Surround Suggestions

[twssas]

New here, and planning to place an order soon, but still need some suggestions on my speaker selections.

Here is the set up: Bonus room above garage, 16' x 15' with 8' ceilings. Sitting along the 16' wall, with about 18" from back of seating to wall.

Home theatre, 90%, remainder, music.

Receiver: Denon S920W

Plan on purchasing:
CMT-340 SE, LR
CMT-340 SE, Center
LV12R Subwoofer

My concern is with the surrounds, and with my room do I/should I use 5.1 or 7.1? With my old (very old), home theatre in a box, I used a 6.1 setup.
Here is what I am considering:

Surrounds:
HTM-200 SE, Surround LR , and Back LR

Or

HTM-200 SE Surround LR only


or

CMB-170 SE, Surround LR, and HTM-200 SE Back L,R

or

CMB-170 SE ,Surround LR only

If I use the 170's they will be on stands with plenty of distance between the back and the wall.

If I use HTM-200, would prefer to use stands (WAF:))

Would appreciate any feedback.

[natetg57]

I would suggest the HTM-200se. It can be placed flush against the wall and it's not as big. The sides should be placed at least a foot above the heads of those sitting down. This will assist with getting sound to everyone across the back. This seems a lot easier with wall mounting. Plus the speaker wires can be taped over and painted. For me, that increases the WAF. If you use rear surrounds they would need to be placed relatively high and angled down since you're so close to the rear wall.

[sludgeogre]

I just got my HTM-200 SE pair in today to replace my terrible old Klipsch bookshelf speakers for surround duty with my Sierra Towers and Horizon Center with RAAL tweeters. I'm going to get the Sats eventually.

Holy crap the HTM-200 SE sounds incredible! Especially compared to the Klipsch R-15M speakers, amazing difference. The Klipsch speakers sound insanely harsh by comparison, and their soundstage is really small. They were terrible as surrounds because it sounded like they were funneling right into your ears, but the HTM-200 SE has a really nice wide dispersion that sounds sweet and huge. They call far less attention to themselves and blend in with everything else.

Since they have a higher WAF and are easier to place since they are sealed, I think you should go with 4 of them for full surround duty. I think you'll really love them with your front stage. Highly recommended.

[Jaybeez]

To your original question (I think) of 5.1 vs. 7.1, I've read that 7.1 is helpful if you have multiple rows of viewers / listeners, but maybe not so much without that set up.

[twssas]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I have moved the furniture slightly around (with approval, of course), and have a bit more room behind my seating area, so I am planning the 7.1 route.

I have scoured these threads on the Ascend site, and have found a mix of folks that use the 170's as the side surround, and the HTM 200's as the rears. Sounds to me like either way is a winner, but perhaps using 4 HTM-200's for all the surround duty might make a lot sense.

[twssas]

Well, after much looking at the comments, and suggestions, and looking at all the posts on the Ascend site, have now ordered:
CMT-340 SE LR
CMT-340 Center
LV12R Subwoofer
HTM-200SE for LR Side Surround, and for LR Back Surround.

I went with the 200's , as opposed to the 170's (which I think would be great), because even though I will be using stands, the stands will positioned against the side and back walls, and would have marginal distance for the ports, plus smaller footprint in a relatively small room.

My first set of decent speakers!

Looking forward to seeing them arrive!

[sludgeogre]

Well, after much looking at the comments, and suggestions, and looking at all the posts on the Ascend site, have now ordered:
CMT-340 SE LR
CMT-340 Center
LV12R Subwoofer
HTM-200SE for LR Side Surround, and for LR Back Surround.

I went with the 200's , as opposed to the 170's (which I think would be great), because even though I will be using stands, the stands will positioned against the side and back walls, and would have marginal distance for the ports, plus smaller footprint in a relatively small room.

My first set of decent speakers!

Looking forward to seeing them arrive!

Fantastic! I really think you made the right decision for the reasons you listed. Please post your thoughts once you fire up your new speakers!

