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Thread: Finally pulled the trigger.

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Ohio
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    92

    Thumbs up Finally pulled the trigger.

    After months of indecision, and reading all sorts of reviews and info, I finally went for broke and ordered the S2EX pair and Duo center in Espresso! And to think all i was originally looking for was a bargain on a low-to-mid level LCR set. I hope the invoice is not packed with the speakers so nobody else will see the cost! Now I will start searching for a deal on a Atmos AVR...more $$$!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Houston, Texas
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    1,387

    Default Re: Finally pulled the trigger.

    Congrats!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2018
    Posts
    26

    Default Re: Finally pulled the trigger.

    Enjoy!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
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    USA
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    Default Re: Finally pulled the trigger.

    Quote Originally Posted by Qman View Post
    After months of indecision, and reading all sorts of reviews and info, I finally went for broke and ordered the S2EX pair and Duo center in Espresso! And to think all i was originally looking for was a bargain on a low-to-mid level LCR set. I hope the invoice is not packed with the speakers so nobody else will see the cost! Now I will start searching for a deal on a Atmos AVR...more $$$!
    Thanks so much for getting your order in!
    .
    .
    .
    Good Sound To You!

    David Fabrikant
    www.ascendacoustics.com

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Ohio
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    92

    Default Re: Finally pulled the trigger.

    So I received my Duo and 2EX pair last night. Impressive protective packaging!
    First was to connect the duo for center duties for the wife watching TV. My initial reaction was "what is with that bloat in the upper bass/lower mid?" Male voices honked and were boxy. Unexpected for sure. Next I connected the 2EXs quickly on the same receiver since music listening while my wife was watching TV was going to be impossible. I used some generic 16ga (5 ft) speaker wire, and placed some sorbothane pads under them (I did not want to stick on the supplied pads in case i decide to return them). I placed them on the edges of the HT cabinet, which puts them about 24 inches off the floor, and about 6 ft apart, and about 2 ft from the back wall to the rear of the speaker. This is about where I plan to put them, due to room limitations. Definitely not ideal, but that's the hand I'm dealt. Listening position is about 11 ft away and nearly against the wall. Again, not ideal.
    I put on some music DVDs in 2 ch mode. Again, what is with the lower mid bloat? Somewhere around 150-250 Hz, I'm guessing. I moved one speaker out about 2 ft, on the Ascend shipping box, to try for a few minutes and it seemed to help just a little. Muddy is a word i would use here. Way too much energy in that range, making voices unintelligible. I bypassed all the digital stuff and ran the player directly into a stereo input to see how that would work. More dynamic, but still very muddy. Not sure what to make of these so far.
    I have no way to EQ at the moment, other than whatever the old Pioneer receiver can provide (VSX712). Next, I will move the S2ex's to 2 channel in a different room using my Bryston B60 Integrated, and a decent CD player, with more proper room spacing. Hopefully I will notice some improvement. I WILL be updating my AVR at some point to include bass management /EQ. Question: Does the typical AVR adjust the center channel EQ as well as the mains/sub? And how far up the freq range does the typical AVR room correction adjust?

    On the positive side, the upper mids are smooth! Upper piano can be so piercing on some speakers, not these. Treble is smooth, as smooth as these old ears can tell. Turning it up a couple dB with Dave Mathews at Central Park DVD and turning on the Legacy Pacemaker sub really showed the dynamics of these little ex's. Very impressive. Snare drum impacts are tangible. Tom drums have notes, not just thuds. They handle power without compressing. Integration with the sub seemed immediately nice without any adjustments. (Running EXs full range with sub set at ~45Hz). Next my wife went to bed and I turned the volume down. As mentioned in other threads, the quality/frequency fullness at low levels did not diminish at all. Something I've not experienced before. Also to note was the receiver remained very cool running after pushing it a little.
    Last edited by Qman; 07-29-2020 at 07:22 AM.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Posts
    388

    Default Re: Finally pulled the trigger.

    You have an old Pio receiver? Subs? Crossover settings? Did you run MCACC? Lots of things to consider. Maybe a pic of your setup too.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Houston, Texas
    Posts
    1,387

    Default Re: Finally pulled the trigger.

    Are they away from the side walls, as well? I don't like to corner load my speakers.
    Also, any way to move your listening position away from the back wall? Generally, should be 1/3rd of room length from either the back wall or front wall.

