New guy, help me spend my money!

[sludgeogre]

Are you aware or even cognizant of the amount of guys who actually own a Ascend Acoustics products and overpriced PSA or Svs subs.

I'm not trying to start a fight here, and yeah a lot of people own a lot of products. I'm not trying to poo-poo any of them, just stating where I think the value is and what I've heard from perusing lots of different forums and groups. If you compare them watt for watt, you get more from Rythmik, especially if you're buying dual subs since you get the discount I mentioned.

Also not sure about the Ascend comments, I own Towers and Horizon with RAAL as well and I totally love them. As for PSA I rarely hear much about them, but SVS is immensely popular, thus why I said the comment about marketing. Their marketing really is on point, very flashy, and I don't know about everyone else but their ads show up in my facebook feed all the time, and they are always at the big audio shows (CEDIA, RMAF, etc..) so it looks like they pump a good amount of cash into their marketing and sales. Ascend doesn't do that so they are able to offer their products for much lower prices, something I appreciate.

The discussion of transient response in the other thread bears mentioning as well, as it's a big selling point of Rythmik and Ascend/RAAL. I first heard about Rythmik subs on a Magnepan user group, and was very surprised to see Dave's comments on giving up subwoofer design and selling Rythmik subs. They are probably the most popular sub among Magnepan owners except for the DWM bass panel (if you can call it a sub, it needs a stereo amp for power and it's still a quasi-ribbon panel). This is precisely because of the transient response characteristics of direct servo subs. Magnepan''s planar and quasi-ribbon speakers are incredibly "fast" and clear sounding since the large diaphragms aren't connected to a voice coil, but rather the coil is on the panel and magnets are suspended around the frame, kind of like a giant ribbon tweeter except that it's not a true ribbon like the RAAL tweeters are. In my addiction to that accuracy I've been lead to Ascend and Rythmik. All of that on top of the fact that I only paid 1580 bucks for my dual F12's with XLR inputs and I just don't see that kind of value anywhere else. Again, just my experience and opinion. Hopefully others will throw theirs out there.

[Johnny_Mac_III]

Where is your seating position from the front wall and how far away are you from the front speakers?

[Fast351]

If you look at the first post in this thread you will see a picture that shows the room setup. Basically the couch is 13' back from the projection wall. The screen is a 135", so the width is 122" or just over 10' wide. The speakers are right next to the screen so call it 11-12' between speaker centerlines. I should be able to have the baffle at least 2' from the wall (the AV rack is about 2' deep) so 12-14 inches behind the speakers with no problems.

That makes the distance to the speakers from the sweet spot about 11'.

Make sense?

[Johnny_Mac_III]

If you look at the first post in this thread you will see a picture that shows the room setup. Basically the couch is 13' back from the projection wall. The screen is a 135", so the width is 122" or just over 10' wide. The speakers are right next to the screen so call it 11-12' between speaker centerlines. I should be able to have the baffle at least 2' from the wall (the AV rack is about 2' deep) so 12-14 inches behind the speakers with no problems.

That makes the distance to the speakers from the sweet spot about 11'.

Make sense?

Gotcha.

Just want to start out by saying that your seating position is perfect. 32% from front or back wall is a very neutral position.

Either of the Sierra Towers or the Horizon will provide you with reference level dynamics from your seating position.

I would definitely go for the RAALs. Especially since you will be adding acoustic treatment to get the full benefit of the amazing decay time and take advantage of the amazing detail that a tweeter that lightweight can provide.

You will need a sub for 80hz and lower and a powerful one if you want to pressurize your 7200 cubic foot room at reference volume. I would look at the FV15hp or F25. If you can, I would get 2 and place them in opposite corners. A pair of sealed 12s will not pressurize your room.

Personally, I am a huge proponent of matching timbre. I would get the Sierra Sats if you go the RAAL route. Some don't find that matching timbre for surrounds that important, but in a well treated room, I would.

Hope this helps. Also, if you had to budget, I would set pressurizing a room with subwoofers as the highest priority as I think that will make the biggest difference (even with music).

[rsmt2000]

Are you aware or even cognizant of the amount of guys who actually own a Ascend Acoustics products and overpriced PSA or Svs subs.

I myself have both rythmik and psa subs. The reason I went with psa is because they had a sealed sub with veneer options matching the ascend espresso towers. Not withstanding the price which is cheap, it sounds fantastic and is a winner in both aesthetics and performance both for music and movies.

I don't have any interest in going after listing the components used, made in China vs USA, etc and figure out which sub really is cheap but for the money I spent on a veneered sub I am quite happy. Also the price included shipping and a 45 day trial period with return shipping included which now think they increased to 60 days.

I really wish Rythmik comes out with some way to offer cheap.er.. options than variations of black. I would be first in line to place orders for the E15 HPs in veneered options:-)

I know at least a few others using non rythmik subs with ascend speakers and quite happy with them - Our own Rob from AVRant being one among them with SVS;-)

Just my 2 cents.

Thanks
Ron

[billy p]

I myself have both rythmik and psa subs. The reason I went with psa is because they had a sealed sub with veneer options matching the ascend espresso towers. Not withstanding the price which is cheap, it sounds fantastic and is a winner in both aesthetics and performance both for music and movies.

I don't have any interest in going after listing the components used, made in China vs USA, etc and figure out which sub really is cheap but for the money I spent on a veneered sub I am quite happy. Also the price included shipping and a 45 day trial period with return shipping included which now think they increased to 60 days.

I really wish Rythmik comes out with some way to offer cheap.er.. options than variations of black. I would be first in line to place orders for the E15 HPs in veneered options:-)

I know at least a few others using non rythmik subs with ascend speakers and quite happy with them - Our own Rob from AVRant being one among them with SVS;-)

Just my 2 cents.

Thanks
Ron

Thanks for sharing...veneer options was precisely why I elected to go with PSA over alternative subs form Svs or even Rythmik. And yes....Rob aka: FirstReflect better known around here or FristReflections over at AH...is very serious about sound quality and owns several Svs subs...iirc and fwiw.

Cheers,

Bill

[davef]

Guys,

All opinions are fully welcome here - and also encouraged. The only time I will pop in and correct or call out an opinion is when facts are being stated that are simply not true. I find our forum members here to be some of the most knowledgeable and experienced anywhere - as well as being friendly and respectful to everyone. Really, the only thing not welcome being discussed here or recommended are snake oil products - for which the many different brands of subwoofers often recommended here are most certainly not.

Let's keep things respectful, fun and educational for everyone

[Brannigan]

If anything i would just get a single fv15hp for now if there's no other choice. correct me if i'm wrong but i read they can do 12hz at 90ish db which takes like...5 lesser subs to add up to if they can even do 12hz at all? looks like you need output and the fv15hp has it.