170's and Sibilance

[DougMac]

I couldn't afford to replace the damaged 340. I've had Whardale,Epos,Polk and JBL speakers since then and the sibilance on all was strong. The JBLs were the smoothest but the sibilance was still there.

Hmm That leads me to believe you've got problems somewhere else in the chain. Is the sibilance from all sources? Do you have a turntable? Sibilance is problematic with records and can indicate setup problems, the quality of the cart/stylus or even a damaged stylus.

I hope you are pleased with the 170's. I use them as side surrounds in my home theater and they do a great job.

[jerrymb]

The sibilance has to be on the recordings themselves because I've tried several receivers,several cd players,several different speakers and I still hear it. I just don't remember ever being this bothered by it before as I have lately. My hearing was checked and is perfect. Also I only hear sibilance on cds. Not from any other source.

My 170's just arrived and I'm unpacking them now.

I notice that on the ports on the rear of the speakers if I run my finger around the inside of the port the inner edge of the black plastic is really jagged and rough like it wasn't cut properly. Not a big deal but I expected a bit more quality for $380.

[jerrymb]

I also just noticed that the Ascend logo on one speaker is crooked. It's easy to see even from several feet away.

[curtis]

I also just noticed that the Ascend logo on one speaker is crooked. It's easy to see even from several feet away.

But how do they sound?

I'm sure Ascend will help you witht the logo.

[jerrymb]

They sound OK. Really no better or no worse than many of the other speakers I've had. Maybe I'm at the point in my hearing where any halfway decent speakers will all pretty much sound similar? Even though my hearing is good? I think I may return them. I'm just not happy with the overall qulaity.The crooked logo. The seem at the bottom is a bit tacky.

[curtis]

Might be time to take a step up or two.

[DougMac]

Your call. The first thing I did is remove the logo. They are just tacked on with adhesive. They left no mark. I agree with Curtis, you seem to be stuck in speaker purgatory. Maybe a speaker at a notch or two higher would be more to your liking.

[GirgleMirt]

What would you replace them with?

For the logo, unless you really want to have the ascend logo, you could probably just remove them... Well, after talking to Ascend I guess, if you're really planning to return then, then I wouldn't remove the logo. But even better, remove the entire grill, as even the best grills out there aren't measured in how much they help the sound, but by how much they degrade it...

They sound OK. Really no better or no worse than many of the other speakers I've had.

Hard to believe, as speakers, especially around that price, usually sound quite different... But anyway, at the price point you can't expect RAAL tower sound quality... I may be in the minority but the way I judge speakers isn't how 'great' they sound, but by how little they do wrong. And when you're looking at 175$ a speaker, this becomes a lot more significant. The 170s have a very flat frequency response, I guess that's something you appreciate, or not. Quickly googling the Wharfedales, they also seem like decent speakers for the money, though they potentially seem to have very serious issues.

I think it's 30 days for the return period? You could definitely buy a couple different speaker sets and compare them side by side, then decide which you want to keep.

Maybe I'm at the point in my hearing where any halfway decent speakers will all pretty much sound similar? Even though my hearing is good?

I think it's different for each person. 1) for what you notice and 2) what you care or don't care about. For instance, it bugs the hell out of me when a speaker doesn't have a balanced/neutral sound. Others often can't seem to tell the difference or don't seem to care. Varies for each.

Audiophiles sometimes mention 'listening ability'. And there's even training for people who are to be hired as blind speaker testers for instance. You basically have to know what to listen for... If you don't, eventhough you might have 20/20 hearing, you might just not be able to interpret you're hearing.

For build quality, can't really speak for your particular set, but the way I've always seen the 170/340 line, is you're buying a performance package. Speakers designed to give you the best performance for the money. For me, the 340SE definitely delivered in that regard. For the cut port tube, if it's inside the speaker, why worry at all about it when it won't have any significant impact? For the seam, I think my 340SE have the same thing, it's simply a small 'gap' where the front baffle and cabinet meet? Well not really a gap, but font baffle is very slightly larger. Again, no impact whatsoever maybe aside cosmetics, but if it bothers you... Well... There's probably other speakers without it, but in my experience, odds are the sound quality won't be equal. At this price point it's all about compromises, and cosmetics were 2nd to performance IMHO.

If you can manage, the Sierras might be more to your liking...

[markie]

Jerry, out of curiosity was there much sibilance on the 170s compared to the other speakers you've tried?

You said, "I only hear sibilance on cds. Not from any other source. "

If you were to rip a sibilant CD to your hard drive and play it from your computer, do you think there still be sibilance?

Mark

[jerrymb]

The sibilance on the 170's was stll there but maybe a touch less compared to other speakers I've had. I have the 170's boxed back up and I'm just waiting to hear from Ascend on the return. I tried to remove the logo and reposition it but when I try to remove it part of the grill starts to pull away with the logo and I don't want to tear the grill.