Any other bookshelves that can beat the Ascend CBM-170 price/performance? (1 Viewer)

[Ben LG]

A 4.93 average out of 5 stars on audioreview.com and numerous positive reviews everywhere including this forum is just simply amazing for these speakers. Its great that they have the 30 day in home trial which I will definitely take advantage of. My question for you guys is are there other bookshelves in this price range you would recommend I put head to head with the CBM-170 besides the Axiom M22ti? Im not too keen on the look of the M22ti (too tall) but thats just my opinion, they also seem a bit too big for the room I will be setting it up in. A couple of other options I was looking at were the Energy C-1's and JBL S38II, how do these compare to the Ascend CBM-170?

~Just a couple of things, the bookshelves would be used 95% for music in stereo/source direct and I listen to alot of rock/pop (ocasionally at extremely high volume) so a good midrange and the ability to play loud and clean is important (anyone remember that 90s ad for Maxell cassette tapes where the guy puts on goggles and gets blown away by his stereo? kind of like that ahh.. memories).

Last, I was wondering if anyone have some pics up of their CBM-170 all setup on stands.

 

[CurtisSC]

While I love my Ascends...CMT-340's and CBM-170's, and thing they are outstanding value, the bottom line is preferences.

The best thing to do is to try a pair out and find out if they suit your tastes.

I have seen comparisons with the C-3, but not the C-1 and JBL. The consensus, in my reading is the C-3 can play deeper, but the rest of the ranges was not as clean. I believe there are some reviews on the Ascend site that mention the C-3 as well.

Here is a quote from the CBM-170's latest review by Jeff Van Dyne:

"Many budget speakers on the market can accurately translate the signal sent them by the amplifier, but there are all too few, at any price, that can fully convey the emotion of a song. The Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 does that in spades. It represents, in my opinion, the state of the art of budget loudspeakers."

http://www.goodsound.com/equipment.shtml

 

[Kevin C Brown]

You pay a little more, but you get more low end extension and just as flat a freq response with these Energies (Listening Window Chart 2):

http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/energy_c3.htm

I had a pair for a while and liked them a lot.

And actually came across this review of the Ascends if you haven't seen it:

http://www.goodsound.com/equipment/ascend_cbm170.htm

 

[CurtisSC]

Here's the review of the the CBM-170 that backs up what Kevin said about the C-3:

http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/a...ics_cbm170.htm