Ascend SE Owner's Thread - Page 109

Hello all.

I have recently bought my first set of speakers, Ascend Sierra left/center/right. My receiver is a Yamaha RX-v867. Sub is BIC F12. The surround speakers will be mounted to the ceiling which is 9 feet. It's not the best of placement as the will be 12 feet apart and at least 8feet from our seating position,but that's the best I can do as there are ceiling mounts already and I won't put more holes in ceiling.

The only problem is waf. These speakers must be white as larger non white speakers that stick out and mess up the look of the place is a no no, she says. Hhhhmmmmm. Now I'm stuck.
The living room is an open floor plan that joins the kitchen. Prob 20x35 feet. Music and tv/ht is 50-50.

The speakers I have found so far are Audioengine p4, def tech pro moniter 800, Bose 161. All come in white, smaller size and might be more inconspicuous. decent? Which might match better with the Sierras. Will they be ok for space that size? Price wise I am willing to spend up to 300-400.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

You could check on getting a pair of HTM-200's in white:

http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/htm200/htm200finop.html

+1

Of the speakers you listed I'm guessing the AE P4 would be the better sonic match with anything ascend.

Count me as another Ascend Acoustics (soon to be) owner. I placed my order for a pair of CBM-170 SEs just after midnight. A Christmas present to myself. Can't wait.

^^^^^^^ Glad you came to a decision.......hope it's what you want and more........mine are still in transit, be here in 2-3 days........can't wait, either!!

Hi all - it's been killing me to look at my new speakers and not hear them, but renovations start next week so by early March I'll be golden!

However, within two weeks I need to be ready to do all the wiring (when the walls are open) so I need some guidance.

I have 340s for my fronts (including the 340 center) and 170s for surrounds (which will actually be placed behind the listening area, not to the sides. And while the 340s will be hung on the wall, the 170s will basically be hung down from the ceiling.

I'm ready to make a monoprice order to get what I need, but I realized I'm not sure what I need! :-)

I. 340's have four inputs on the back...that's for crossover? How would I take advantage of that, and do I need to. I've not purchased my receiver yet, but I thought most will just have one output for +/- on each, no? Help me understand how to set this up, please.

2. Need particular wire graded to be in wall, yes? How much does gauge matter and what is recommended. To be safe, taking 20 foot runs to the fronts (about 7 feet for the center) and at least 35 for the surrounds.

3. Banana plugs or not? Never used them before. Are they universally better? Recommendations?

4. Wall plates. Are there particularly good ones? I assume they are mostly for the esthetics, so wires don't just stick out of the wall.

I think that's it. I just want to make sure I've got all I need to do it right!

Thanks,
Frank

1.) This is for bi-wiring, I would not sweat it, but that is just me.

2.) I like 12 gauge, if you go in wall, you need plenum rated.

3.) Banana plugs will make your life much easier in the long run, spend a few bucks and get them.

4.) I get mine from Lowe's.

This is kind of a dumb newbie question about basic speaker technology.. how different is the sound from the 170se and the 340se? does adding the 2nd 6.5" driver make it louder?

The timbre of the 170SE and 340SE is similar. However, the 340SEs will have higher output and they dig deeper (40 Hz versus 58 Hz for the 170SE).

I called ascend. The 200s don't come in white anymore. Any other white speaker suggestions that will match sierras?

With the following setup - L/R CBM-170 SEs mounted on stands on either side of dresser, slightly in front - would it be better with a CBM-170 SE as a center channel mounted either vertically or horizontally on a speaker stand in front of my TV OR a CMT-340 SE center channel mounted horizontally on a speaker stand in front of my TV. The center would be a little lower than the L/R CBM-170 SE mains so as not to obstruct my view, and therefore the tweeters would not all be in line.

Room is 11'x11'x8'


Edited by p3Orion - 12/31/12 at 7:27am

I currently have Athenas f2s, asc1 and b1s for the rears. Did you have a similar setup and how much of an improvement did you hear switching over? Going on my second week of speaker research and currently looking at Ascends. I'm thinking of the 170s for the mains, 340 center and the 200s for the rears.

I had that exact system for over 8 years and loved it. Still have the 200s for rears, but recently upgraded the fronts to Sierra towers and Horizon center. I assume you'll be getting a sub also? If you plan on using this system for movies, you'll want to budget for a sub.

