I Got My Speakers!!!! Now I Need Some Expert Advice!!!

Well, I finally got my speakers in. Yeah yeah, it only took about 7 business days, but MAN WAS THAT A TOUGH WAIT! This is the system I bought:

CBM-170s Front/Left
CMT-340 Center
HTM-200s Back surround and Center
HTF-2 Sub
-Total: $1298

I'm brand new to the HT scene but I LOVE MY ASCENDS! Now to start tweaking them a little. The CMT-340 main came with 4 sets of banana plug recievers on the back. They are currently jumpered. One set is for the low frequency end and the other is for the high freq. end. The only problems is....how do I set this up? Do I need to build a Y in my speaker wire? There's only one place on the back of my receiver for my center main speakers. Any ideas?

Next, my den is set up in a way that has my couch directly in front of my entertainment center. I need to buy some stands to put them on, but which stands? The accessories page gives the name of the stands, but doesn't state which speakers they go with. I want a set that's going to lift them two feet or so, right?

Finally, I need some suggestions on how to hide the speaker cables running to and from the speakers. I live in a split foyer that's laid on a foundation. There's no crawlspace to play with. How do I hide those very bright copper speaker wires?

Thanks so much for all of the support, and Thanks again Davidf for the great products!

Battlefrog

Congrats on the new system, I can only answer your first question as I use the same stands for my fronts and surrounds (at ear level) and run my cables in the basement. As long as the jumper is in place on the 340c, it makes no difference what pair of posts you use. Good luck with the setup, let us know what you think when everything is dialed in. I don't think for the money you spent, you could have done any better.

Didn't your set come with install instructions from Ascend?

The double sets of posts on the 340c is for bi-wiring. So, as the above mentioned, connect to either set of posts (the bar connects them together so they act as one).

As for running wire, that's not an easy task. Do you have an attic to run wire? Carpet to run wire underneath? Some have success by installing base (near floor) or crown (near ceiling) moulding to hide wires. Otherwise, Home Depot has some not so stealthy wire management systems (basically plastic runners). Since your couch is in the middle, you might have to get floor-type wire management runners that can be stepped upon.

There's plenty of threads in this forum regarding alternatives to the mounts available from Ascend. You'll need a pretty tall stand to get the 200s 2-3' above ear level though. If not, call Ascend for vertical height recommendations that'll suffice (probably no lower than ear level).

You shoulda done all this during the 7 days you were waiting for the speakers my friend. Then, when they arrived you coulda just plugged them in.

1. There are two ways you can wire your center channel speaker:

a. Non-biwired: Keep the jumpers in place and hook up one pair of speaker cables to one set of posts.

b. Bi-wiring: Remove the jumpers and hook up *two* pairs of speaker cables. One pair will go into the high frequency posts & the other pair will go into the low frequency posts. At your receiver, you'll join positives from both speaker cables together & plug it into your one positive post, and same thing with your negative cables.


2. The stands that Ascend sells on their site are for the 170s. You can either go with those or go with stands from racksandstands.com. I'm personally using some Sanus Steel Foundation SP-30 (30") speaker stands for my 170s.

The rule of thumb with front (L/R) speaker height is such that the tweeter should be at ear level when you're sitting in your listening position. Surrounds should be mounted approximately 2 ft above ear level. Center channel should be flush with the front of your television & angled slightly towards your listening position if it is greatly above or below your listening position.

3. Not a big home improvement guy so I'll leave the speaker wiring to more qualified/experienced people.

b. Bi-wiring: Remove the jumpers and hook up *two* pairs of speaker cables. One pair will go into the high frequency posts & the other pair will go into the low frequency posts. At your receiver, you'll join positives from both speaker cables together & plug it into your one positive post, and same thing with your negative cables.


Cliff, thanks for the info. I didn't understand that both sets of wires would terminate into 1 positive and 1 negative post. I'm a little dense sometimes. Thanks all the same!

Battlefrog

BGHD,
Thanks for the info. My situation didn't allow for me to be getting the room ready. My house wasn't finished yet and I was living in an apartment. I timed the shipping of the speakers to coinside with moving into the new house. As far as the speaker stands go, I think the "I didn't know, what I didn't know" rule applied here. The 170s are bigger than I imagined, even though I knew the dimensions. It's not a negative thing, just bigger than I imagined. I think they'll look nice on a set of stands. The suggestions that you have for routing the speaker wire are appreciated, but I had already thought of those. None of them are really a good option. I might have to go with one of them anyway though. I was hoping that someone would offer a suggestion that I would think "OH yeah! Why didn't I think of that?" If I can run the speakerwire under the carpet, I probably will. However, I cringe at the thought of cutting small holes in my carpet to bring the speaker wire out and into the speaker. I'm not convinced that there's another way. More than anything, I'm just excited to have them and to be talking about them! Thanks for replying to my post. :D

Battlefrog

congrats frogmeister, you'll enjoy your system. i have a very similar system, sans the 200 rear center and a PB10-isd instead of an STF-2, but that HSU sub will give your system a workout and tight, low, accurate bass. again, have fun and enjoy

I hope my comments didn't offend you. They were really meant as a friendly sock-in-the-arm only. Let us know how it all plays out.