[Johnny_Mac_III]

Well, after much looking at the comments, and suggestions, and looking at all the posts on the Ascend site, have now ordered:
CMT-340 SE LR
CMT-340 Center
LV12R Subwoofer
HTM-200SE for LR Side Surround, and for LR Back Surround.

I went with the 200's , as opposed to the 170's (which I think would be great), because even though I will be using stands, the stands will positioned against the side and back walls, and would have marginal distance for the ports, plus smaller footprint in a relatively small room.

My first set of decent speakers!

Looking forward to seeing them arrive!

You won't be disappointed! I have and love this setup. The HTM-200s were a smart choice for surrounds. I was watching the peanuts movie the other night. There is a part where the Red Barron flys overhead and I tracked the plane from left to right over my head. It was insane as if I had speakers on my ceiling. If it wasn't for my kids watching the movie, I would have paused and replayed that part a few times. The only limitation now will be how well the studio mixes the soundtrack! Have fun!

[twssas]

You won't be disappointed! I have and love this setup. The HTM-200s were a smart choice for surrounds. I was watching the peanuts movie the other night. There is a part where the Red Barron flys overhead and I tracked the plane from left to right over my head. It was insane as if I had speakers on my ceiling. If it wasn't for my kids watching the movie, I would have paused and replayed that part a few times. The only limitation now will be how well the studio mixes the soundtrack! Have fun!

Thanks for the feedback. I am thrilled to be getting these speakers. The hard part is the waiting.....:)

[sludgeogre]

You won't be disappointed! I have and love this setup. The HTM-200s were a smart choice for surrounds. I was watching the peanuts movie the other night. There is a part where the Red Barron flys overhead and I tracked the plane from left to right over my head. It was insane as if I had speakers on my ceiling. If it wasn't for my kids watching the movie, I would have paused and replayed that part a few times. The only limitation now will be how well the studio mixes the soundtrack! Have fun!

The wide dispersion of the HTM-200 SE is really incredible, isn't it? I don't even have rear surrounds and I'm already amazed at how much better the experience is with them versus my old surrounds (Klipsch R-15M). I watched Star Wars: The Force Awakens again last night and the battle scenes are so much more alive and real sounding. Instead of having sound funneled right into my ear from those horns, it's all around, above and below. Really thrilling performance for such a cheap speaker.

[Johnny_Mac_III]

The wide dispersion of the HTM-200 SE is really incredible, isn't it? I don't even have rear surrounds and I'm already amazed at how much better the experience is with them versus my old surrounds (Klipsch R-15M). I watched Star Wars: The Force Awakens again last night and the battle scenes are so much more alive and real sounding. Instead of having sound funneled right into my ear from those horns, it's all around, above and below. Really thrilling performance for such a cheap speaker.

I know. Dave is truly one of the good guys in this industry to offer such high performance at such affordable prices.

I remember first realizing the Jedi powers of the 200s when watching Master and Commander. There was a scene where they were below deck in battle and you could hear the people above deck running around. They truly sounded like they were running above me and I could track the steps from point a to point b. I don't know of a speaker that can be so diffuse when needed yet image so well at the same time.

The 200s are truly a reference front firing surround monitor. If the surround field doesn't sound realistic, it's the mix.

[sludgeogre]

I know. Dave is truly one of the good guys in this industry to offer such high performance at such affordable prices.

I remember first realizing the Jedi powers of the 200s when watching Master and Commander. There was a scene where they were below deck in battle and you could hear the people above deck running around. They truly sounded like they were running above me and I could track the steps from point a to point b. I don't know of a speaker that can be so diffuse when needed yet image so well at the same time.

The 200s are truly a reference front firing surround monitor. If the surround field doesn't sound realistic, it's the mix.

It is crazy that you bring this up, because that is the very scene I watched at Aperion's office that made me think that the Verus Grands had a bigger soundstage, well it was the awful Klipsch speakers that were collapsing my soundstage, because once I put the HTM-200 SE's in there, the soundstage got taller all of the sudden. I should have ordered them from the start instead of waiting for the Sats. Glad I pulled the trigger. They'll make great desktop speakers once I get the Sats.