Sub isn't a problem, currently running dual subs with one being an SVS pb10 and their latest pb1000 and everything will be hooked up to an onkyo 805.

I don't get what your asking, are you mounting the 170's on the wall or putting them on stands? If your mounting them to the wall remember they are rear ported so need some space but in any case I don't think it would really matter whether you have them horizontal or vertical. As to the center channel I don' get how you are placing it, is it on top of the dresser or what?

Definetly need subs. How do you like the pb1000 I was looking at that one but alas I ended up getting two RW12-D's. Coming from a 8 inch htib sub and not hearing a system with anything better I happy as hell with my purchase.

Well i didn't play much with the pb1000 by itself as i quickly paired it with the pb10, but they r both nearly identical and together they are more than capable of pressurizing my room, couldn't be any happier.

If you can't mount either directly above the tv then I would put the center (CMT-340SE) on a stand in front of the dresser (horizontal). It would be perfectly fine for the center to be a little lower.

The NHT Absolute Zero and Absolute Wall Speaker come in white, and both are sealed so they can be mounted/hung on the wall (the wall speakers is only 4" deep). They are more expensive than the AE P4 but sound much better, most notably they have smoother/stronger mids than the P4 (I've heard both the NHT's and the P4.) NHT has a holiday sale for one more day that adds a 15% discount at checkout, and free shipping. (Plus the standard free 30 day trial.)

http://www.nhthifi.com/Absolute-Zero-White?sc=12&category=3772

http://www.nhthifi.com/Home-Theater-Absolute-On-Wall-Speaker-White?sc=12&category=3775

So sound-wise the center above the TV would be better or is it just a matter of personal preference and aesthetics? I don't think I'd like the looks of a somewhat large speaker mounted above the TV, but at least it wouldn't take up floor space. I'll do a mock up using a cardboard box above my TV to see if I like it.

In my bedroom I watch from bed and have my tv at a few feet up so I can easily watch from a reclining position or with a few pillows at my back, and have adjusted my speakers accordingly. I'd keep that in mind, i.e. where are you going to listen from, in positioning the speaker, in my case it is below the tv and about same as my fronts. I wouldn't want the center so low as to have the bed interfere...

One other question:

considering that the L/R CBM-170 SEs will only be 6 ft apart and I will be sitting 7 ft from them do I really need a center? Would using one in my 11'x11'x8' room actually sound worse? Some people have suggested that sitting in such close proximity in a small room, that there's no need for a center, that it might do more harm than good. If that's the case I might have purchased the CBM-340 SEs instead, forgone a center, and added a sub for a 2.1 setup. Please help me figure this out. I might be able to cancel my CBM-170 SE order and order the CBM-340 SEs

I also sit or lay on my bed while watching TV. My TV sits on a 33" high dresser. My mattress is thick, making the bed 26" off the floor. If I sit my eyes are centered on the screen. If I lay down I'm looking slightly upward. If I mounted a center on a stand in front of the TV the bottom would be roughly 26" high, so the center would just clear the mattress. I'm still indecisive about whether I want or need a center in my room considering it's size and my proximity to the L/R speakers.

I think Dave (from Ascend) indicates in the description of the speaker that the CMT-340SE center was designed to go above the tv but it's not a necessity of course. Perhaps you should try the phantom center for a while before making the plunge.

It was actually designed to go above or below the TV, and EXBAC circuitry in the crossover compensates for the extended baffle a TV screen creates. If you do not have this issue, the circuit can be defeated when ordering the speaker.

I've been delaying my order because of the holidays; but soon as Ascend opens shop again, I'm buying a trio of CMT-340's to replace my Polk monitors up front. Pretty stoked about getting some new speakers!

Why not order on the internet form? You making a custom order?

I had a few questions and rather speak to a live operator. Plus they were closed over the holidays, so an online order wouldn't have gotten me the speakers any faster.

Kinda defeats the whole internet thing altho talking with Dina is a good thing Sometimes it's good to get your order in line sooner than later for stock purposes, too.

Agreed. Dina was very pleasant to deal with over the phone. The main reason I wanted to call was to ask about B-stock which were available even though they website said they were out of stock. I saved $100 by calling in an order.