Modest 5.1 Setup.

[Alaska_guy]

This is my first post...

I currently own some Ascend 200SE's and I plan to use them as surrounds. I recently purchased the 170's for the Main Left and Right speakers and I plan to use my existing center channel speaker for the time being to see how everything sounds. I have a klipsch 12" subwoofer that has done me well so far.

I really wanted to jump on the Sierra 2EX speaker bandwagon after hearing all the glowing reviews, however my better half can't fathom spending that kind of money on speakers.

I figured if the 170's don't suite my taste or the wifes it should be an easy sell to bump up the price bracket.

We will be using a 20x23' space in conjunction with an Xbox One X. Basically 90% movies using the Xbox streaming Netflix with some blue rays from time to time and then 10% will be taken up by xbox gaming for the kiddos and music.

The anticipating is killing me. I have a 5.1 setup in my living room that consists of in walls for the front sound stage and in ceiling speakers for surrounds. It's done us well, but no where near considered audio-fidelity. It's or main room we use for listening to music using multi channel stereo and watch tv from time to time.

[goldark]

This is my first post...

I currently own some Ascend 200SE's and I plan to use them as surrounds. I recently purchased the 170's for the Main Left and Right speakers and I plan to use my existing center channel speaker for the time being to see how everything sounds. I have a klipsch 12" subwoofer that has done me well so far.

I really wanted to jump on the Sierra 2EX speaker bandwagon after hearing all the glowing reviews, however my better half can't fathom spending that kind of money on speakers.

I figured if the 170's don't suite my taste or the wifes it should be an easy sell to bump up the price bracket.

We will be using a 20x23' space in conjunction with an Xbox One X. Basically 90% movies using the Xbox streaming Netflix with some blue rays from time to time and then 10% will be taken up by xbox gaming for the kiddos and music.

The anticipating is killing me. I have a 5.1 setup in my living room that consists of in walls for the front sound stage and in ceiling speakers for surrounds. It's done us well, but no where near considered audio-fidelity. It's or main room we use for listening to music using multi channel stereo and watch tv from time to time.

Welcome to the Ascend owners's club! Please post pics when you have everything set up and let us know what you think!

[Alaska_guy]

Will do! Unfortunately I am still waiting for them to arrive. Hoping they are worth the wait!

[Alaska_guy]

I received my 200's today. After I got them plugged in and ran the setup on the AVR the wife and kiddo have been watching movies all night. I am using them as the Front Left and Right with a 12" sub. I have to say they sound VERY good. I wish the mid bass was a little more pronounced but overall super happy. They image GREAT. I can't wait until the 170's are here next week so I can see what those are all about.

For the size those 200's pack way above what one would expect.

Once the wife and kid get to bed I plan to stay up and listen to some music.

[davef]

I received my 200's today. After I got them plugged in and ran the setup on the AVR the wife and kiddo have been watching movies all night. I am using them as the Front Left and Right with a 12" sub. I have to say they sound VERY good. I wish the mid bass was a little more pronounced but overall super happy. They image GREAT. I can't wait until the 170's are here next week so I can see what those are all about.

For the size those 200's pack way above what one would expect.

Once the wife and kid get to bed I plan to stay up and listen to some music.

Very happy to hear that you are enjoying them!!

[Alaska_guy]

Received my 170's today! Ran Audessey and set them up for some 2.1 channel music to compare against the 200SE's. Everything I was missing in the 200's the 170's have! I am grinning ear to ear! I had the wife come check them out (she is a singer but weirdly enough she usually isn't a fan of speakers). I was playing some blues and she came in with a huge grin on her face. She looked around the room and said "where are the big box speakers?". She couldn't believe these little bookshelves were producing the sound dynamics that were coming out of them.

The 200's are great speakers but due to my big room 20x23', the 200's just couldn't produce a big enough sound stage. The other issue was for them to image well you really had to be in the sweet spot in my room. The 170's soundstage is MUCH bigger and they basically image anywhere in the room. I walked all the way to the back corner of one side of the room and walked around and I literally couldn't hear a difference. The sound always sounds like its coming from the center of the screen. The sound stage and imaging is unbelievable at this price point!

My brother in law has some paradigm floor standers and those have been my base of decent speakers for a long time... I would have to hear his in an A/B comparison to give better feedback, but just listening to these I would say these play every bit as good as his floor standing speakers if not better!

My receiver is a cheap $250 denon. It only does 5.1 and doesn't do the typical - volume to 0, it goes from 0 (lowest) to 100 (highest) for volume level. At about 60 on my receiver these speakers are screaming. I was debating on the 340's but these 170's have PLENTY left in them! If I was to turn it up to 70 on my receiver it would concert level loud!

I am waiting on my surround speaker stands to ship and then I will get a picture of my converted garage setup.

I AM a VERY happy man!

You are SERIOUSLY doing some amazing work. I live in Alaska and shipping costs are horrid so I rarely buy anything online if it can't be returned to Amazon. Let's just say I am far above impressed.

Now I guess I need to know what I am missing if I was to jump up to some Sierra 1's from these 170's.

Is the sierra line as big of a jump that I was seeing from the 200SE's to the 170's?

I imagine I would gain a little more bass out of the Sierra?

I am crossing over at 80hz and have speakers set to small.