CMT 340's + what receiver? (1 Viewer)

[nezz621]

Looks like im getting a pair of CMT 340 SE for the fronts and the CMT 340 center for my 5.1 set up. Now the question is... which reveiver do i buy? I dont want to go crazy, all im realy worried about is getting enough power to them.. any thoughts?

 

[steveKlein]

i have the exact same question. i might be running ascend 340se's across the front and htm-200's across the back (5.1) and was wondering if the Onkyo TX-SR674 has enough juice to power it adequately...

 

[ThomasC]

Well, this is on Ascend's website:

"Due to overwhelmingly positive feedback regarding the combination of Ascend products and HK electronics, we are pleased to announce that Ascend Acoustics is now a fully authorized Harman Kardon dealer. Listed below are our favorite HK receivers. Please call or email us for attractive electronics pricing when purchasing Ascend product."

http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages...lectintro.html

I would contact them and see if the discount is worth getting the receiver from them. For example, the HK AVR-645 is $903 after shipping from Ascend, but J&R has it for $699 with free shipping.

 

[John Garcia]

I would say stick with H/K or look at Marantz or maybe NAD or Rotel. I've heard the 340SEs with a lower H/K (330?) and they did fine with it, but as much power as you can afford will do well for these speakers.

 

[Jacob C]

I'm running a panny XR-57 with the less sensitive 170's and power is not an issue. I dont know if its feature set works for you though.

 

[ScottyH]

I actually am in the same market right now. Have 340se's across the front and center and 200's for the back and rear speakers. What is the point in wattage per channel when 75 watts per channel is whats being recomended here? Why nopt go with an onkyo or denon that has 120 watts per channel? Can someone please explain why more power per speaker wouldnt be the best bet?

 

[Chris Quinn]

It depends on how loud you want to drive the speakers and how true the manufacturers' rating of watts is. Playing loud with an under powered amp can cause the amp to send a clipped signal which will blow your speakers. Then you get into how much reserve power the amp has for sudden transients. Reserve power, for sudden volume changes, has more to do with amp part of the receiver than how many watts it puts out. They are after all called amplifiers not wattifiers.

It takes doubling the watts for every 3 dB increase in volume. So an amp with 120 watts is going to be just under 2dBs louder than the 75 watt amp. 2dB isn't much difference and would take a fairly quiet room for many people to hear that difference. dBs to volume isn't linear. While 2dB increase is barely audible a 10dB increase is twice as loud.

BTW- I've played with my Ascend 340s on a 5 watt Sonic Impact T-amp and could get them to a good volume before distortion started.

 

[GaryPL]

I have a simple Yamaha HTR-5550 (5.1x75W), running 170se mains, and a 340SE CC, and it has no issues at all.

This 75Wx5 AVR powers these with ease, so my answer is: ANY DECENT AVR will power the 340 SE frontstage without issue.
My 170 se mains are even less sensitive than the 340 se's, and you could split your ears in this room.

 

[Luis Gabriel Gerena]

Because unfortunately in this all numbers driven world...specs are not a good way to measure quality. Harman Kardons receivers when reviewed will deliver the rated specs if not even better unlike most other manufactures that will fail to even closely match their rated specs.
I agree with the other poster, stick to HK, Marantz or something like that.
I used my Harman Kardon avr-635 with the Alegria's EMMA which are not sensitive at all (a 5db difference to SPL match it with my HTD Level 3 towers) and the receiver had no problems making them sing.
Regards

 

[CurtisSC]

Manufacturer amps specifications are not created equal.

That said, Ascends are not difficult speakers to drive and do not have difficult impedance swings, so any decent receiver will work well with them.

 

[jwill242004]

In comparison to some of the other more expensive brands out there, How well do the Ascends stack up in terms of clarity and overall sound quality. I figure that if they are the only authorized dealer for HSU they must put out one hell of a speaker.

 

[steveKlein]

imo, they blow anything in their price range out of the water. i haven't heard speakers costing over $1000/pair... but i've heard ascends perform well against speakers at and a bit above their price range.

basically, my drift is you will have to spend twice as much to see any real improvement over what ascend offers.

 

[Luis Gabriel Gerena]

I dont want to sound rude but anything implies every speaker out there which I am sure you havent. I am pretty sure Ascend is a great speaker but lets try and not to wild with claims

 

[John Garcia]

I've heard many speakers in their class and I would have to say they are excellent speakers (certainly not THE best, but one of the best). These speakers would be sold in mid to high end stores, and would be far more costly than their direct pricing; I could easily see them going for at least 1 1/2 times what they are selling for.

 

[Leigh_M]

I agree, Ascend and Axiom get a lot of press here. I haven't tried Ascend, but I did buy some Axiom speakers. They were very nice and still have a home in my parent's HT. I however prefer my Boston Acoustics. It's a personal thing.

 

[Luis Gabriel Gerena]

I agree on that one, after auditioning around in B&M stores I can honestly say, I will only buy from ID companies.
Regards

 

[Arthur S]

Nezz

As far as a receiver, I would go with the Denon 2807. And with regards to speakers, I would seriously look at the HSU series which includes the HB-1, and HC-1. They are on a pre-delivery low price and have had excellent reviews. Their web site has a kind of funny name. Dr. Hsu's name is pronounced either "shoe", or "sue", and their web site is the "hsustore".

Like "shoe store".

Look for the HB-1 thread in the Forum

http://www.hsustore.com/hb-1.html

 

[nezz621]

Wow... so much info to take in. Thanks everyone for the replies. I'm looking to either get a denon 787 or 1907 (honestly not sure of the difference), or im going to get a HK, possibly a avr 445.

Whats interesting is that the Hk 445 is about 200 dollars more, but it puts out "less power" according to the numbers. From what i hear, HK receivers match really well with Ascends, so im wondering if should go the extra mile for the HK.

In the end, im loooking for a cleaner sound, volume isnt a huge issue although i do like to crank it up occasionally.

 

[Arthur S]

nezz

HK has had a lot of technical issues. HK does not do enough beta testing and most of their receivers have bugs that are often not resolved for a year or more. Take a look at the avs forum, or do a search on this forum, people have had some bad experiences even with high end HK models. Do yourself a favor and stick with Denon.

Happy Holidays

 

[Luis Gabriel Gerena]

Any receiver has problems so your recommendation is very biased and I doubt you have worked for HK in order to know if they do or not do extensive "beta testing". I hate when people state "factless" opinions as truth, it just hurts the forums. Denon is a good brand even though I prefer marantz or HK over it ...then agian, speakers make the biggest difference with any decent receiver.
Also that Denon 2807 pulls 6amps from the wall for 720W max while my HK 635 pulls 8.3 amps for 1000W so guess who has a more robust power section? As usual HK (and marantz) give you more real power.
Again, dont sweat it too much and pick one so you can start enjoying the speakers.
Regards