CBM-170se how does it compare today?

[Darek]

I'm in the process of auditioning speakers. Ideally I'd like to be in the $600 & under range and am now listening to the following:

KEF Q150
Klipsch RP-600M
Wharfedale Denton 85th Anniversary

I know that the Denton 85 is $900, but wanted to see if that price bump brings a noticable benefit. It does. Its one level above the Klipsch & KEF, but not triple and double the improvement. I'd say the lower priced speakers are within 80-85% of the Denton. They both do things well; the KEF Q150 has great imaging that reminds me of headphones, but it seems to have bloated lower mids/upper bass which is a little annoying. The RP-600M has better bass, not boomy, it sounds pretty tight, but doesn't have the KEF's imaging and I'll say has less detail too. I'm using a mid 90's, made in Japan 90watt Denon stereo receiver and a Topping TP-22 class D t-amp. The t-amp is the clear winner here. I found the Denon at a thrift store for $60 and its not bad overall and it has FM. My brother-in-law concurs that the Topping is the better amp too. After Christmas he's going to bring over his Sonic Frontiers Anthem 1 tube amp and I ordered a vintage Pioneer sx-434 stereo receiver, so the fun will continue. We were also listening to his Vandersteen 1Ci's that are currently in my basement till he sets up his listening area for them. The Vandersteen's are a well balanced speaker that sounds right and seems to do everything well. Its better than the Klipsch and KEF, with the Denton 85 being a tie to our ears; the Dentons sound much bigger than they are.

Trying to keep to a budget I remembered the CBM-170se being a well regarded speaker that is well balanced and got pretty rave reviews back in the 2000's. I just ordered a pair to audition. What is your opinion on how the CBM compares to today's offerings? Am I wasting my time or is it still a contender?

[natetg57]

The Sierra-1 at $678 would be worth the money spent in my opinion. Plus it would be upgradeable in the future to a Sierra-2EX.

[MusicHead]

If you plan to use long term the kind of low power amplification you have mentioned and have the space, I'd look at the CMT-340SE Mains. They are voiced similarly to the CBM-170, with a bit more mids presence, deeper extension, higher sensitivity and greater dynamic. Plus, a pair will stay within your budget.

I have them paired with a Rythmik L12 sealed sub. It is a match made in Heaven for music and more than adequate for movies. They are fed by and Emotiva Fusion 8100 (110W x2 or 65W x7). I have a 5.1 configuration, so that probably makes around 80W x5.

For what is worth, I believe both the CBM-170SE and the CMT-340SE still hold their own against more recent speakers in the same price range.

[davef]

Trying to keep to a budget I remembered the CBM-170se being a well regarded speaker that is well balanced and got pretty rave reviews back in the 2000's. I just ordered a pair to audition. What is your opinion on how the CBM compares to today's offerings? Am I wasting my time or is it still a contender?

Hi Darek,

The 170 SE version is now 14 years old. 2020 was actually a record year for 170 sales, so yep - it is certainly still a contender and likely always will be at its price point.

[Darek]

The Sierra-1 at $678 would be worth the money spent in my opinion. Plus it would be upgradeable in the future to a Sierra-2EX.

After careful review, I ended up cancelling the CBM-170se order. I had doubts it would be an improvement over the speakers that I was auditioning. The Sierra line is on my list.


If you plan to use long term the kind of low power amplification you have mentioned and have the space, I'd look at the CMT-340SE Mains. They are voiced similarly to the CBM-170, with a bit more mids presence, deeper extension, higher sensitivity and greater dynamic. Plus, a pair will stay within your budget.

I have them paired with a Rythmik L12 sealed sub. It is a match made in Heaven for music and more than adequate for movies. They are fed by and Emotiva Fusion 8100 (110W x2 or 65W x7). I have a 5.1 configuration, so that probably makes around 80W x5.

For what is worth, I believe both the CBM-170SE and the CMT-340SE still hold their own against more recent speakers in the same price range.

