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480K views 4K replies 631 participants last post by  cyberbri 
#1 ·
My 3, 340SE's are here (central California).


The only indication of an "SE" is an oval sticker on the back that says "Signature Edition". I'm home for lunch so no time to plug 'em in yet.


 
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#2,581 ·
I'm planning on upgrading my home theater setup since I now have a new pro111fd and bluray player. I now have a polk rms satellite speaker setup connected to a yamaha rxv550 (90w/channel). The HT is in a great room setup (kitchen dining room living room combo) where the overall dimensions are 28'x18'x10'h. The HT covers one half of the great room. I am thinking of going for 170's for L/R main, 340 for center and purchasing a Hsu subwoofer. The surrounds will be the polks. I guess I'm wondering if using the 170's will be enough for the room setup. I have to add that my wife isn't very happy if I crank up the sound too much when watching movies. I still crank it up when she's not home. In this economic time I'm trying to watch my spending so the 170's seem like a good deal. Of course I could stretch a little for 340s as the L/R mains but would I really need to upgrade to those speakers with my small ht layout. Any feedback would be appreciated.
 
#2,582 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by cklim55 /forum/post/16109817


I'm planning on upgrading my home theater setup since I now have a new pro111fd and bluray player. I now have a polk rms satellite speaker setup connected to a yamaha rxv550 (90w/channel). The HT is in a great room setup (kitchen dining room living room combo) where the overall dimensions are 28'x18'x10'h. The HT covers one half of the great room. I am thinking of going for 170's for L/R main, 340 for center and purchasing a Hsu subwoofer. The surrounds will be the polks. I guess I'm wondering if using the 170's will be enough for the room setup. I have to add that my wife isn't very happy if I crank up the sound too much when watching movies. I still crank it up when she's not home. In this economic time I'm trying to watch my spending so the 170's seem like a good deal. Of course I could stretch a little for 340s as the L/R mains but would I really need to upgrade to those speakers with my small ht layout. Any feedback would be appreciated.

You should be fine with 170's as mains....of course moving to 340's wouldn't hurt, especially when your wife is not home.
The b-stock sale is a killer deal on either.
 
#2,583 ·
Thanks for the feedback. I'm leaning towards the 170's and 340 center but this forum added another option that I'm checking out-the Aperion line of speakers. They are a little pricier and if they weren't offering no sales tax and free shipping I wouldn't consider them. Just looking at the specs for comparison , 170's, 340 vs 5B, 5C, the Ascends seem to outperform the Aperions. Of course the cherry wood option is quite nice. I'm more into home theater performance and I've got to do more research. It's not easy to decide on these choices.
 
#2,584 ·
well I've made up my mind. I'm going with the 170's and the 340 center. Also I'll go with the B stock and the money I save I'll buy some of the speaker stands. Also Ascend Acoustics is a California business and being a California resident I've got to do my part to help the local economy.
 
#2,585 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by cklim55 /forum/post/16114921


Thanks for the feedback. I'm leaning towards the 170's and 340 center but this forum added another option that I'm checking out-the Aperion line of speakers. They are a little pricier and if they weren't offering no sales tax and free shipping I wouldn't consider them. Just looking at the specs for comparison , 170's, 340 vs 5B, 5C, the Ascends seem to outperform the Aperions. Of course the cherry wood option is quite nice. I'm more into home theater performance and I've got to do more research. It's not easy to decide on these choices.

My decision came down to Ascends vs Aperions too. Ultimately it just seemed that the Ascends offered more for the money. This was back in Nov, just when Aperion raised their prices and Ascend didn't have the great B-stock sale.


I ended up going with Ascends and haven't looked back. My speakers are all hidden, so what they look like doesn't matter. All that matters is they sound fantastic.
 
#2,587 ·
Unfortunately, they are located in SoCal and I live in NorCal-too far to drive. I can't wait to get them and hook them up. I finally got my HT set up with the new HD Dts sound and it will sound even better with these speakers. I may have to wait awhile for a new subwoofer since Hsu recommended the VTF-3 for my room size which is alittle out of my budget now. So I'll use the powered Polk sub that I have. I moved the sub into a corner of the room and it sounds alittle better. Hey does anyone have the SP-30 speaker stands? I ordered those also and I read that some people fill it with sand for more stability. Do you fill the entire column with sand or just half? I'm pretty jazzed about this purchase. I haven't had new speakers in 14 years.
 
#2,588 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by cklim55 /forum/post/16119681


Unfortunately, they are located in SoCal and I live in NorCal-too far to drive. I can't wait to get them and hook them up. I finally got my HT set up with the new HD Dts sound and it will sound even better with these speakers. I may have to wait awhile for a new subwoofer since Hsu recommended the VTF-3 for my room size which is alittle out of my budget now. So I'll use the powered Polk sub that I have. I moved the sub into a corner of the room and it sounds alittle better. Hey does anyone have the SP-30 speaker stands? I ordered those also and I read that some people fill it with sand for more stability. Do you fill the entire column with sand or just half? I'm pretty jazzed about this purchase. I haven't had new speakers in 14 years.

