Hey Dave and Ascend users

[Eddie]

If money was no issue the drivers could be SEAS W18EX series and the tweeter whichever SEAS driver inspired Dave to develop with SEAS the SEAS tweeter used in the Ascends. Of course the cost of those drivers and tweeter would be more than what a pair of 340s sell for now.

Do you know what speakers use those high-end SEAS drivers that you're referring to? Just curious...

[Quinn]

Do you know what speakers use those high-end SEAS drivers that you're referring to? Just curious...

Tyler Acoustics off the top of my head. Salk Sound may too.

[davef]

Good afternoon....

I think Curtis said it right --- It all depends what aspect of the sound you want to improve. Far too many variables on this one to post a definitive answer...

Improve what?

Transient Response?
Polar Response?
On-Axis Frequency Response?
Efficiency?
Dispersion?
Decay?
Distortion?

The list goes on and on...

Improving any one of these characteristics isn't as simple as it may seem as other characteristics might be degraded. The 340 SE is a rather remarkable loudspeaker in that all of these characterstics are highly optimized to the point that I simply could not improve them anymore without hurting another characteristic.

For example, to improve transient response -- I would have to either a) changed from a ported cabinet to a sealed cabinet, which would increase distortion, lower efficiency and sacrifice low end performance -or- b) make changes to our woofers (even lighter cone material and changes to the magnet assembly) which would make the speakers less accurate (frequency response) and sacrifice low end performance.

In addition, making improvements also involves additional costs -- which in some cases can be very expensive...

Would a denser/thicker cabinet "improve" the sound? Cabinet resonance is already quite low on the 340, to the point that I don't feel it needs improving. Using a thicker cabinet might possibly improve box resonance but how thick? I have experimented with this up to 1" MDF and I could not hear a difference, you may of course -- but I couldn't and I know these speakers quite well .. I will say that using a thicker cabinet while keeping the outside cabinet dimensions the same (which is crucial) will lower the internal volume of the cabinet which WILL degrade the response accuracy of the speaker, which to me is more important than any perceived box resonance.

Even a minor change to this speaker would require major adjustments to other parameters.

Hope this makes sense!

[mark]

I think any improvement would not be as important as room acoustics. treating the room might be more benificial than improvement on speaker design. anyway, I have the cmt340s for about 2 weeks now, and they sound great! Dave has done an excellent job in providing a quality product while keeping the price low. Not to sound chiche, but these speakers are truely "diamonds in the rough".

[Jonnyozero3]

Dave, thanks for posting that commentary - I found it interesting and "neat" to read. It gave me a little more insight to speaker design that I hadn't had before.

[qqkltb]

Dave, thanks for posting that commentary - I found it interesting and "neat" to read. It gave me a little more insight to speaker design that I hadn't had before.

I also would like to thank Dave and others that posted replies. I Got the answer and learned in the process. Thanks again

[mark]

Daves postings was one the reasons I bought the Ascends.

[shane55]

I've been reading a great review about the Snell Acoustics LCR7's that use the SEAS drivers in the D'Appolito configuration (these are actually D'Appolito designed speakers).

I'm curious if any Ascend 340SE owner has ever heard these Snells and how you think they compare.

I know that the Snells use a couple different grades (LCR7 vs. LCR7XL) and wonder if the ones in the 340SE's are similar or the same as either of these. Anyone know (Dave F)?

Thanks

shane