Ascend CBM-170 vs CMT-340L/R (1 Viewer)

[AjayRAV]

Hmmmm, a quick question just popped into my mind....With so much hype surrounding Ascend speakers and them being so highly regarded on all the audio forums, why do the major magazines not review them? BTW Curtis and Chris- you've done it again....I called Ascend and had them tack on a 340 center to my inital order of a pair of 170s. Now all I have to do is see if I like them as much as you guys do....

Ajay

 

[RickLe]

I believe, and of course it is just my opinion, that what we all want, and strive for is to have the best audio, video possible. The electronics market as with most everything in life caters to those who can afford the high end to achieve it. The bread and butter in the media world comes from advertising, and sponserships. Even though most reviewers due their best to be impartial, their backing comings from advertising dollars. Ascend isn't out there beating down the doors to proclaim their status. They've done it greatly by word of mouth, and a "step back and try it for yourself" approach.

 

[Chris Quinn]

Advertising revenue! That is why you will likely only see The $ensible Sound review Ascends. Have you ever noticed how you have to read between the lines on a review. Watch for phrases such as thinly veiled in highs/lows or something. The audio mags aren't going to outright say speaker/amp/CD player X sucks because they want the ad money from the maker of X. Year end wrap-ups were they give the awards are better because then they have to pick an order.

 

[Ganesh]

Thanks to Curtis, who has been both painstakingly and enthusiastically answering my questions, after pondering over the options I've ordered the Ascend 340 L/R's. BTW I received my Axioms M22's today and they sound very nice. Nice little extra mid-bass compared to the Aperions and sound fuller in comparison to the Aperions. The M22's are quite bright but surprisingly don't sound as "harsh" to my ears as the Aperions - may be the mid-bass boost compensates for it.
Anyway more listening to do and then there's Ascends to wait for ... Cool! So, finally in about a week's time from now I would have decided on the speakers and my living room will return to normalcy!
Ajay, 170's plus 340 center sounds like a great combo going by the reviews. Good luck.

Ganesh.

 

[RickLe]

Finally finished wiring my back surrounds (low crawling in the crawl space sucked). My Denon 2400 never decoded the discrete channels before so this was....AWESOME! I started with the pod races in the Phantom Menace and heard things I never knew existed. This is too good to be true. I'm spending most my time now tweaking settings and doing a little patch work and cable management

 

[CurtisSC]

Ganesh,

The M22 is a nice speaker. Would love to know your impressions of the 340 L/R's when you get them. In fact, maybe you can write a mini-comparison review.

RickLe.....I want your power amp!

 

[BradJudy]

AjayRAV: There have been reviews by Soundstage (http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/a...ics_cbm170.htm) and Sensible Sound (http://www.ascendacoustics.com/Main/...endreprint.pdf) which both speak very highly of the speakers. Getting reviews requires some effort and since Ascend is barely keeping up with demand at the moment, there isn't any reason to generate more demand.

BTW: Just picked up a Pioneer 563, so I'm now introducing my Ascends to multichannel audio. So far I have a single title (Carole King - Tapestry), but I'm sure the collection will slowly grow. I doubt I'll get much though - don't like buying music I can't play in the car, upstairs, or at work.

 

[MichaelDDD]

GANESH,

Did you get your 340 L/R yet? What's your impression? Your PMs are disabled, BTW.

 

[CurtisSC]

Ganesh returned his 340's and got Boston Acoustic VR-1's.

You can read about it here:
http://www.ascendforum.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=55

 

[MichaelDDD]

Wow...that's like trading a Porsche for a...I dunno...just trading it for something else would be sacrilege!

Ah, decisions, decisions.