Dear Santa, the CMT-340 SE needs a big brother.

Dear Santa,

The CMT-340 SE needs a big brother. The Luna Duo will be pretty sweet I'm sure. But I still dream of an MTM speaker just like the CMT-340 SE (~50hz bass, 89-91db sensitive, high power handling, stand-mount) but with drivers such as Nrt or RAAL ribbon combined with midbass woofers that emphasize midrange and efficiency as opposed to lower bass (where subwoofers dwell).

There is just something about the sound of the CMT-340 SE that I really loved. Unfortunately I had to sell them long ago among some other equipment due to being short on funds post graduation. But, those speakers were so satisfying to listen to. They made movies very fun and exciting, and never fatiguing at all. In many ways, I still think the CMT-340 SE is the best bang-for-your-buck speaker every made. I don't know how many people I've told this to (A LOT).

Anyway, will the CMT-340 SE ever get a big brother? An MTM with roughly the same output capabilities, roughly the same amount of bass, but have the higher end drivers like the Nrt or RAAL combined with some of that magic fairy dust from SEAS?

I promise I won't leave a fire in the fireplace on Christmas eve like I did last year.
Thanks Santa!

At least you're sending your letter to Santa on time. You're a good boy. haha

I know, right? Haha!!

You know, after listening to my CBM-170 SEs, I wouldn't mind an upgraded version of these. ~60hz bass (anechoic) with ~89-90db efficiency or more if possible (without sacrificing SQ) with a woofer designed for optimized midrange performance at the expense of bass performance. If I want more bass, Rythmik time.

I'm a little surprised this kind of speaker (with less bass) isn't more popular. Not to take anything away from the other Ascend speakers. I love them all. Dave performs some kind of sorcery to these things!

Benefits of the "Ascend CBM-170 Legendary Edition":
1. Great for apartment living, or situations where bass bothers other people.
2. A woofer optimized for midrange performance.
3. High efficiency for the wild dynamic swings of movies and some music.
4. Being an MT design, about as economical as a speaker like this can be.

This might not be a profitable idea, or even possible. I have no idea. But, if you don't ask...

I think I need to give some context to my posts above.

I live in an apartment where bass is a no-no. I've had the Sierra-1 Nrt, Sierra towers Nrt, CMT-340 SE, as well as the CBM-170 SE all set up as main speakers to my TV or projector at one time or another.

Of course, the Sierra speakers sounded the best overall with their more resolving drivers. However... I remember needing to ride the volume button to keep the big "booms" of movies from disturbing neighbors.

With the CBM-170 and CMT-340, I did not have to ride the volume button. In fact, I could turn them up to a comfortable listening level and leave it. No problem. I remember the CMT-340 SEs set up at my parents house with a Rythmik FV12 sub. When they went to bed, I simply turned the subwoofer off and ran the speakers full range. No prob! I thought that was neat.

Over the past several years, I've heard a similar complaint from many people. "I can't have speakers in my apartment. They're too loud!" "I bet your neighbors LOVE you." "It would wake up our kids".

(I know I'm talking to the choir director who is well aware of these things, but please bare with me here.) There is a use case of "minimal bass living situation" To me, this is where the CMT-340 SE and CBM-170 SE really shined in an unexpected (to me) way. I'm still in an apartment, and I still love the CBMs but it's time for an upgrade. (I see a pair of 2EX possibly in my future.) May need to EQ the bass under control during movies. I dunno yet.

I was just throwing the idea out there. CBMs or CMTs, but upgraded with bamboo, RAALs, etc. High efficiency, high power handling, super resolving sound. If you need more bass later, Rythmiks. Why else would anyone buy these upgraded CBMs? BONUS: Midrange-focused woofer with higher efficiency. (You know, for the eccentric audiophile-types like me lol ;))

This just seems like a good idea to me, but! It may not be. :o Anyway, just one customer giving his thoughts. Thanks for the great sound! (More Ascends coming in my future!)

P.S. Oh, and, I did run the CMT-340s full range, ALL DAY. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by j0nnyfive

I think I need to give some context to my posts above.

I live in an apartment where bass is a no-no. I've had the Sierra-1 Nrt, Sierra towers Nrt, CMT-340 SE, as well as the CBM-170 SE all set up as main speakers to my TV or projector at one time or another.

Of course, the Sierra speakers sounded the best overall with their more resolving drivers. However... I remember needing to ride the volume button to keep the big "booms" of movies from disturbing neighbors.

With the CBM-170 and CMT-340, I did not have to ride the volume button. In fact, I could turn them up to a comfortable listening level and leave it. No problem. I remember the CMT-340 SEs set up at my parents house with a Rythmik FV12 sub. When they went to bed, I simply turned the subwoofer off and ran the speakers full range. No prob! I thought that was neat.

Over the past several years, I've heard a similar complaint from many people. "I can't have speakers in my apartment. They're too loud!" "I bet your neighbors LOVE you." "It would wake up our kids".

(I know I'm talking to the choir director who is well aware of these things, but please bare with me here.) There is a use case of "minimal bass living situation" To me, this is where the CMT-340 SE and CBM-170 SE really shined in an unexpected (to me) way. I'm still in an apartment, and I still love the CBMs but it's time for an upgrade. (I see a pair of 2EX possibly in my future.) May need to EQ the bass under control during movies. I dunno yet.

I was just throwing the idea out there. CBMs or CMTs, but upgraded with bamboo, RAALs, etc. High efficiency, high power handling, super resolving sound. If you need more bass later, Rythmiks. Why else would anyone buy these upgraded CBMs? BONUS: Midrange-focused woofer with higher efficiency. (You know, for the eccentric audiophile-types like me lol ;))

This just seems like a good idea to me, but! It may not be. :o Anyway, just one customer giving his thoughts. Thanks for the great sound! (More Ascends coming in my future!)

P.S. Oh, and, I did run the CMT-340s full range, ALL DAY. ;)

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It is an interesting idea, but my thoughts are that if we go with RAAL ribbons and SEAS mids, we are looking at price points that would be at least the same or even higher than Sierra-2 / Sierra-2EX. At this price, consumers do look for good performance below 50Hz so I am not sure there would be a market for this product. For obvious reasons, we need to focus our energy on products that we believe will have good sales volume potential.

The new Duo could very likely be the speaker you are describing, don't let its small size fool you...

Also, many receivers have a night mode or similar which keeps dynamic peaks under control (I use this mode in my bedroom all the time) Or you could simply run Sierra-2EX as small with a 50Hz crossover and no sub...

I was afraid that would probably be the case. When will people come to their senses and like all the same things that I do? What's wrong with this world? :confused:

Thanks for taking time out of your day to consider my idea. (It took me a long time to get those two brain cells working!)

I will definitely look at the Luna Duo. And thank you for your suggestions for bass control!
I totally forgot about the "ghost sub"! lol I will probably do that from time to time. I think I will see how much bass I can get away with hahaha!!

Now to decide which Ascend speakers to get next. :) Thank you so much for Ascend Acoustics! Ya'll are the best!! (from Arkansas)