340SE / 170SE package review

I began piecing my home theater setup together last spring after listening to some setups at my local stereo shop. I realized just how crappy my HTIB setup really sounded. I talked with a fellow co-worker who happens to be an audiophile and he suggested a few companies to check out. He had some experience with quite a few different speaker companies and really liked his experience with Ascend. I contacted a few and decided to audition the Ascend 5 channel setup of 340SE / 170SE. Dave and the rest of the crew were awesome to deal with and made my purchase and shipping seamless. I asked for some B-stock (which are flawless BTW) and Dave was more than helpful in getting me setup with a B-stock package.

The speakers arrived double boxed with no shipping damage or other flaws noted. I ordered the stands for the 340’s and assembled them with no problems as the instructions are very easy to follow. Some reviews I’ve read state that the Ascends are just plain speakers with no fancy lamination options. All I can say is after I ran the MCACC on my reciever and auditioned the speakers looks were the farthest from my mind. The reviews of the speakers being neutral is a very good description, no frequency really stands out as being too bright or muddy. I can say that the mid – bass and vocals are very well heard but not pushing too far from that neutral sound. The 340’s are awesome when in a stereo setup and the 170’s do well for surround movie duty. I think the 170’s compliment the 340’s very well and blend together in movies or music. Both keep up just fine and sound great at any volume range and really draw you in to whatever media is being played.

Every time I sit down and listen to music or watch a movie I’m impressed with what I’ve missed before with my old setup. The accuracy and clarity of the Ascends are very impressive to my ears and I couldn’t be happier with my purchase. So in closing thank you Dave for your dedication to creating such an awesome line up of speakers and for your great customer service. If anyone else is on the fence about buying some speakers hop off and audition a pair of Ascends, you won’t be disappointed.

L/R/C – 340SE
Surround L/R – 170SE
Surround center – Onkyo HTIB
Sub. – Onkyo HTIB
Reciever - Pioneer VSX-01TXH
Blu-Ray / CD player – BDP-51FD
TV – Samsung 42” Plasma PN42B450

Nice to hear you are enjoying your set up. I would suggest to get rid of all the HTIB sub and run every speaker on "large" and cross them at 80hz. Your going to find that the 340's hold their own when it comes to bass.

The issue with having no sub. is the amount of space in my living room. I have vaulted ceilings and the living room opens into a kitchen on one end and the bedrooms on the other. I tried your suggestion when I first had everything setup and there was some bass but not enough. The sub. doesn't sound half bad with the MCACC from the Pioneer receiver. Maybe one day I'll find a good upgrade to my sub., but for now it is fine.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by vtec4me21

Maybe one day I'll find a good upgrade to my sub., but for now it is fine.

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I think you'll be just as astounded when you replace your HTIB sub with something closer to the quality of your Ascends. When you get to the point you can replace your sub, look no further than the Rhythmik subs sold here. Rhythmiks are very well regarded. I wish Ascend sold them when I was putting my system together, although I'm happy with my SVS PB12-NSD.

I'm running 340/170/HTM-200's and agree with you, they're awesome sounding! I had some friends over New Year's day. A few hadn't seen my dedicated HT. They went slack jawed when they heard the Ascends.