Ascend SE Owner's Thread - Page 111

Don't worry......my Ascends came in with similar minor damage to the outer box.............they are packed in double boxes and foam and dust covers............no worries...

Dangerous to your amp or receiver, but not to you.

This is my current room layout:



The TV is centered on the wall, which means that the speakers will be centered as well. The problem is that there is little clearance for the door to open and it will most likely hit the speaker stand, particularly if I spread the speakers out more.

If I move the dresser several inches to the left (no more than a foot), meaning the speakers will be more to the left, will that negatively affect acoustics? Although the TV and speakers will no longer be centered on the wall I will still sit in the center of the screen.
Edited by p3Orion - 1/9/13 at 3:22pm

Centering the speakers is not necessarily the best thing to do for room acoustics, especially because there is a lot of other stuff in the room that can affect the sound.

Set up the room so that you are in a comfortable position when watching TV or listening to music, and then go from there.

My CMT-340's arrived today, and they sound amazing. Huge jump from my old Polk monitors. I'll post some better pics when I have a chance to rearrange my living room this weekend. Ended up going with the B-stocks and couldn't be happier with the finish quality. The only flaws are miniscule blemishes and superficial scratches on the bottom and rear of speakers that will never be seen.


Edited by cyde01 - 1/9/13 at 5:28pm

Awesome! You will love the sound, dynamics, and crazy huge presentation they give. They are beastly and aggressive looking, one of many reasons I love them. I remember the first time I got to see the inside of the enclosure, super rigid and dense for sure. I still to this day swear they are HDF and not MDF, just so well designed and built. I love them and so will you. Ascend is happy when you are happy.

My concern was for the gear, that's why I posted. It's like when you have an crash on your bike, when you come to, the proper question is "how's the bike?"

Oh...I agree! I was just trying to be funny.

I inadvertently used the term "bare wire" to mean "unfinished" lamp cord or something cheap from the local hardware store. The OP is awaiting a shipment of techflex, cable pants, and heat shrink and has made recent posts in the DIY cable thread. I certainly didn't mean non-insulated speakerwire. OK, back to Ascend talk .

I was just yanking your chain in any case. But now that you say "unfinished" lamp cord you're in trouble, you're starting to sound like a wire evangelist.... Cable pants though sounds cool and useless all at the same time.

Nice! I'm envious. I ONLY have the CBM-170 SEs Seriously, though, I'm really exited about my speakers.

The 340 SEs match well with the Sanus Steel Series stands. Those are the ones I'm leaning toward buying. Are they the SF22 or SF26?

I'll be on the lookout for a B-stock CMT-340 SE Center, which I would like to add sometime this year.

I'm not sure if my use of the word "centered" was confusing.

I edited my room layout to show the two TV/speaker locations that I'm comparing:



What I want to know is if using the red TV/speaker location would be acoustically better or worse than the black TV/speaker location or if the change wouldn't really matter. If I use the red TV/speaker location I would slide over a little to the left so that I am still sitting in the center of the screen. The reason I'm considering moving the TV/speakers over to the left is so that the right speaker doesn't obstruct the door. However, if the red location is acoustically worse then I would use the black location and move the right speaker each time I open and close the door.

I'd appreciate comments on this.

Understood.

What I am saying is that it may or may not make a difference.

Thanks for the replies. Your help is really appreciated.

If the difference is negligible then I would prefer to move everything over to the left several inches so the door has full clearance.

I'm not sure if by just looking at the room layout I provided that it can be said with certainty that one location would be better than the other.

To be clear, while I think the difference will be negligible, you really won't know until you try.

As long as the speakers have good distance from the side walls, I think you will be in good shape.

In this instance, between the two setups, I think it is more important to make sure you are physically comfortable with the layout.

I have a pair of vintage Boston Acoustics A100 series 1 speakers with SEAS tweeters in my office, and I'm loving the high end on these Ascends which sound similar to my Bostons. Jazz vocals sound great coming from these given the affordable price. That and the low end was a major improvement. I no longer have bloated mid bass, and it blends seamlessly with my dual Outlaw LFM-1 EX subs.

Make sure to call and ask about B-stock even if the website says the are sold out. That's how I got mine. I'm using the Sanus SF26 (measure 25" with the rubber feet) filled with sand and Blu-tack to secure the speakers. I bought the stands for $65 shipped which were open box returns. Couldn't be happier with the finish on my B-stock speakers and stands.
Edited by cyde01 - 1/10/13 at 1:39pm

Yeah, their B stock is great Dina got me a set of TP-24's for my 340's and I could not find a blemish on them anywhere. Very happy!

