anything bad about cbm-170???

[asdf777]

I'm in the Chicago suburbs, but somehow the idea of going to somebody's home to listen to their speakers doesn't sound too exciting... Besides, it defeats the purpose of buying something over the internet.

In terms what I've heard -- not much -- I can certainly tell a good speaker from a bad one, but it's not my hobby. Or at least, not yet I know what I would like to hear, though: the sound should be powerful and clean, with deep and tight bass and the speakers should disappear when I close my eyes.

magnepans were lacking the bass, but most importantly, they didn't have any character and and were like a woman faking an orgasm -- they sounds were exactly right, but there was no passion

[BradJudy]

Do CBM-170s have shortcomings? Sure. They don't have great extension without a sub, they are plain black, they don't have the same soundstage as a larger speaker. The sound itself is a personal preference, as with any speaker. Some would consider it a excellent balance and good neutrality, others would consider it a bit analytical or dry.

Obviously they're my pick in their price range, otherwise I wouldn't own them. If I had to pick an upgrade out of what I have heard (without going overboard into $10k speakers) it might be something from Dynaudio. I also liked the VMPS 626R, but it required a lot of tweaking to get right. Neither of these options is under $1k/pr. I haven't heard anything under $1k/pr that I make want to swap out my Ascend/Hsu combo. There are other speakers I would be happy with and there are several I would like to hear that are highly spoken of (ACI, Odyssey, and others come to mind).

I haven't heard the MMGs, so I can't compare.

I'll echo Curtis: Where do you live and what have you heard that you like?

[BradJudy]

Powerful with deep and tight bass for under $1k make me lean toward a setup that includes a subwoofer. There aren't a lot of options for really deep bass for under $1k, although some of the towers do pretty good.

The natural internet-direct comparisons for under $1k would be Onix Rocket RS550s, Axiom M60tis, Aperion (either the 633 tower or a bookshelf/sub combo), Home Theater Direct (level 3 towers or bookshelf/sub combo) and maybe GR Research AV-2s. Again, it's personal preference. I have heard all of these except the Axioms and HTDs (I actually heard the GR AV-1, not AV-2). The Aperion and GRs sounded distinctly different than the Ascends and lots of people love them.

[asdf777]

BradJudy, yes, thanks, I read about the speakers you mentioned too, but trying them all will be about $300 in shipping

What about the sub, though. It must be pretty objective as to which sub is good, and which one is not, no? HSU research, SVS, something else? Thanks.

[curtis]

I have heard speakers from every brand that Brad just mentioned.....and I wouldn't trade my Ascend/Hsu combination for any of them...especially for the money....but if I was forced to, I would take the VMPS 626R.

As for the sub, that is a sticky subject. So, at the risk of sounding bias once again, and having heard subs from both SVS and Hsu, I would take Hsu over SVS when it comes to upper bass and punch. Depth and output would go to SVS. So it comes down to prorities, Hsu has plenty of output for me in my room, and upper bass comes into play with music/movies much more often than deep bass...and my Hsu is flat anechoicly to 18-20hz....I am a happy camper.

There are other subwoofer companies as well that cater to different needs and wants. ACI and Adire to name two.

[mattepntr]

A lot of people team up their Ascends with an Hsu sub.
But I've read a lot of folks who also have SVS subs. I
don't think you could go wrong either way.

I have an Hsu VTF-3 MkII and I love it. It kicks with HT,
and really sounds great with my 340 mains for music,
especially multi-channel music. In fact, it blends so well
I can't even tell it's doing anything, until I turn it off.
The 340's put out a surprisingly decent amount of bass
by themselves, but the sound really broadens with a good
sub. Sorry, I just don't have anything bad to say!

[yo2tup]

i have my 340's powered by nad integrated amp for stereo listening...and they sound pretty good. may be a bit bright, but it might just be my room. they image fairly well from left to right. its easy to pick out different instruments, but my main complaint is that the imaging doesn't have much depth at all. it doesn't have that spooky holographic effect like more expensive systems. also i like the soundstage to extend past the speakers .....and i dont know if its just my set up or what, but my system doesn't really do that. the soundstage is as big as however far the speakers are placed from each other.

does anyone else notice these downfalls on their acscends during 2ch stereo? or are my components/placement not up to snuff with ascends?

[bikeman]

does anyone else notice these downfalls on their acscends during 2ch stereo? or are my components/placement not up to snuff with ascends?

I doubt it's your components so I'd start by looking at placement and the room itself. Can you give us a diagram?

David

[sensibull]

i like the soundstage to extend past the speakers .....and i dont know if its just my set up or what, but my system doesn't really do that. the soundstage is as big as however far the speakers are placed from each other.

Are there any walls hemming in your speakers (to the L and R)? Have you tried toeing them in and/or moving them farther from the back wall? My room is FAR from ideal, but I get a pretty wide soundstage from my 340s (and I believe horizontal dispersion is supposed to be one of their design strengths) -- certainly beyond the speakers themselves.

FWIW...

[sensibull]

the sound should be powerful and clean

Any of the Ascends will give you that and more...

with deep and tight bass

For that, you'd need a good sub (if you bought Ascends)...

and the speakers should disappear when I close my eyes.

This "effect" varies quite a bit on my setup(s) (one room has 340 mains, the other 170s) and seems to have much more to do with the recording quality than the speakers themselves. In any case, and for better or worse, the Ascends never have a problem giving center stage to the music.

magnepans were lacking the bass, but most importantly, they didn't have any character

At the risk of sending you to the other camp(s) if you're looking for an identifiable "character" in a speaker, then Ascends are probably not for you. They basically give you back whatever you put in to them. They don't color the music, or emphasize any particular range. They can be brutally honest at times -- they won't fake orgasms, but they might get out of bed and tell you to your face that what you're doing simply isn't turning them on ;-)