I think you are really going to like them. Mine just seem to keep sounding better by the day.



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Just to update on the B-stock issue while I'm at it, Dave and Dina at Ascend couldn't have been nicer or easier to deal with. Dave sent out a new (b-stock) replacement speaker along with a shipping label to return the flawed one. UPS estimates it will be here next monday, and Dave said he inspected it himself so I have no worries that it will be fine. Great company - great speakers.


I can't recommend Ascend highly enough, and I encourage anyone who might be on the fence about auditioning some Ascends to just dive in and go for it. You really don't have much (if anything) to lose, and I seriously doubt you would be disappointed. My only regret about these speakers is that I didn't get them a lot sooner when I was researching them a couple years ago. But now that I've finally gotten and listened to them, I think I'm going to be hanging on to them for a loooong time to come. They are really just that good.
 
#2,589 ·
Speaking of...


I have recommended Ascends to quite a few friends. A coworker picked up Sierras last year (for music with his Macintosh stereo amp, to replace his Paradigm towers), and got a friend of his to pick up Sierras as well. And last week I turned another coworker onto them, and he bought 2 sets of 170SE b-stocks.


I myself have 3x 340SEs and 2x 170SEs.
 
#2,590 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by cyberbri /forum/post/16120941


Speaking of...


I have recommended Ascends to quite a few friends. A coworker picked up Sierras last year (for music with his Macintosh stereo amp, to replace his Paradigm towers), and got a friend of his to pick up Sierras as well. And last week I turned another coworker onto them, and he bought 2 sets of 170SE b-stocks.


I myself have 3x 340SEs and 2x 170SEs.

i have 3, 340se's, and 4, 200's the best purchase i ever made. i am now hiding all the wires, and i needed a break. due to room, i couldnt have the surrounds at ear level. i need to angle them down. any suggestions for speaker mounts for the 200's. all i can find are the peerless spk811 for $22 ea. anything better?
 
#2,592 ·
I purchased a pair of 170's and a 340 center speaker and they should be here. I also have 6 pair of banana plugs for connections. My first question is 14g wire good enough since these speakers will be within 5 feet of my receiver? My second question is I noticed that the 340 has 2 input connections-woofer and tweeter. Which do I connect? My receiver only has one set of center output posts. Does it matter if I connect into the woofer input versus the tweeter? I've never had a speaker that had two inputs.
 
#2,597 ·
Hi everyone - Is there a difference between the 340SE mains and the 340c center speaker? I thought I read that the tweeter in the center was rotated or something to have a different orientation? I asked Dave, but I haven't heard back from a PM I sent him even from saturday about the return. I guess he's not online much during the weekend.
 
#2,598 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by starcycle /forum/post/16155175


Hi everyone - Is there a difference between the 340SE mains and the 340c center speaker? I thought I read that the tweeter in the center was rotated or something to have a different orientation? I asked Dave, but I haven't heard back from a PM I sent him even from saturday about the return. I guess he's not online much during the weekend.

In the older "classics" the tweeter was rotated, but not in the SE models.


The difference is the EXBAC circuitry in the center channel version.
http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages...t340ctech.html
 
#2,602 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by starcycle /forum/post/16155354


Okay - thanks. The replacement main speaker Dave sent me is a "340c" so I guess that's not going to work.

Jeff -- the speaker we sent you is a 340 SE main, as determined by the serial number of the speaker and verified by the response curve of the speaker. We don't have single pack 340 SE boxes as these are shipped in pairs so when we ship a single unit, we use 340 SE center boxes.


Sorry for any confusion.
 
#2,603 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ascend /forum/post/16161102


Jeff -- the speaker we sent you is a 340 SE main, as determined by the serial number of the speaker and verified by the response curve of the speaker. We don't have single pack 340 SE boxes as these are shipped in pairs so when we ship a single unit, we use 340 SE center boxes.


Sorry for any confusion.

I see. The serial number does match the code for main speakers, so I guess it's just a wrong sticker. I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, so I'll just take your word for it. A little disconcerting at first though, thanks for clearing it up.
 
#2,604 ·
Hi All,


I'm considering the CMT-342s vs. some PSB Image speakers. I was wondering if anyone with the 342s would like to demo their speakers for me?
I know it's a lot to ask, but I'm just not the buy before you try type. I live in HB and work in LB, so if you happen to own them and want to show them off I'd be grateful.
 
#2,605 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by starcycle /forum/post/16162651


I see. The serial number does match the code for main speakers, so I guess it's just a wrong sticker. I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, so I'll just take your word for it. A little disconcerting at first though, thanks for clearing it up.

Again, sorry 'bout the confusion. I will have the label mailed to you.


Enjoy the speakers!
 
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