Thanks. A concern I have about the Sanus Steel Series stands comes from reviews stating that they are very difficult to fill with sand or steel shot due to the small opening. I would want to fill them at some point.

If my room were a little larger I would have seriously considered the CMT-340 SEs. Given my small 11'x11'x8' room, and comments from others, I thought that they would be a bit much, and that the extra SPL wouldn't be as much of a benefit for me.

I emailed Ascend, but haven't received a reply yet so I'll ask here. Does the full purchase price trade-up credit include shipping and sales tax or only the listed price of the speakers?

I took some pictures and responded to you in the other thread about 500 dollar bookshelf speakers, take a gander.

Each column has four small holes, but I still found it very easy to fill them. I wrapped a small piece of cardboard around the top end and taped it down with painter's tape then poured sand until full. Each column only took one minute to fill. You could always bore larger holes with a drill to make the process quicker. But it would be a good idea to make some sort of paper funnel to guide the sand without making a mess. I also added a few dabs of JB weld to all of the joints to make it extra sturdy (feet, base plate to columns, and top plate to columns). The stands were $65, $5 for JB weld, and $2 for a 50 pound bag of sand. My cat thinks the speakers are a new perch, and they don't even budge when he leaps from the floor.

With a room your size, I'd stick with the CMB's.

I saw them. Thanks.

Any idea of how much each stand weighs when filled with sand? I ask because I'm not sure if you filled them in the location where the speakers are mounted or if you filled them elsewhere so as not to get sand on the floor and then moved them back. If it's easy to avoid spilling sand on the floor I would fill them where I intend to mount the speakers.

The SF-26 stands filled with sand are a little under 25 pounds each. 15 pounds per stand and they take about 8-9 pounds of sand to fill. Vacuuming sand out of carpet wouldn't be fun, so you might want to fill them outside and move since they aren't very heavy.

Here are the pictures of my living room HT as promised. I'm still waiting on a shipment from Monoprice to manage the cables, so it's a little messy. I finally had the opportunity to crank these speakers at reference, and it was incredible. Crystal clear dialog and no distortion whatsoever. Mid bass was very punchy, and the imaging was huge. Definitely happy with my purchase.

Nice. You want to see a mess of wires you should see min. Hey, what are you using to light the back of the tv?

Nice setup. What stand is that? I like the clean looks of it. It's too short for my needs, but maybe they make a taller model. I'm looking into possibly replacing my dresser, which is 33" high. Trying to locate a 30-32" tall AV stand that is 55-60" wide has been difficult.

Haha. I just want to set it up right this time around to make it easier to clean. When I moved my TV stand, there was a huge cluter of dust balls. Anyway the lighting is a LED kit from IKEA. Not the correct color temp, but with my curtains that wouldn't matter anyway. I still find it helps when going from a dim to bright scene. Blue was the easiest on my eyes, but it changes to 6-7 different colors.

It's an IKEA Expedit 2x4 bookcase slightly modified. I removed a couple of pieces to make two larger shelves to fit my AVR and center channel. Also added a few L brackets to reinforce the top side to support my TV. It works for now, but I'm still looking for better options.

The bookcase laid horizontal is 31" tall (and just shy of 5' wide) with the option of adding 4", 6", or 8" steel legs. It should fit your needs, and they're only $60-70. If you needed it wider, you could also buy a 2x2 bookcase and build it as a wider unit. I believe they also make doors and all sorts of add-ons, so it would make a decent dresser / av stand / bookcase / blu-ray rack. Like everything from IKEA, they are extremely versatile and can be modified (see ikeahackers.net)

This was one of my favorite Expedit mods.

Edited by cyde01 - 1/13/13 at 6:01pm

Exactly, damn, this is always my problem too, speakers keep showing up while I'm working out.

Thanks. Would you mind providing some pictures of the attached L-brackets? What size is your ST50? Is the unit very sturdy? How long are you planning on using it? I might buy one and reinforce it with L-brackets, but want to make sure it can support my 55ST50. The alternative is to find an AV furniture stand with desired specs for ~$500.

It's a 55" TV, and I feel it would perfectly fit a 60". Anyway I added 8 L-brackets to the bookcase. 2 on the far left and right, and 2 on the left and right inside (larger) shelf. I'm 200 pounds and can stand on top of it, with my tv, without showing any sign of stress. Your plasma will be just fine. I only used brass brackets but steel would provide much more security.

Not sure how long I will keep the unit. I recently bought a house, so budget was a little tight at the time. I was looking for something under $200, and the $65 IKEA bookcase was the only one that fit my needs. If I ever remodel the living room, I'll probably get something nicer.