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Thread: 340M & 340C Review

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    6

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    Quote Originally Posted by bri1270
    I'd just like to add a few comments after having the speakers for about 4 days now. I have listened to a lot of music and I have now had the chance to watch a couple of movies. I think I covered my opinion as far as music, but I wanted to add that these speakers are almost too revealing. Some recordings are just simply trash. As for MP3's or downloaded music, forget cranking it up, it sounds terrible on the Ascends. Obviously this isn't the speaker's fault, it's the recording, the speakers just let me know how bad it is. I was surprised by this because my Paradigms never showed me anything close to this level of detail. I have some really great recordings as well, which sound absolutely amazing. DMB live at Redrocks for example; I think that's a great recording, and I also like to use it as a musical demo. There are a few songs that are preceeded by or contain within them some hellacious drum solo's, and the 340's kept up like it was their job...wait a minute, nevermind. And "Along the Watchtower," when Tim Reynolds breaks out into his guitar solo, it's so damn crisp. I love being able to hear the picks hitting the strings. As for the imaging, forget it, these things are outstanding. When I would listen to music with my Paradigms, I would have to listen for a while, and almost convince myself that the voicing was coming from the center of the soundstage. The 340's out of the box were perfect.

    Now for movies - Again, I am extremely impressed. There are a lot of details that I didn't realize I was missing out on (again with the detail thing). Small things, like people off to the left or right speaking, although I don't know what they're saying, I can hear them; I couldn't before. Dialogue is much more pronounced, and clearer from the center. I'm not sure what else to say as far as movies go. The Ascends handle all the material I've watched very well. Again, to me it's a detail thing. I like the fact that I am hearing things that I haven't before, it's great. I have watched mostly dialogue intense movies, as opposed to SciFi or special effects movies, because to me, my Paradigms were lacking in the center area, and I wanted to see how much better it would get with the 340's. With the Paradigms, I was constantly rewinding and turning up the volume. I don't have to do that anymore, which is great, because sometimes I'd forget to turn it down and something would explode or there'd be some intense action scene, and I would get blown out of my chair.

    All is going very well, I am enjoying my new speakers very much. I now say with the utmost confidence that purchasing the Ascends was the best upgrade I have made to my HT setup. Who knew speakers were so important...
    I hope you don't mind me bringing this thread back to life, assuming you still check in and don't spend all your time listening to your speakers.

    How much "punch" do you get from the 340's? By that I mean, mid bass effects in the movies that are just above subwoofer level. Imagine 4" drivers reproducing the sound at a similar db level and then moving to your 340's. Can you feel the difference? I have a another brand of speakers in this price range that sound fantastic, but are a little hard on my ears. Also, they don't have quite enough of this mid range punch I am after. I hope I have explained this well.

    Thanks.

    Greg

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    120

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    It's really too tough for me to say, because I cross over at 80Hz, and I have two 18" Avalanche subs in an IB array, which have a substantial punch. From what I hear though, the new SE versions should be quite good when run at a 60Hz crossover setting. I've tried 50Hz (since my receiver doesn't have 60) and my 340's (not SE) definitely struggle a bit at about that range. However, it's been said many times that they should be run with a sub. Not the SE's though...Dave says (and I'm paraphrasing) "run them all day at full range..." So, to be honest, I am considering upgrading, but I teeter back and forth because I'm limited by my crossover settings anyway, and although I am totally confident that the new SE's can handle the lower stuff, I don't think they'll be quite as good as my sub. Having said that, I suffer from severe upgraditis, and Ascend having a new speaker might be too much for me to pass up.

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Posts
    1

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    Great information

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