Ascend CBM 170 review (1 Viewer)

[Chris Quinn]

Curtis thanks for the Hsu link. I think the Energy sub would be better, outside of lacking a phase switch, for this because it is front ported and goes down to 27hz. I think I'm going to have to abandon the idea because they would sit on both sides of the CRT TV in the bedroom and I don't think they are sheilded. This is the only review I found of the Energy 8.2 http://reviews.cnet.com/Energy_Take_...-20814732.html

 

[CurtisSC]

Bummer Chris...would have been interesting to see how it turned out and performed.

 

[Chris Quinn]

"Are you becoming a speaker designer?"

Maybe? Do you like my variation on that guy's full range Ascenergy? Just remember it's pronounced I-gor not E-gor.

 

[Ben_wood]

AjayRAV, my original center was a HTM-200. I felt like it was the only weak link in my Ascend setup. When the David and the guys came out with the CMT-340c I traded up and the difference between these two speakers is sizable (no pun intended! ) I doubt that you would be satisfied with the 200 after hearing the 340. You could possibly go with a 170 as Curtis suggested, there would be less of a drop off in audio quality that way. But my best advice would be to keep the CMT-340c, it's performance is worth it!

 

[AjayRAV]

Hi Ben,

Would it really make that much of a difference if my receiver has a fixed 100 Hz cut-off. The center then really doesn't have to go much lower than that and considering that the tweeter is the same, the timbre should be the same.

Yes? No? Maybe?

Thanks,
Ajay

 

[CurtisSC]

Ajay,

Eventhough the crossover is at 100hz, the whole characteristic of the speaker is still different. If you line up a HTM-200, a CBM-170, and a CMT-340, all crossed at 100hz and playing the same information, they would sound different. "Voicing" or timbre are very close, but overall characters are different.

 

[Ben_wood]

Curtis is right, even with the same crossover points selected these speakers sound different. To me the dialog was more intelligible using the CMT-340c. Something you have to remember is the 340 is the first "true dedicated" center from Ascend. As good as the 200 and 170 are,(and I have 4 170s in my system) they involve trade offs and compromises when they're used as centers.

 

[Rich Moorehead]

what is a "true dedicated" center? does that mean they are not supposed to be used as L/R?

 

[CurtisSC]

A true dedicated center can be a misnomer. In the case of the 340c, the crossover is tweak to compensate for the baffle a TV creates when a speaker is placed on it.

Center speakers take into account the type of information that typically comes from the center....dialog for the most part, dispursion characteristics, and most of the time horizontal placement. I'm sure there is more than I am missing. But that isn't to say that a L/R speaker would not make a good center, the CBM-170 is a good example.