New CMT-340 SE Owner

[stevecake]

Hello all,

After stalking these forums for months, I had myself convinced I wanted (needed?) a pair of CMT-340's. I finally pounced on a used pair I found on Audiogon ($400, shipped!), and bought a shiny new HK 3490 receiver. They're in a small apartment, they serve as music, HT, and gaming speakers, and they're being run full range. Now, this is my first high fidelity music system, but I'm a very anal, detail-oriented person, ESPECIALLY when it comes to my things. And I *love* my Ascends. They fill the room with beautiful, beautiful sound. I'm a poor graduate student, so I have to stretch every dollar I spend, and I can't imagine any investment of $800 yielding more enjoyment. They've basically been running since they arrived, and as I tweak my settings they just get better and better!

The only problem is that I've got that upgrade bug I've read so much about... My sources are my PS3, my computer's digital out, and the radio. Make no mistake, they all sound FANTASTIC, but I've been eying that Music Streamer DAC. Oh, and a sub. The 340's showed me I've been missing a couple octaves... I wonder what else is down there? I'll be open to any other cost-effective upgrades I can find out about... once my credit card stops smoking, that is.

In any event, I'm really excited to finally be a bona-fide member of the Ascend owners' community. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

--Stephen

[jerryj]

Hi Steve,

I bought a set of (3) 340's and (2) 170's a couple months back, and then I began to question my sources and moved in new stuff to try to improve the quality of my source material - so the 340's would sound even better. I listen to music with just 2 of the 340's and a sub. My main comment is - your PS3 is a pretty darn good source component that does a lot of things very well. I think you would be hard-pressed to find anything reasonably priced that would actually sound better with CD, DVD, or Blu-Ray material. Spend your money on the sub. After a couple months owning the 340's - I'm still working my way through rediscovering what's been hidden in my music collection till now. To me the remarkable difference in acoustic as opposed to electric instruments is the real fun, acoustic guitar, piano, brass, vocals. Congrats on the great $800 system.

Jerry