Went with the 340s

Curbed my upgradeitis with a purchase of the 340s, which are now my mains, with the 170s as my surrounds. SVS 20-39PCi will be upgraded in the future, after my maggies get sold. I could not be happier that I started with the 340s. On HT, the soundstage with 340s is spectacular. Of all the different surround configs Ive had, this one is the best. Dynamic range, intelligible dialogue over the action, and beautiful dispersion in stereo. A real pleasure. Great integration with the SVS. Who needs to go to the movies?

I know it is difficult to describe sound, but how did going from the 170's to the 340's improve your sound in the front? I am considering a purchase, but not sure whether to get the 170's or 340's for the front.

leonp

How would you compare Ascends to Magneplanars? Which Maggies do/did you have?

Hey David,

fastnee wrote a bit about his maggies in this thread:
http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/showthread.php?t=867

In my opinion, the maggies (mmg/w and mmg/c) ust did not have the oomph I was looking for ht purposes. For music, they were great. I did like the center channel a lot, as voices were very nicely rendered with the mmg/c. In the end, it simply came down to the fact that I need things loud, and the ascends did that while still sounding great.

As far as an improvement from the 170's to 340's, once again I found the 340s a little more dynamic in response to loud passages, but the 170s are not slouches. Since the three fronts are the same, the soundstage is seamless, IMO.

Want to demo your system? Im in the LV area and am looking to hear the ascends. :D