Finally got my Ascends

[Jorge59]

I finally got a pair of CBM-170 + CMT 340c + Hsu STF-2 sub. And a Marantz SR 8400 to run them.

They were double packed and survived well the trip from NJ to Brazil in the plane luggage.

First of all I must thank David F for all his support. Secondly, I must retreat my initial statement (based on the website photos) that the speakers looked like black coffins. I actually found them to be quite nice looking.

Then some initial impressions, as I still don't have my whole new set up in place. The Marantz/Ascends will replace my current system: Yamaha RXV-520 and Polk RM 600 speakers (5.1 HT package). These are small stellites 100Wpc with a 50W 8" active sub.

I started plugging the speakers and sub to the Yammi (like A/Bing the old speaker front set with the new Ascend/Hsu (the 2 surrounds remained).

I did not find a big improvement, if any. Although the 340c immediately showed his power and the 170 mains emphasized the highs and proved to be much more analytical, the overall imaging was worse. Of course, there must be something wrong with calibration and room placement, because $1.000 3.1 speakers can't sound worse than a 5.1 $380 speaker set.

I'm not an audiophile, but I felt like there was a big hole between the low end and the high frequencies. Where did the midrange hide? Upper bass almost disappeared, voice was laid back. No soundstage, bad imaging.

Then, I thought the Ascends did not match well with the Yammi and started connecting the Marantz. This was hard. It is no plug and play thing like the Yammi. The manual is not that good, the remote is too complex (and I have no patience for that). Finally, I connected and old CD player and played the Santana "Shaman" disk. Then I played a Sade CD through a DVD player (with digital input). Same feeling: where are the middles?

The STF-2 is respectable for the lower frequencies, like bass drums (it rocks the room), the 170 tweeters well reveal the cymbals. But where is the rest of the band? Something seems to steal the bass guitar, which I love (and play). Voice continued laid back though I had to increase the volume of the 170 mains because the 340c was overrunning them in the flat set up.

I will have to call some expert to help me set up the new system. Hope to return with better news soon. Any help in between will be appreciated.

[bikeman]

Wow. Something is definitely way off and I'd recommend getting Ascend involved for sure. Do you have a set-up disk like AVIA? Sorry to hear after all the wait.

David

[curtis]

remember to set the speakers to small, crossover on the Marantz to 80hz, crossover on the STF-2 set to "out".

[Eddie]

Holy cow!

Recently I have for the first time heard the Ascends being accused of various things, but lack of midrange is definitely not one of them.

There is something very wrong going on.

Did you check to make sure that the speakers are in phase?

[davef]

Hi Jorge59,

I am glad to hear that the speakers arrived safe and sound... Sorry that you are having some problems though..

Lack of midrange is definitely not a trait of the CBM-170... Try running only the pair of CBM-170 (no center, no subwoofer) with some good quality 2-channel music (no DSP processing). Just the CBM-170s....

Let me know what you hear and we can proceed from there... Also, are the speakers on stands?

Thanks!

[Nicholas Mosher]

Yeah, the best thing about the 170s is the midrange. Something is up with 'yer setup.

[Jorge59]

Bikeman, I don't have any AVIA disk to run this test.

Curtis, the speakers are set to small,the Marantz x-over is 80 Hz. To set the subwoofer to "out", I just have to turn the x-over freq to zero, right?

Eddie, I guess they're in phase. Red with red, black with black.

David, I put a Maroon 5 acoustic CD, just on 2-channel and it sounded more balanced. I still didn't get stands, so all the mounting is temporary (the CBM's sitting over old 3-way speakers).

It's probably not that I don't have midranges. Maybe the highs are more pronounced and the sub is stronger, so I feel that hole. I haven't yet devoted much time to explore the Marantz settings.

Next Sunday, I'll take the CBM's and CMT to an audiophile studio where I hope to a/b the Ascends against B&Ws 600 and 700 (that were my initial reference), in his ultra high end separates and stuff.

Later on, I'll have the guy come and make the whole installation and calibration.

I'll keep you informed and I'm sure I'll still "fall in love" with these speakers. I wonder if I'll regret the Marantz...

Thanks to all.

[curtis]

Curtis, the speakers are set to small,the Marantz x-over is 80 Hz. To set the subwoofer to "out", I just have to turn the x-over freq to zero, right?

The subwoofer has a crossover "in/out" switch....set it to "out".

[Eddie]

Jorge,

can you describe your room size and layout with respect to where the speakers are and where your listening position is?

Also have you had a chance to go through the whole Marantz instruction manual and done all the setup steps?

This is truly baffling.

I will be extremely curious to hear about the results of your A/Bing the Ascends with the B&Ws, and also about the guy who'll be coming over to your house to calibrate everything for you. Please keep us up to date...

[Quinn]

To set the subwoofer to "out", I just have to turn the x-over freq to zero, right?

In addition to turning the switch to out turn the crossover all the way up not down to zero.