were attatched with blu-tak. All speakers were then calibrated using MACC on pio 1015 and then tweaked using RS meter. All speakers were set to large by MACC so I changed them to small with an 80hz crossover.

Old speakers/listening habits

My old speakers were about 7yrs old DCM speakers from CC. They all have 6 in woofers with phase plugs and 1in tweeters. They were not good speakers but they were all I could afford so I set them up properly, callibrated them, and did all of the things that we do in A/V to try and make them sound as good as they could. My listening habits or 50/50 music/HT. It is nothing for me to spend 2-3 hours just sitting down and listening to music or staying up all night watching movies. I truly believe that when people say they are not audiophiles they are wrong because everyone has a sound that they feel is good and this hobby is all about opinions.

2 channel listening

The first cd I popped in was the new Stevie Wonder -A Time To Love. I have been listening to this disc since it came out and find it to be well recorded. When I heard it with the 170's my first impressions were clarity, subtsance, and detail. In every song I heard something I never heard before. It was as if I could see what Mr. Wonder was trying to convey with each song. What he was trying to add as well as take away. From here I bombarded these speakers with everything from jazz, rock, country, rap, metal and pop. Each time the music took on a life of its own and took me to where each artist wanted you to be. Layers of instruments, textures of chordes, and every whisper, breath, and note of each singer was conveyed in stunning detail and clarity.

HT listening

I began my HT session(5hrs after listening to music) with Barbershop a movie I was watching before the speakers were delivered. In this movie while in the shop the buzz of the clippers and the snaps of the scissors came through with a level of detail that was amazing. Beats from the soundtrack and words from the actors were very clear and well defined. Each movie I popped in to check for certain effects and clarity were all conveyed with a sense of space and realism that I just did not have in the past.

Conclusion

I am very happy with my purchase and would recommend these speakers to anyone looking better their sound with music as well as movies

Questions

What will adding a power amp give me in terms of sound quality?
Will adding the 340c give me better sound?

great review!

Are these new SE's or classic 170s?

The 340c is a better center than the 170, but I wouldn't call it a night-and-day difference. I originally had three 170s across the front and then replaced the center with a 340. If you have the space and extra budget, it's an improvement. If either is tight, there's nothing wrong with keeping the 170 as a center.

Have you tried listening with the Pioneer EQ stuff turned off? I've seen mixed reviews of its impact on sound quality and would recommend trying both and seeing what sounds best to you.

My preference is not to toe the speakers that far in unless I'm near-field (i.e. 6 feet away). Try experimenting with less toe-in and see what you like best.

I prefer the eq off it just makes the music/movies sparkle more.
I have the se 170's
I did try different toe in measurements and I feel like where I have them is truly magical. Heck, I even won a bet with the wife that the center speaker was not on during stereo listening. Can not tell you what I won, smile. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by moehop

I prefer the eq off it just makes the music/movies sparkle more.
I have the se 170's
I did try different toe in measurements and I feel like where I have them is truly magical. Heck, I even won a bet with the wife that the center speaker was not on during stereo listening. Can not tell you what I won, smile. :)

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A set of ti...er, I mean tweeters? :D

I'm glad you're experimenting and finding the best setup for you.

I currently have 170SE's and a 340SE center and 200 surrounds (5.1) I have a Pioneer 1014 driving them. I have done extensive (borderline obsessive) experments with re-running MCACC and EQ on and off. The best way to describe the sound with the EQ on is a bit muffled and less detailed degrading the imaging a bit as well. About the only thing I find the EQ useful for is on some movies with the sound near reference levels. The dialog can be come a bit bright and harsh sounding with the EQ off at high levels. But, otherwise, it is best turned off.

Enjoy!!

My thoughts exactly, do you think it is worth my while getting the 340c se?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by moehop

My thoughts exactly, do you think it is worth my while getting the 340c se?

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How much will you be using this set up for HT?

50/50 home theater/music

I'd say, go w/ 340C SE if budget/space permits. The 340C classic's already great for HT & music for me, I'd imagine the SE's worth it too. When inquiring about what to get for my system a while back, getting the 340C over the 170 was one of the "without-a-doubt" choices from the Ascend guys. Of course, you might think they'd say that because it means more $ in their coffers. But, they didn't push the bigger/better options in the rest of my system, so I think they make very honest recommendations.

I agree!

Moehop,

Hey, I bought the original 170s with the 340c as center and it's an excellent set-up. I haven't heard the 170SEs so can't say how much of a step up but I suspect it's an improvement.

Now, as to an amp. When I bought the system, I was running a Denon 3803 and I recently added an Adcom 7607, a little more power but much better, cleaner power. It was the equivalent of lifting a veil off the 170s. The sound, especially bass in 2 channel, was much better and the mids and highs, already very good, became stronger and more detailed.

So, if I were to make a recommendation, I'd say try the amp route first and see what happens before you go to a 340SE center. Good luck, Dave.