Received my 5.1 340 setup.

[ClutchBrake]

I just realized I didn't look on the back of the speaker to see if it specified which to use if you aren't bi-wiring. Preparing to feel stupid when I get home...

[oontahey]

Kewl dawg...looking forward to hearing what you think. What are these speakers replacing?

[JohnnyCasaba]

Clutchbrake,

You are correct, if you are not bi-wiring, just leave the jumper between the 2 sets of posts in place and choose either one.

[ClutchBrake]

They are replacing a Klipsch Quintet Microsystem. In all honesty I like the Klipsch. The Ascends are really going to have to impress me to outdo them.

[ClutchBrake]

Thanks! []

[X52]

Please give us your oppinion as the results come in.

JH

[oontahey]

This is either good or bad. Either he is so enthralled he can't tear himself away from the couch to post..or he is so disappointed he doesn't know what to say. :-)

[ClutchBrake]

Finally got everything set up and calibrated last night. Not really sure where to start so I'm just gonna kind of ramble. Take from it what you will.

Got everything home last night and started unpacking. First thing I noticed was that I like the binding posts. Much better quality than the ones on my budget Klipsch speakers. Second thing I noticed was a cosmetic flaw on one of my rear surrounds. Nothing big, but something I would have swapped out another speaker for if I were buying from a brick and mortar. The flaw is a wrinkle in the finish on the lower right corner of the speaker. It extends up about a quarter of an inch and to the left about an inch and a half. Again, not something major, or even something all that noticeable unless you are close to the speaker.

The front left and right speakers fit the stands well. Even with the spikes though they are still a bit short for my room. I'm going to have to lift them up another inch or two. The only other thing I really notice about the speakers and the stands is that the rounded nature of the stands really emphasizes the boxy nature of the 340s. As to whether or not the stands are worth the money, well, only you can decide. If you are handy with a table saw and router you could certainly make them for a heck of a lot less than the asking price. That being said, if you are buying a package deal you are probably going to get a discount on the stands that make them worth it.

Now for the sound. I'm not really sure how first impressions go because it is my understanding you have to give speakers some time to break in. After only a few hours of listening I have come to a few conclusions thus far.

1) With regular stereo television content I don't notice a difference between my Ascends and my Klipsch setup. However, I haven't listened to any real dynamic movies yet. The only thing I watched in stereo last night was a three hour Law & Order.

2) In Dolby Digital my subwoofer disappeared. Hooray! With my old speakers the sub was very easy to localize because I was using a crossover of 100Hz and the small Klipsch speakers had already started to roll off in a major way by then.

3) The next great thing is an extension of point number 2. I like having speakers that are still going strong at crossover. DD 5.1 sounds considerably better. There was a lot of information I was missing because of my old speakers. I no longer feel like there is a hole in movie soundtracks.

4) Now to the bad part. The vocals from the center are very distracting. Rather than coming from the screen my ears hear the voices directly from the speaker and consequently my eyes want to look at the center rather than the screen. Another thing I notice is that certain tones of voices seem to come from the rear of the speaker while others seem to come from the front of the speaker. Either way voices are extremely localized.

I almost hesitate to make the above comments because I do not yet have the center situated the way I want it. It is currently on top of my TV aimed directly forward. This puts the the speaker approximately 20" above my listening position. I plan to find a way to angle the speaker down towards the listening position. I really hope this is the issue. If after experimenting with the positioning of the center the voices are still extremely localized that is not a compromise I am willing to make.

As I said earlier, I hesitate to make any real judgements yet. The speakers only have a few hours on them. I turned on some music this morning and put it in five channel stereo so all the speakers will be going while I am at work. Hopefully by doing this all week the speakers will be ready for some comprehensive testing this weekend.

[curtis]

For the center channel, also rememeber to give it some room in back, and make sure the speaker is at least flush with the front of the the TV screen.

Have fun!

-curtis

[ClutchBrake]

Right now I have the speaker 1.5" over the front of the TV. The rear of the speaker has 25.5" from the back wall.

I really think angling the center will fix it. Doing so isn't going to be easy though.