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Let us know which speaker on our list is your favorite or if you have alternative recommendations.
I don't have experience with many speakers but I do own the Wave Crest Audio HVL-1s and the Ascend CBM-170 SEs (not reviewed). I've spent many hours watching TV and movies with both.
The HVL-1s have notably more bass "thump" than the Ascends even though they don't play as low. I'm not sure how to explain this, except that maybe it has to do with the port location (front vs. rear).
Otherwise the HVL-1s aren't as clear as the Ascends. With the HVL-1s, I often felt like I had to turn the volume up to make dialogue clearer, except that increasing the volume didn't really help. The Ascends sound "thinner" in a very pleasing way. Maybe this also comes down to port location and the HVL-1s are leaking some midrange?
I think the HVL-1s are good speakers for the price, given my limited experience. I briefly had access to some older SVS bookshelf speakers that basically had the same size, price, and specs as the HVL-1s and they basically sounded the same.
Anyway, I think the CBM-170 SEs are clearly better and they only cost about $100 more, so if you're buying new, I would recommend the Ascends vs. the HVL-1s unless you're on a VERY tight budget.
The equation changes if you're buying used. I got my HVL-1s for a steal and for the price they're amazing. Then again, I've seen a few good deals on used CBM-170s too.