Novel here...please be patient

I'm sort of rehashing an old issue I had, perhaps two-tiered issue. Initially back in 2005 or so I purchased the classic L/R CBM-170's. I had them hooked up to a HT Technics receiver I purchased in 1998. I wouldn't call it high end or even middle of the road. The 170's sounded amazing, punchy, bass so defined I could feel it. Then I upgraded my cabling to optical input from Tivo opposed to the Red and White typical stereo cables. The sound was even more amazing than before.

So then I go off the cliff and purchased a CMT-340c and a Yamaha HTR-5760 receiver. This is where things went poorly in my opinion. Immediately I noticed a huge drop off in bass from the 170's and the 340c was very harsh on my ears, I'll call it "bright" for now. So I was like hmmm, maybe I need to turn the BASS up on the receiver and run YPAO (didn't run it yet at this point). Perhaps that's why they aren't sounding the way they did before the change. The bass never sounded the same and the brightness from the 340c was difficult to listen to no matter the media I listened to.

I had noticed remarks about the tweeters were addressed in the SE editions of these speakers. I sold my Ascends off and purchased Mirage floor standings. To be honest, I put them on my Technics receiver and it sounded better than the Yamaha too. Same type of qualities were gone. To this day I miss my Ascends and hence why I am here researching again.

The Technics is in my bedroom running some Polk R30's and they sound good. The Mirage are on the HT system downstairs with the Yamaha. I don't have much experience with various receiver bands and the characteristics of them. All signs point to the speakers being neutral and the Yamaha not sounding the way I want. If anyone has any experience with either of these receivers or can recommend a better selection under $300 that would pair nicely with Ascend's let me know. Onkyo, Marantz and Denon are on my radar.

Any and all suggestions and recommendations welcomed.

-Donny