Got them today, installed them today!!!

[JHZR2]

I got my speakers today!!! I ordered two CMT-340SE's and a Hsu STF-1 sub. UPS delivered them this evening.

In anticipation, I set everything else up last night. As Im remodeling my house from how the PO had it, things are in a shambles, and I still need to buy furniture, but I set it up in a corner where I have my TV right now.

I set up my electronics - a Yamaha RX-797 (their top os the line two-channel rec.), a Yamaha 5 cd changer, and a yamaha single DVD player. I got the wood technology MU-24 stands. I used dayton wiring for the speakers (banana plugs) and everywhere else, but used a top of the line blue jeans cable RCA from the CD player to the receiver, as I figured this was the most important.

I connected everything up, plugged the cd player and dvd player into the receiver (is this taboo?) and then fired the receiver up. I switched it to the tuner, and then hit scan upwards once. The first thing it got was a slightly staticy jazz station at the low end of the fm scale. But, I was immediately taken back - the sound, even on this low quality source, in a far from optimized orientation of the speakers was nothing less than excelent. Despite the static, it was amazingly lifelike to me.

So, given that, I tuned to the oldies station... clearer and amazing all the same. I had originally thought Id just turn on the system to make some low-quality unoptimized sound while I was setting up my Hsu subwoofer...

But I was so impressed, I did what I had been planning to when the system was all done... pulled out my "a decade of steely dan" CD, and popped it in.

I stopped, and wont likely even install the sub tonight. Heck, other than for movies (yes I wanted mere 2.1 sound for movies), Im not so sure the sub is even necessary... I shall see when I listen to tower of power, and some other soul/funk music, whether I feel otherwise at that point...

I listened to a LOT of speakers, and I spent a LOT of time on the net and in stores trying to find the sound I knew I wanted. My budget wasnt huge, but it wasnt small either. I always thought of these speakers as something to try after I put together my first system... But after listening to an exhausting number of speakers, I decided to call Ascend and try them for my first set, knowing there are so many good comments on them. I just realized that I wasted a HUGE amount of time in stores listening to speakers 2-3x more expensive, and with sound not close to that of the Ascends, and not close to what I wanted to hear from a pair of speakers.

I am more than happy... just wait until I re-do my living room and actually optimize the locations and spacing of stuff!!!

JMH

[JHZR2]

Well, I couldn't resist, I installed the sub.

Definitely not optimized again, I have the sub sitting on the floor (on an area rug), maybe 4 ft from the left speaker, and maybe 6 ft from where Im sitting.

I turned it on and played 'FM' by Steely dan, just to get the sub set to where I thought it would sound good. This was a crossover setting of 40 Hz, and a midway volume point.

I then put in he compilation CD by Tower of Power, "What is Hip?" I played the first track, and realized that for funky soul music like ToP plays, even the great sounding ascend speakers could use a bit of augmentation (could be the way that the sound is mastered too, though.

Anyway, given the relatively complex bass line, much of it in the higher octaves (I suppose, and hope Im using the right phrase), I found that I needed to turn the crossover higher... full to 90 Hz was a bit too high, so I settled on 70, though Ive read on here that the SE speakers can get away with 60 Hz crossover. I left the sub volume at halfway.

Ill say that the bass is a bit overemphasized here... I think its merely a function of bass volume, I think Ill leave the crossover as-is for now.

ToP is another group that I really wanted to sound good, and despite the still totally unoptimized setup that I have, I feel like the sound is better than when I see them live at B.B. King's in NYC... even with lousy spacing and poor orientation in my room, these speakers image such that I can hear each instrument in the right locations where I know they stand on stage... Awesome!!!

man oh man, cant wait to get this system really set up!!!

JMH

[davef]

Hi JHZR2,

Thanks for sharing your initial impressions and I am very pleased to hear that you are enjoying the 340 SEs!

I noticed you are using the Yamaha RX-797 receiver which is a 2-channel receiver with a subwoofer output -- does the receiver offer bass management features? In other words, can you specify a crossover setting on the receiver itself?

This is an important feature used for correct integration between speakers and subwoofer.

[JHZR2]

dave,

thanks for your reply to this thread, and interest in my setup. I have not found a bass management option on the receiver itself, as of yet. That said, I have only skimmed the manual for the receiver as of yet, so I might have missed something.

I can definitely tell that changing the crossover value on the sub itself changes the bass characteristics, and the system sounds GREAT with only that value being changed. I suppose the difference is whether or not the speakers are run full range compared to the sub, right? How much of a difference is there between setting the bass management in the receiver itself, and doing so simply by using the sub crossover?

Ill have to look into this more, and would appreciate your insight... As I said, im super happy as is, but tweaking to make it even better would be fun and surely rewarding in the end.

Thanks!

JMH

[GirgleMirt]

very quickly, how did you hookup the sub?

If you connected the sub with the speaker outputs of the amp, then speakers to the sub, then when you change the crossover of the sub, it 'crossovers' down the frequencies to the speakers.

If you used sub out or line out or whatnot from the receiver and didn't crossover the mains, then your mains will play normally. If you set the sub to say 80hz, then there will be an overlap since both speakers and sub would be playing 40-80 hz. As soundwaves add themselves, the 40-80 hz sounds will be louder than everything else.

So thats why you want to set the receiver crossover pt for mains to 80hz, and set the sub to 80hz (well some said they prefer 60hz... whatever). So that the mains stop producing sounds below 80hz, and the sub produces everything under 80hz. IF there's an overlap, it'll mess up the frequency response of the system and you'll get a lot more bass.

Also, the sound from 340SE will improve if it doesn't have to reproduce the lower frequencies, and the sub will reproduce the lower frequencies better than the 340SE. If both are playing the same frequencies, not good.

Advantage also of using sub out and cross over from the receiver, the speakers aren't fed that sub 80hz signal, so that saves power from the amp, as reproducing the low end takes a lot of power. So less work for the speakers and the receiver.

[curtis]

Most two channel receivers that have a sub out, sent a full range mono signal to that output.

If you are sending a full range to your mains, you can do some in room measurement to find the natural rolloff point and then set the crossover on the sub accordingly.

But as girgle mentioned, it is best to use the speaker level outputs to the sub, then from the sub to the speakers, and then utilize the crossover on the sub to send the proper ranges to the sub and speakers.