Hello from Indy.

[hearing specialist]

Cool! How do those Athena's compare to the 170's?

[Dark Ranger]

Thanks for sharing the pics! Your abode looks cozy. I like the Pepsi Optimus Prime truck.

Good choice on the demo material, too, that's a fantastic album. Be sure to try out a movie when you can. That 340 will handle the center channel content (notably dialog) very well.

Like Brian, I'd be curious on your thoughts on the Ascends vs the Athenas. I haven't heard those models (B1/C1).


Enjoy the sonic bliss!

[darkpoet25]

Thanks for sharing the pics! Your abode looks cozy. I like the Pepsi Optimus Prime truck.

Good choice on the demo material, too, that's a fantastic album. Be sure to try out a movie when you can. That 340 will handle the center channel content (notably dialog) very well.

Like Brian, I'd be curious on your thoughts on the Ascends vs the Athenas. I haven't heard those models (B1/C1).


Enjoy the sonic bliss!

Thanks for the compliments. After playing Dire Straits, I popped in The Eagles' Hell Freezes Over DTS disc, sounded great too. After that I watched the first X-Men movie. The 340 was great for the dialog, it was much clearer sounding, and I could hear a difference in the quality. As for a comparison, I would say that they share some similar sound qualites. The Athena's use a Teteron tweeter, which is a tweeter filled with liquid, you can literally run your finger on it and doesn't damage it. Since I liked how they sounded, I was trying to find something I could compare them with. I went out and listened to some Energy speakers(CB-10's, CB-20's and CC-10), Paradigm Version 7 Mini Montiors, Atoms, and some Klipsh speaker(can't remember what model). The Energy's sounded very nice to me, and I had considered going with them for a while. The Paradigm V7's just didn't sound good to me at all, they were brittle sounding and brighter than I thought they would be. The Klipsh I heard in comparison sounded a little bit cleaner, but again were bright to my ears.
The Athena's have a clear, clean sound to them, not overly harsh, and I did a little bit more research to find something I liked. I looked into Axiom speakers, as I had heard quite a few good things about them(as well as the Ascend's). I began reading various onwers threads on avs.com and blu-ray.com to get people's over all impressions. I had heard some metal dome tweeters in the past, some sounding smooth and some sounding very harsh and fatiguing. After some more digging around, I decided the Axiom's just weren't for me and went with the Ascend's instead. Glad that I did, I like the sound of a soft dome tweeter much more than a metal dome tweeter.
Now onto the comparison. Both the Athena's and Ascend's share some similar sound qualities. They have good midrange, smooth sounding tweeters, and a clean delivery. The Athena's while nice just didn't have the overall depth in the midrange area that the Ascend's have. After I first got the CBM-170's I decided to a side by side comparison. I hooked up one CBM-170 to the left channel, and left an AS-B1 on the right channel. I was watching concert blu's in 2-channel as well as playing some stereo music. When the material was playing I would get and move around the apartment, listening both on and off axis, comparing the overall sound quality. I would then leave one hooked up and unhook the other, doing the same as above.
That extra depth in midrange was something I just wasn't getting in the Athena's. Watching the Incubus Live At Red Rocks concert, there was more depth and punch to the drumming and bass playing. I spent a few days listening to various music same as the manner as described above. On Dream Theater's Images and Word's during the song Another Day there is an alto saxophone that plays at different times throughout the song. While both speakers played with great clarity, the CBM-170 had more of an impact with me. As if the player was standing in the room, something I didn't get from the Athena. Playing some Heart, Ann Wilson's voice had more presence, and I could feel every emotion in her singing. Overall I will say that going with Ascend was a better decision in the long run, as they are not overly bright, harsh or fatiguing. When I turned up the volume little by little, I heard nothing but pure clear, clean sound. Which is what I was going for when looking for a new set of speakers.

[Dark Ranger]

Hi DP:

I apologize for my delayed response, it's been busy at work and I haven't had much time to post.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the Ascends. It's obvious you've shopped around for the "right sound." Oh, and I echo your concerns about the majority of metal dome tweeters. While I realize the implementation of the tweeter design is more important than what it's made out of, most metal dome-equipped speakers I've tried were just too harsh for me. Some speakers caused me so much discomfort I couldn't listen to them for more than a few minutes. I have a suspicion that I'm more sensitive (than average) in the 2-4 kHz range based on how I react compared to other listeners. Anyway, like you, I tend to prefer soft domes.

The comparison between the Ascends and Athenas was interesting since I haven't heard that specific model. Since becoming an Ascend owner, I've realized that Dave's speakers excel in mid-range accuracy and presentation (among other things) compared to previous speakers I've owned and auditioned. In any case, it appears that the Athenas performed well considering the price difference.

When the differences in hearing among different people are combined with the incredible variety of loudspeaker designs, it creates an interesting challenge for anyone shopping for new speakers...never mind those crazy* individuals who actually build the darn things.

*a term used with fondness


Again, thanks for sharing with us! You've got a nice setup that provides incredible value and performance. The "SE" series is quite amazing. I had to move my 200 SE pair out of my bedroom to replace/upgrade the surrounds in the main listening room. I am really missing those 200s in the bedroom. The temporary replacements, pulled from storage, are a big downgrade even though they cost nearly twice as much as the 200 SE.

The comments from you and Brian (in his recent thread) have caused me to consider the 340 SE mains for my bedroom, perhaps within the next 3-6 months. I'd love to try out the 340s.

Take care!

[darkpoet25]

Just a little update. I moved the 170's a little further out on the audio towers in order for them 'breath' some more. The ports are now 15 1/2"s from the wall, and sound even better.(I have the 340C as close to the edge of the shelf below my TV, so I wanted the 170's to match them space wise if that makes any sense) The imaging on them is amazing to say the least, I love the 'wall' of sound they are able to produce. Watching Brave, the soundtrack music really came alive. I can honestly say I haven't been this happy with a purchase in a while. Dave has made a wonderful product, and gained another satisified customer for years to come. The way they integrate with Velodyne VX-11 sub is seamless, to my ears at least. I've been listening to more and more music because of how well they perform. Also wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.