Ascend CMT-340: Anything comparable or better...

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brabus

brabus

Audioholic Intern
In their price range? I would like to build out a 5.1 or 7.1 system using these speakers as front L/R as well as the matching center, but before I pull the trigger I wanted to see if there may be a speaker that, in others opinions of course, sounds as good or better for around the same price.

The room I will be putting them in is about 3500 cu. ft. and I will be driving the speakers with a Denon X4000 for the time being.

Any opinions are welcome, ultimately I realize I should try these out in the room before making a final decision, but really need help deciding what to put them up against.

Thanks for reading!
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
what's your total budget? Whats system main purpose? HT? Which sub?
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
The CMT-340s look to be very high performers for the price, but there are some nice looking alternatives too. One might be this Dayton RS722 kit in a curved black cabinet, I am betting that would sound pretty nice. The Arx MTMs are finally back in stock, those look like they would be very good as well. The Hsu HC-1 works very well in a vertical orientation and may offer more controlled dispersion. Klipsch RB-61s would likely offer greater dynamic range within the treble. If it were my money and I were going to get an LCR, I would go for a SEOS kit, it would take a little bit of work, but it would have a huge dynamic range advantage over any of these other choices. If I had to rebuild my home theater, I would have gone for either a SEOS or Pi kit. I wish I had done that in the first place.
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
brabus said:
In their price range? I would like to build out a 5.1 or 7.1 system using these speakers as front L/R as well as the matching center, but before I pull the trigger I wanted to see if there may be a speaker that, in others opinions of course, sounds as good or better for around the same price.

The room I will be putting them in is about 3500 cu. ft. and I will be driving the speakers with a Denon X4000 for the time being.
Click to expand...
In that price range, the Ascend CMT-340s are probably most often mentioned as an excellent choice. I haven't heard them myself, but they've been so often praised by people with wide varieties of experience, that I think your choice is probably good. Ascend has an excellent reputation as an ID speaker maker.

Other good ID speakers in your general price range are Emp Tek, NHT, and SVS. They might be competitive with the Ascend CMT-340 but I would be surprised if any of them were noticeably better.

An important feature about room size is how far will you be sitting from the front three speakers?
 
zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
I am confident that the Ascend is a nice system -

However, I am recomending another option to look at

Focal 717 towers and CC701 center
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/FOCAL717VHVN/FOCAL-Chorus-717V-716V-Dual-6-1/2-Tower-Speaker-PAIR-Havana/1.html

FOCAL Chorus CC701 (CC700) Dual 6-1/2" Drivers Center Speaker Havana | Accessories4less

Surrounds here
http://www.musicdirect.com/p-41245-focal-chorus-705v-bookshelf-speakers-pr.aspx

While they may not receive much love here - I would also look at the ARX
 
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brabus

brabus

Audioholic Intern
Thanks for all the replies, and Happy New Years!

BoredSysAdmin said:
what's your total budget? Whats system main purpose? HT? Which sub?
Click to expand...
Total budget for L/C/R, surrounds, and sub is between $2500-$3000, though I would like to stay as close to the $2500 mark as possible. It appears I can get a pair of stands, CMT-340 L/R/C, CMT-170 surrounds, and a Rythmik FV15HP for touch under $2500 shipped.

The main purpose of the system is for HT, I would say 70%/30% HT/Music.

Swerd said:
In that price range, the Ascend CMT-340s are probably most often mentioned as an excellent choice. I haven't heard them myself, but they've been so often praised by people with wide varieties of experience, that I think your choice is probably good. Ascend has an excellent reputation as an ID speaker maker.

Other good ID speakers in your general price range are Emp Tek, NHT, and SVS. They might be competitive with the Ascend CMT-340 but I would be surprised if any of them were noticeably better.

An important feature about room size is how far will you be sitting from the front three speakers?
Click to expand...
Distance from the front three and 65" plasma is about 8 FT.
 
brabus

brabus

Audioholic Intern
zieglj01 said:
I am confident that the Ascend is a nice system -

However, I am recomending another option to look at

Focal 717 towers and CC701 center
Accessories4less: High End Audio at Low End Prices!

