Ascends vs X-Series

[Droht]

well good luck finding speakers from a company who offers LESS than 4 speakers then! If Ascend released a fourth speaker, it would absolutely take nothing away from the HTM200, 170SE or 340SE. I'm not trying to point you away from Ascend, but its a bit silly to base your purchase decision on that...

My point, obviously I thought, was that it is reassuring that DF/Ascend are so focused on what they do and doing it extremely well. I'm sure one more speaker wouldn't impact them negatively. The comparison was to av123 however. Is it silly to base a purchase decision on a company being very focused?

[drewface]

while i'd love to hear a $2000 ascend speaker, i'm not sure i could bring myself to pay that much for a speaker. the CMT-340SEs are already often compared to other speakers priced much higher than they are, and in some cases are declared the clear winner. not to mention i can't afford to spend $2000 on a pair of speakers...

if ascend were going to expand their speaker lineup, i'd much rather see a sub woofer added to the mix specifically designed with 340s, 170s, and 200s in mind for the rest of the setup. seeing as i don't have a sub yet, i would snatch one of these up in a heart beat!

[GirgleMirt]

On reputation, it is much easier to try something under $1K than $2K....especially for new customers. For those of us that have experienced Ascend speakers, it is much easier.

Yeah I'm sure Ascend has a large customer base which wouldn't hesitate to buy a new top of the line speaker. I really don't have any intention of upgrading the 340SE any time soon, but if Ascend made a 1000/1500$ speaker, I'm sure I'd be very interested. The issue I see is required investments from Ascend to make such a project...

It's just that it would seem a better upgrade path for current Ascend owners to get a new 1000$ speaker than purchasing/upgrading the same updated model. I'm not sure if the difference of 170/170SE or 340/340SE was that big, but I'm sure that a 1000-1500$ by Ascend would be an easily discernible difference!

But again, it takes more than a few hours for Ascend to update/design speakers so it's not a small investment...

[Jonnyozero3]

I think that if Dave & Co. made a move upmarket, it might be best to create a new, separate company, or some sort of sub-company/division. Sure, it'd be run by the same people and be out of the same office, but he'd probably need to market differently and have a different brand image. I wouldn't be able to buy a 1k-2k speaker for a while, but i would look at it very seriously if it had Ascend blood.

(The Count voice) "Wannnnh, Toooooo, Thrreeee, Foharrrrrr, FAIIIIVEE Ahhhscend Speakers....ahht ahht ahhhhh!"

[audibleconnoisseur]

I think that if Dave & Co. made a move upmarket, it might be best to create a new, separate company, or some sort of sub-company/division. Sure, it'd be run by the same people and be out of the same office, but he'd probably need to market differently and have a different brand image. I wouldn't be able to buy a 1k-2k speaker for a while, but i would look at it very seriously if it had Ascend blood.

(The Count voice) "Wannnnh, Toooooo, Thrreeee, Foharrrrrr, FAIIIIVEE Ahhhscend Speakers....ahht ahht ahhhhh!"

Kind of like Magnolia inside of Best Buy? I sooooo want to take my 340SE's and HSU 2.3 in there to pit them against their top line equipment or anything they have under $1000 just to see them clinch their cheeks together... you know what I mean?!

[Lee Bailey]

Kind of like Magnolia inside of Best Buy? I sooooo want to take my 340SE's and HSU 2.3 in there to pit them against their top line equipment or anything they have under $1000 just to see them clinch their cheeks together... you know what I mean?!

So, what's stopping you?

[audibleconnoisseur]

I really am considering it but need to cover the nameplate and as for the sub, I don't really want to carry that monster around! I am certain it will stop on all of the subs they have in there though!

[Classpro]

I don't think Ascend needs a $2,000 speaker to round out its line. I think it should consider making the 340 into a real floor standing speaker instead of the two-piece thing with the wood flap on the back connecting them. That would only require, I would think, only some minor retooling of the box.

I don't really understand the idea of a sub being "specifically designed to work with the speakers." The sub's in a different location than the speakers, so you would need to adjust it just the same as a Hsu or SVS sub. It's hard for me to see the advantage of it - especially since there is nothing really unique or special about the finish of Ascend speakers that would require special matching to the appearance of the sub. I think a real floorstanding speaker would help round out the line.

[Quinn]

The the 340 is designed that way so it can be shipped UPS at normal rates. It is part of Ascend's mission to keep things affordable. Look at some of the other ID companies' shipping rates for their tower speakers.

Making the pedestal base of the 340 "floorstander" stack into a sub would be nice.

A $1000 speaker makes more sense than stepping up to a $2000 speaker for Ascend. There are plenty of good speakers availible starting around $1500-2000 but what could Ascend deliver at $1K? That idea intrigues me.

[Jonnyozero3]

Kind of like Magnolia inside of Best Buy? I sooooo want to take my 340SE's and HSU 2.3 in there to pit them against their top line equipment or anything they have under $1000 just to see them clinch their cheeks together... you know what I mean?!

Naw, Magnolia was an existing company bought out by BB and expanded to help them hit the mid-upper market better (someone correct me if I'm wrong).

I'm thinking more like Toyota/Lexus or Honda/Acura. Something like that.