Why no love for the HTM-200s?

[smurraybhm]

I bought my first Ascend speakers (Sierra 1s) back in 2008 and have since kept the 1s, upgraded another pair of 1s to 2s and added an Horizon w/ RAAL for my center channel. Fall of 2014 I purchased a pair of HTM-200s to use as TMs for my Atmos setup which is a 7.2.4. A few months ago I decided to add another pair of Def Tech PM1000s which I had been using for FHs long before Atmos was around.

I went into this change thinking I was going to put my HTM-200s up for sale on AVS, figured they would sell quick (typical for any Ascend speaker). Well the more I thought about it the more I couldn't bring myself to part with them. So I wrapped them up and put them on a shelf.

A couple of weeks ago Emotiva started their annual Holiday sale and I noticed they were selling their x100 amp for only $149 - great deal by the way. Wheels started turning and the decision was made to buy the amp, hook it up to my computer at the office and use the HTM-200s for speakers. Amp was delivered last week, I took the speakers to work along with the required supplies, ended up not having time to get it all hooked up. Today I came in to catch up on some things (taking the week off, sort of) and get my system setup. I got everything up and running about an hour ago, have Tidal streaming some quality tunes via the iMac and I just had to share how impressed I am with these speakers.

So glad I decided to keep these, give myself an opportunity to listen to them separately/critically and upgrade the office system with them. Using quality source material, the Emo driving them, they sound great - like speakers that cost a lot more. These speakers are an incredible value for less then $300. Anyone looking for some inexpensive surrounds or main speakers due to budget constraints these are perfect. Really impressed with their imaging/detail. Setting them up I remember how impressed I was with the build quality when I first got them, these are not your typical inexpensive speaker that weighs 5 or 6 pounds. Solid and with the added bonus of being able to position them vertically or horizontally.

So here I am at work, the only person in the office went to lunch and I am having a great time listening to the HTMs. Working late is going to be a lot more interesting/easy going forward. I don't want to leave, having too much fun giving these speakers a workout.

My apologies Dave, I shouldn't be so surprised about the performance of your entry level speakers given how great everything else I've bought from you sounds. Another perfect example of Ascend providing quality speakers that perform well beyond their cost. Happy New Year and good listening all. Steve

P.S. Can't wait for those mini 2s to be rolled out. They will be my next purchase.

[davef]

I bought my first Ascend speakers (Sierra 1s) back in 2008 and have since kept the 1s, upgraded another pair of 1s to 2s and added an Horizon w/ RAAL for my center channel. Fall of 2014 I purchased a pair of HTM-200s to use as TMs for my Atmos setup which is a 7.2.4. A few months ago I decided to add another pair of Def Tech PM1000s which I had been using for FHs long before Atmos was around.

I went into this change thinking I was going to put my HTM-200s up for sale on AVS, figured they would sell quick (typical for any Ascend speaker). Well the more I thought about it the more I couldn't bring myself to part with them. So I wrapped them up and put them on a shelf.

A couple of weeks ago Emotiva started their annual Holiday sale and I noticed they were selling their x100 amp for only $149 - great deal by the way. Wheels started turning and the decision was made to buy the amp, hook it up to my computer at the office and use the HTM-200s for speakers. Amp was delivered last week, I took the speakers to work along with the required supplies, ended up not having time to get it all hooked up. Today I came in to catch up on some things (taking the week off, sort of) and get my system setup. I got everything up and running about an hour ago, have Tidal streaming some quality tunes via the iMac and I just had to share how impressed I am with these speakers.

So glad I decided to keep these, give myself an opportunity to listen to them separately/critically and upgrade the office system with them. Using quality source material, the Emo driving them, they sound great - like speakers that cost a lot more. These speakers are an incredible value for less then $300. Anyone looking for some inexpensive surrounds or main speakers due to budget constraints these are perfect. Really impressed with their imaging/detail. Setting them up I remember how impressed I was with the build quality when I first got them, these are not your typical inexpensive speaker that weighs 5 or 6 pounds. Solid and with the added bonus of being able to position them vertically or horizontally.

So here I am at work, the only person in the office went to lunch and I am having a great time listening to the HTMs. Working late is going to be a lot more interesting/easy going forward. I don't want to leave, having too much fun giving these speakers a workout.

My apologies Dave, I shouldn't be so surprised about the performance of your entry level speakers given how great everything else I've bought from you sounds. Another perfect example of Ascend providing quality speakers that perform well beyond their cost. Happy New Year and good listening all. Steve

P.S. Can't wait for those mini 2s to be rolled out. They will be my next purchase.

Thanks so much for the great review! Our 200's are really quite unique and offer stunning performance for their size and price, but I blew it with them a long time ago. You see, at the time of their introduction there was nothing quite like them and I feel I initially priced the 200's far too low for their component quality and performance. I mean, dual 4.5" cast frame polygel woofers, a custom SEAS tweeter, dual layer advanced crossover with true air-core inductors -- these should have been priced in the $400-$500 range :(.

Our profit margin on these is so absurdly low that the smart business move is for us to focus a bit more on our products that actually make us a few dollars -- which is precisely why the perception is that they don't receive much love.

They are a true hidden gem :)

[DougMac]

I use HTM 200's for back surround, but I've been thinking about buying a pair to use as near field monitors in my home office.

When I was constructing my home theater, I used them to play music while I worked. They have an amazing sound. I also took them upstairs and compared them to the Boston Acoustics CR9's I use in our vaulted great room. When paired with the SVS PB-12 NSD sub, they easily outperformed the Boston Acoustics. They integrated with the sub much more smoothly.