Thanks for the response, I considered the 340se, but ended up deciding (and I could be wrong) that they would have the overall sound characteristics of the 170se, just bigger sounding.


Hi Darek,

The 170 SE version is now 14 years old. 2020 was actually a record year for 170 sales, so yep - it is certainly still a contender and likely always will be at its price point.

Thanks DaveF, I appreciate your responding.

I've been listening to the vintage Pioneer SX-434 (15watt) receiver and it sounds great. We compared it to the Anthem tube amp and its very, very close. The unit I received was serviced with new caps & transistors and it sounds really nice and this is the amp I plan on using for quite some time.

I ended up returning the Klipsch RP-600M. This speaker is exciting to listen to, but its "everything sounds live like it was recorded in an auditorium/concert hall" sound, gets tiring pretty quickly (IMO). The same song sounds like two different recordings when listened on the RP-600M, compared to another speaker.

The KEF Q150's sound great, but still have bass bloat. Great imaging, but comparing soundstage to the NHT SuperOne 2.1, the KEF's have less separation of instruments and singers. Also these need the port plugs to tighten up the bass and ideally they would need a sub to be full range. Mind you, I'm not a looking for big bass, just full, tight, accurate bass and the bass boost on these is distracting.

Keeping in mind my vintage 1974 Pioneer SX-434, what would be a good match from Ascend for a good amp/speaker combination?

[davef]

15 watts is a bit low for speakers with a sensitivity rating of 85-86dB. How far back are you sitting from the speakers?

[Darek]

15 watts is a bit low for speakers with a sensitivity rating of 85-86dB. How far back are you sitting from the speakers?

I have the stands about 2 feet out from the wall and my sitting position is probably within 8 feet of the speakers. I don't listen that loud and haven't had to raise the volume knob more than half way with the NHT's which are 86db and that provides plenty of volume & sounds clean.

[Hksvr4]

Thanks for the response, I considered the 340se, but ended up deciding (and I could be wrong) that they would have the overall sound characteristics of the 170se, just bigger sounding.
I've had the 170's as mains for 10years and recently went with the 340 mains. The 340's is so much more than bigger sounding. Movies and music have a bigger sound stage, it's so much better in everyway.

[davef]

I have the stands about 2 feet out from the wall and my sitting position is probably within 8 feet of the speakers. I don't listen that loud and haven't had to raise the volume knob more than half way with the NHT's which are 86db and that provides plenty of volume & sounds clean.

If the NHT's are providing plenty of output for you, so will any of our bookshelf speakers. Ideally, the Sierra-2EX would be the best choice as they are the best bookshelf sized speakers we offer and are truly something special. If they aren't within your budget, our Sierra-1 at their current sale price (which will be ending very soon) offer incredible performance per dollar. So, my recommendation would be either Sierra-2EX or Sierra-1.

Hope this helps!

[N Boros]

I'm in the process of auditioning speakers. Ideally I'd like to be in the $600 & under range and am now listening to the following:

KEF Q150
Klipsch RP-600M
Wharfedale Denton 85th Anniversary

I know that the Denton 85 is $900, but wanted to see if that price bump brings a noticable benefit. It does. Its one level above the Klipsch & KEF, but not triple and double the improvement. I'd say the lower priced speakers are within 80-85% of the Denton. They both do things well; the KEF Q150 has great imaging that reminds me of headphones, but it seems to have bloated lower mids/upper bass which is a little annoying. The RP-600M has better bass, not boomy, it sounds pretty tight, but doesn't have the KEF's imaging and I'll say has less detail too. I'm using a mid 90's, made in Japan 90watt Denon stereo receiver and a Topping TP-22 class D t-amp. The t-amp is the clear winner here. I found the Denon at a thrift store for $60 and its not bad overall and it has FM. My brother-in-law concurs that the Topping is the better amp too. After Christmas he's going to bring over his Sonic Frontiers Anthem 1 tube amp and I ordered a vintage Pioneer sx-434 stereo receiver, so the fun will continue. We were also listening to his Vandersteen 1Ci's that are currently in my basement till he sets up his listening area for them. The Vandersteen's are a well balanced speaker that sounds right and seems to do everything well. Its better than the Klipsch and KEF, with the Denton 85 being a tie to our ears; the Dentons sound much bigger than they are.

