Looking for a small good quality speaker system. (1 Viewer)

[Jon_Krug]

john, u can buy rear stands for any speaker. also, i can understand that u want to use your discount, but u have to understand, by skipping the middle man, u r getting the same discount if not more. so u should try to set prices aside and figure out which u like best. i really think u should try ordering a pair of the ascends (or onix or axioms), compare them to the klipsch that u like, and keep which ever u like best.

 

[Russell _T]

John,
Another Internet Direct company that sells the highly regarded ELT's is www.AV123.com has already been mentioned here. The mains and surrounds are identical, and the package comes with a matching 10" subwoofer and a very strong center. While I personally don't have any quarrel with the utilitarian look of the Ascend's, the ELT's aside from sounding great also come stuffed in a nice cherry stained box.

 

[JohnHa]

Ok, I think that your recommendations as well as all the reviews I've read, have sold me on the idea of giving the ascend accoustics a shot. I like the looks of the onix speakers, but for some reason, and I'm not quite sure why, I like the fact that ascend partnered w/ another company to make their subs. It allowed them to focus solely on speakers, and allow an already reputable sub company to take care of that end of the deal. For instance, Klipsch makes great speakers, but I've seen various posts on this forum saying that if you get the synergies, for instance, to get an HSU or a Rava sub to go w/ them because they sound better w/ klipsch speakers than klipsch's own sub. It's almost as though ascend accoustics realized this, so rather than trying build their own subs, they just got someone else that already knows how to build great subs to do it for them.

 

[CurtisSC]

John,

Just a quick point of clarification, the subs are not built for Ascend....the are actually Hsu subs that anyone can buy. Ascend had no need to make a sub since they were able to partner with Hsu and offer their outstanding subs that fit Ascend's value model.

 

[Russell _T]

You can never go wrong with a Hsu sub.

 

[Russell _T]

John,
To answer your question, is a set of 2K Klipsch's as good as a 1K set of Ascends? To me, no, not even the Reference series, but ultimately as the old saying goes, you have to decide that for yourself.
BTW you mentioned that you liked the Ascend package because of the Hsu sub. It might interest you to know that while the ELT sub doesn't really hold up to the Hsu, the Rocket UFW-10 easily does, and it was an outsource design by that well known company who are famous for their small but potent subs. I believe that if you call AV123, they will talk to you about switching out the subs for whatever one you want. The UFW-10 also has the only onboard one band parametric equalizer that I know of in that price range.

 

[Paul_Scott]

John,
just a thought.
i don't hang out in this forum much anymore since i upgraded all my audio components last yr.
i had budgeted about $2K for speakers, looked and listened to quite a bit, and i finally settled on the Ascends (3- cbm 170s, 2 htm 200s).
there is no substitute for listening to speakers for yourself, but theres good reason for all the praise the ascends get.
over a yr later i still have nothing but good things to say about 'em.

i originally ordered just the front three to try them out.
i explained to Dave what my plans were, and they locked me into a package price if i liked them and wanted to add the surrounds later.

as for comparing them to Klipsch- very different sounding speakers- you really have to listen to both and see which ones stroke you the right way.

 

[Victor Chan]

John,

This is an excerpt of a post I made for someone trying to assemble a system for around $1500...

This is what I feel to be the best system that can be acquired for around $1500:

Ascend Acoustics CBM-170s for the front 3 speakers, HTM-200 for the surrounds ($698 + shipping).

http://ascendacoustics.com/Main/HT/2000mtx.asp

The CBM-170s are virtually peerless in their price range and are very good speakers regardless of price. When I compared them to other speakers, did not find a single pair for under $1000 at B&M stores that I preferred over them. The rave reviews that they have garnered from both professional as well as anecdotal reviews I think speak of how good these speakers really are... and what a relative bargain they are in the audiophile world.

http://www.goodsound.com/equipment.shtml
http://ascendacoustics.com/Main/Rev...ndReprint.2.pdf
http://ascendacoustics.com/Main/Rev...cendreprint.pdf
http://www.audioreview.com/Main+Spe...08_1594crx.aspx

For a complimenting subwoofer, I would pick the newly released Hsu Research STF-2 ($399), which is the non-tunable, and thus cheaper, version of the award winning Hsu VTF-2. Same performance as the VTF-2 for $100 less.

http://www.hsustore.com/stf2.html

I don't think you will find a better combination of bass extension and accurate bass reproduction anywhere near the price.

http://www.liquidtheater.com/editorials/89
http://www.cheaphometheater.com/Asc...nd%20system.htm
http://www.goodsound.com/equipment/hsu_vtf2.htm
http://audioreview.com/Subwoofers/H...90_2741crx.aspx

For a good DVD player, I think one would be hard-pressed to find a better bargain than the Pioneer DV-563A, which would enable you to play CDs, DVDs, SACDs, and DVD-A... all for around $150.

http://www.etronics.com/product.asp...63a&svbname=403
http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/ar...mber=1&preview=
http://www.hometheaterspot.com/html...view.php?rev=21
http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/4505-...=ecoustics-cnet

The Yamaha 5660 ($320) is a good receiver.
http://www.etronics.com/product.asp?...re=&catid=4118
Others you might want to check out in about the same price range include:

Pioneer VSX-D912K ($300)
http://www.etronics.com/product.asp?...12k&svbname=30
http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/4505-6...ecoustics-cnet
http://www.whatvideotv.com/cgi-bin/d...?reviewid=3008]http://www.whatvideotv.com/testbench...iewid=3008[/url]

Harmon/Kardon AVR-130 ($270)
http://www.etronics.com/product.asp?...re=&catid=4118

This is a system that I think you would have to spend considerably more in order to get noticeable improvement on and is about as future proof as you can expect: A receiver with all the latest functionalites, a DVD player that can play every single format thus far devised, and a speaker and sub combo that blows away anything that is remotely in their price range.

Hope this helps,
Victor