    The typical AVR will EQ all channels that can be connected. My MRX720 will do 11 channels of EQ. They recommend no more than 5 kHZ as upper EQ range. Primarily as the mic isn't accurate much beyond that. I believe Audessey and Dirac have the same limitations. That said, alot of people (myself included) focus on the lower frequencies (say no more than 250 or 300 HZ). I'm still dialing in my system (since picking up second sub about two weeks ago) but have pretty much decided not to use any EQ in the AVR, just cross-overs, speaker trim, and speaker boost. I've added a miniDSP 2x4 HD to EQ the subs (and may play around with cross-overs in the minidsp for the sub, as well). Great device - if your current receiver has preouts and you are doing 3.1, you can even run the fronts, center and sub into it and do your EQing and cut-offs in it.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Ohio
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    92

    Default Re: Finally pulled the trigger.

    My receiver is old enough to not have a feedback mic. Sub is a Legacy Pacemaker, crossed at 45Hz, EXs running full range. although most of my listening last night was no sub. I'll connect the Bryston in next couple days and see how that works out. It will be in a different room so that should be telling. The center channel is what really makes me scratch my head. You'd think it would be pretty clear/not boomy out of the box.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Ohio
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    92

    Default Re: Finally pulled the trigger.

    Quote Originally Posted by racrawford65 View Post
    Are they away from the side walls, as well? I don't like to corner load my speakers.
    Also, any way to move your listening position away from the back wall? Generally, should be 1/3rd of room length from either the back wall or front wall.

    The typical AVR will EQ all channels that can be connected. My MRX720 will do 11 channels of EQ. They recommend no more than 5 kHZ as upper EQ range. Primarily as the mic isn't accurate much beyond that. I believe Audessey and Dirac have the same limitations. That said, alot of people (myself included) focus on the lower frequencies (say no more than 250 or 300 HZ). I'm still dialing in my system (since picking up second sub about two weeks ago) but have pretty much decided not to use any EQ in the AVR, just cross-overs, speaker trim, and speaker boost. I've added a miniDSP 2x4 HD to EQ the subs (and may play around with cross-overs in the minidsp for the sub, as well). Great device - if your current receiver has preouts and you are doing 3.1, you can even run the fronts, center and sub into it and do your EQing and cut-offs in it.
    Yes, the are very far away from side walls. (about 9 ft each.) Thanks for the input. Wow, that company makes some interesting gear! Havent seen that before. I'll let you know how my 2nd room evaluation goes.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Central NC
    Posts
    132

    Default Re: Finally pulled the trigger.

    Quote Originally Posted by Qman View Post
    My initial reaction was "what is with that bloat in the upper bass/lower mid?" Male voices honked and were boxy. Unexpected for sure. Next I connected the 2EXs quickly on the same receiver since music listening while my wife was watching TV was going to be impossible. I used some generic 16ga (5 ft) speaker wire, and placed some sorbothane pads under them (I did not want to stick on the supplied pads in case i decide to return them). I placed them on the edges of the HT cabinet, which puts them about 24 inches off the floor, and about 6 ft apart, and about 2 ft from the back wall to the rear of the speaker. This is about where I plan to put them, due to room limitations. Definitely not ideal, but that's the hand I'm dealt. Listening position is about 11 ft away and nearly against the wall. Again, not ideal.
    I put on some music DVDs in 2 ch mode. Again, what is with the lower mid bloat? Somewhere around 150-250 Hz, I'm guessing. I moved one speaker out about 2 ft, on the Ascend shipping box, to try for a few minutes and it seemed to help just a little. Muddy is a word i would use here.
    This isn't the speakers. It's your room. You've probably run up against a room mode that causes a peak in the mid-bass at your major listening position. Probably coupled with rapid reflections off that wall behind the listening position (causing the muddiness), and reflections off the ceiling and side walls making it sound boxy ("small room sound").

    Now that you have the speakers that show you what the room is doing, treating the room is in order. This means not just absorption, but also diffusion (especially behind your listening position [if I've interpreted the physical relationships in that room correctly] and at the first reflection points on sidewalls and ceiling (if you can)), and of course bass traps.

    One quick thing to try is to move your listening position off that back wall a foot or 18" as a test. If your midbass "bloat" changes, you'll know for sure it's a room mode problem.

    Probably not what you wanted to hear. But this is the way acoustics in small rooms usually plays out.

    Of course you can (I really recommend it) also get an AVR with good room EQ software, anything from the Audyssey system to Dirac, ARC, etc. These systems typically EQ the frequency response of the room (as experienced at and around the listening position) for at last the bottom few octaves to full range, depending on the system and its settings.

    I've been using Audyssey on my old Denon X-4000 for years, and it does an outstanding job fixing some problems I've got in my listening room. Makes that little Luna Duo center a serious joy to listen to -- perfectly flat response, clean crisp dialog. My wife loves the Duo!

    Best of all worlds, treat the room, then run EQ software on top of that. The problems you're describing will be a distant memory.
    "If it sounds good, it is good." -- Duke Ellington

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