Trying to keep to a budget I remembered the CBM-170se being a well regarded speaker that is well balanced and got pretty rave reviews back in the 2000's. I just ordered a pair to audition. What is your opinion on how the CBM compares to today's offerings? Am I wasting my time or is it still a contender?

I A/Bed the KEF Q350s and the Ascend HTM 200s a few weeks ago. The plan was to have 3 Q350s up front and to wall mount the Q150s. The Q350s showed up first, so I hooked them up. Had them setup on stands in the golden triangle with a slight toe in. They sounded pretty neutral and had pretty good bass extension. When the Q150s showed up, I started to wall mount them and my wife said no way were we going to have those huge speakers mounted on the wall.

So I boxed them up and returned them to Best Buy. Temporarily I put a pair of HTM 200s on the stands as fronts, which I was going to use as surround speakers in a different room (my Theater room where I have Sierra 2s for my mains). Anyways the HTM 200s had more detail and depth of soundstage then the KEF 350s. I could tell this just with casual listening is video games and TV on the Q350s and then switching to the HTM 200s. In fact I figured this out within about 20 minutes of switching the speakers. The only way the KEFs were better than the HTM 200s was in bass extension. But with a subwoofer this really doesn’t matter.

Now I have CMT 340s as mains and center and HTM 200s for surrounds. In the $600 price range the Sierra 1 should be an even bigger step up. Yes, whatever your price range, you should definitely compare the Ascend speakers at that price and it will compete very well with other speakers.

[Darek]

Thanks for all your replies, they are helpful. I'm currently listening to a pair of PSB Alpha P5's which are quite good. I A/B'd them against a pair of Wharfedale Denton 80th anniversary editions and I like the PSB better. The Denton 80 has a beautiful midrange and great bass, but the highs are very rolled off to me.
I like the P5 better and sold the Denton 80. So far, short of the Denton 85, the P5 is the best of the bunch. They have a balanced sound, the bass is tight and fairly deep without any boominess. They have great clarity, good imaging and a very good soundstage. The tweeter on the Vandersteen still brings out more detail and upper information, but unless you're A/B'ing you wouldn't really notice.

I re-ordered a pair of CBM-170se to try out. BTW, its kind of cool getting an email letting you know that your speakers are being assembled and tested before shipping.

[Darek]

My pair of CBM-170se's arrived. They are better looking than I expected and feel like a quality product. I happen to like their dimensions. I'm letting them play downstairs before I sit down and really listen to them.

[JonCr]

I’m interested to hear your impressions. Are these for music, HT, or both?

[Darek]

I’m interested to hear your impressions. Are these for music, HT, or both?

They are just for music.

I've had a chance to listen to them and my initial impression is that the CBM-170se is a very good speaker. They are very clear, really detailed and they handle complex parts of music without getting congested sounding; everything still sounds separate and clear. Also, they are dynamic, when there's a louder pluck of a guitar it sounds real and palpable, not just louder. There's a good soundstage that's 3 dimensional with good separation of singers and instruments. Not sure if the CBM-170's will still loosen up and I don't have a lot of hours on them yet, but the PSB Alpha P5's go lower. I really like the P5, and at first listen they seemed pretty comparable, but after A/B'ing the two, the CBM is the better speaker. The P5 actually sounds a bit muffled by comparison when switching back and forth which was surprising, because they really do sound good. The CBM-170se are a step up over the other speakers that I tried out with the exception of the Denton 85 and while I no longer have the 85, I think the CBM's would be competitive (other than bass).

At this point I haven't tried them with a sub yet. I'm sure they will sound fantastic with a bit of bottom end weight.