Ascend vs B&W 602 (1 Viewer)

[David_]

Hello all. Thanks for taking the time.

I have narrowed down my search. I have just purchased a house and with it came a 65 inch high def tv. I would like to add speakers. My room is 15*22 but the listening area is 15 * 15. The only other note is that the left/center/right will be positioned HIGH. they are about 18 inches off the ceiling in custom bookcases the previous owner had made for his tv. Sucks, I know, but the TV was free. I can always toe-down the speakers.


I have auditioned the 602 S3 speakers and they are very nice. He gave me a price of 550 for the pair and the smaller center he gave me a price of 350 with a 12 inch sub at 650. I am convinced that that is as low as he will go. The dealer will install for 40/hour which is nice.

I will be buying a pioneer elite series 72 receiver for your reference.

in the other corner is the ascend 340's for left/center/right with either the stf-3 or vtf-3 i am not sure of the difference.

any thoughts on what the differences i would experience between the two? All the reviews for both are very positive? I have not listened to the ascends but I am willing to try the 30 day if the feedback is "NO brainer you have to go with the ascend"


btw: 70% of time movies and 30% time listening to top 40 with focus on dave Mathews type of music.


thanks a ton!!!

 

[BruceTM]

David,

It depends what you will have driving the B&Ws. I tried them out with a mid-line Yamaha htr and the results were pretty awful. It actually made me think that it was time to try online merchants. I purchased a 5.1 setup minus the sub for about a grand. The results were much better. If it were me I would give the ascends a try. I opted for Axiom just because I thought they looked nicer than the ascends, and the free shipping was nice too.

 

[John Garcia]

I wouldn't say no brainer, but IMO, the Ascends are better. I like th 602s, but for the money, the Ascends are more sensitive, have better midrange and are a better value. IMO, three for the front will make an excellent front stage.

The STF-3 is basically the same sub as the VTF-3 configured for max output. The advantage of the VTF is the Variable Tuning Frequency, so you can switch between max extension and max output.

 

[Jacob C]

I have not heard the ascends but many compare them favorably to the Paradigm Studio series. IMO the studios were considerably better than the B&W's. I must admit the Paradigms were being demoed on better equipment as well. I would still vote Ascend though.