[davef]

It is great that you are all enjoying the 200's. They really don't get much attention and this is by my own design as I feel I made a huge mistake with these speakers by pricing them so low that we make next to nothing on them. These should really be ~$400/pr, maybe even more..

[tknice]

It is great that you are all enjoying the 200's. They really don't get much attention and this is by my own design as I feel I made a huge mistake with these speakers by pricing them so low that we make next to nothing on them. These should really be ~$400/pr, maybe even more..

Hi Dave! I don't think I followed up with you, but I'm the guy who mounted 4 200's in his ceiling for Atmos/DTS:X. I posted pictures in another thread around here somewhere. ;)

So I just wanted to say it all worked out great and they sound fantastic! I couldn't be happier with them and now I need to decide if it really makes sense to match my Sierra 2's with the Sierra Sats as side surrounds, or just go with the HTM-200's since I'll probably replace my surround backs with HTM-200's as well.

Do you have any thoughts on this? I guess the questions is.. are the side surrounds important enough in the mix to notice a difference with the Sierra Sats surrounded (pun intended) by HTM-200's?

Tom

[sludgeogre]

It is great that you are all enjoying the 200's. They really don't get much attention and this is by my own design as I feel I made a huge mistake with these speakers by pricing them so low that we make next to nothing on them. These should really be ~$400/pr, maybe even more..

I think more pictures of them, especially with some kind of size comparison, would help as well. They are much bigger than they seem on the site, especially the tweeter. I wish I could give the Ascend site a makeover some days.

Also, I would happily pay $400 per pair for the HTM-200 SE's. I think they should be priced higher for sure. These blow away every other surround speaker I've heard. It sounds even wider than a Dipole speaker, it doesn't even make sense.

[davef]

Hi Dave! I don't think I followed up with you, but I'm the guy who mounted 4 200's in his ceiling for Atmos/DTS:X. I posted pictures in another thread around here somewhere. ;)

So I just wanted to say it all worked out great and they sound fantastic! I couldn't be happier with them and now I need to decide if it really makes sense to match my Sierra 2's with the Sierra Sats as side surrounds, or just go with the HTM-200's since I'll probably replace my surround backs with HTM-200's as well.

Do you have any thoughts on this? I guess the questions is.. are the side surrounds important enough in the mix to notice a difference with the Sierra Sats surrounded (pun intended) by HTM-200's?

Tom

Hi Tom,

I am happy that everything worked out so well. Your theater is truly incredible and I keep a link of your pictures on my desktop.

I would say the side surrounds are the most important, and the even wider dispersion of the Sat's would be worthwhile - but you can always try the 200's in that position and go from there...

[twssas]

Fantastic! I really think you made the right decision for the reasons you listed. Please post your thoughts once you fire up your new speakers!

Just received everything this afternoon. Spent the afternoon setting the system up, ran Audessy, and I can only say being impressed is an understatement. Everything sounds great, and my wife was even impressed (and that isnt easy to do!)

One movie I use to "test" things is the remake of the "Flight of the Phoenix". Those HTM 200's were amazing for the surrounds. I cant say enough about the entire system. The sub makes the house shake, and the cat run.

and btw, the money Ascend spends on packaging must be huge. Quite impressive to say the least. And my UPS guys wants to come by and listen to the system!

I'm a happy camper!

[sludgeogre]

Fantastic! Glad that everything has worked out for you. That feeling of being totally surrounded by crisp, clear sound is unreal, especially when you pay as little as you do with Ascend speakers. I've heard surround speakers costing many times more what the HTM 200's do and sound far, far worse. Enjoy never having to go to a movie theater ever again!

Agreed on the packaging as well. I have bought speakers costing more than the HTM 200's that were packaged like any other cheap electronics, but the HTM 200 packaging is intense, double boxed with those cardboad backed foam pads on each speaker. Really well done.