FOCAL Chorus CC701 (CC700) Dual 6-1/2" Drivers Center Speaker Havana | Accessories4less

Surrounds here
FOCAL CHORUS 705V BOOKSHELF SPEAKERS (PR) at Music Direct

While they may not receive much love here - I would also look at the ARX
Click to expand...
I had been looking at those speakers for a while as well, and from what I have read many seem to like them. However, I would prefer a black finish, and I'm not sure about the 814's as I've read that they aren't of the same quality as the 714's. I've also read, and it makes sense to me, that getting bookshelves instead of towers allows more of the budget to be spent on the drivers and crossovers versus cabinet materials. Not only that, but some say it's easier to blend the bookshelves with a sub(s) which would also make sense to me. I would think that since tower speakers generally produce better lows than a bookshelf, that using towers with a sub is in a sense, wasting its' abilities, if that makes sense?

I could be completely off-base with these assumptions, as I don't really have much experience and am essentially regurgitating what I have read, for better or worse.
 
zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
brabus said:
I had been looking at those speakers for a while as well, and from what I have read many seem to like them. However, I would prefer a black finish, and I'm not sure about the 814's as I've read that they aren't of the same quality as the 714's. I've also read, and it makes sense to me, that getting bookshelves instead of towers allows more of the budget to be spent on the drivers and crossovers versus cabinet materials. Not only that, but some say it's easier to blend the bookshelves with a sub(s) which would also make sense to me. I would think that since tower speakers generally produce better lows than a bookshelf, that using towers with a sub is in a sense, wasting its' abilities, if that makes sense?

I could be completely off-base with these assumptions, as I don't really have much experience and am essentially regurgitating what I have read, for better or worse.
Click to expand...
Do not believe everything you read or hear - in time you learn to eat the fish and spit out the bones

I do not recommend cheap sounding or cheap quality speakers - and a good sub can work with a
good tower and a good bookshelf

Yes in general - in a lot of cases a bookshelf with a sub, can and works as a better option

Need to remember the Focals are on close-out pricing - look at the regular retail price, and they
do not build cheap cabinets. The 814 is not a cheaper version - and the reviews have been good.
Focal does not do cheapy cross-over work

It is not easy to find a black Focal V center at his time.

You want to look at bookshelves - this JBL has good reviews and looks serious, and is said to
have good dynamics, bass, midrange and highs - this is not their cheapy entry level stuff >>
and I am even thinking about buying it. > And, that woofer will not try to run away from the
cabinet on HT movies. Designed by Greg Timbers
Amazon.com: JBL Studio 530 Two-Way Bookshelf Loudspeakers (Pair, Black): Electronics

This is the center
Amazon.com: JBL Studio 520CBK 2-Way Dual 4-Inch Center Channel Speaker: Electronics

However if interested and serious - I would think about buying 3 pairs of the bookshelf
and using one as a center channel.

JBL 570 towers
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_109ST570B/JBL-Studio-570-Black.html
 
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brabus

brabus

Audioholic Intern
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
zieglj01 said:
You want to look at bookshelves - this JBL has good reviews and looks serious, and is said to
have good dynamics, bass, midrange and highs - this is not their cheapy entry level stuff >>
and I am even thinking about buying it. > And, that woofer will not try to run away from the
cabinet on HT movies. Designed by Greg Timbers
Amazon.com: JBL Studio 530 Two-Way Bookshelf Loudspeakers (Pair, Black): Electronics

This is the center
Amazon.com: JBL Studio 520CBK 2-Way Dual 4-Inch Center Channel Speaker: Electronics

However if interested and serious - I would think about buying 3 pairs of the bookshelf
and using one as a center channel.

JBL 570 towers
JBL Studio 570 (Black) Floor-standing speaker at Crutchfield.com
Click to expand...
The JBL 500s with the compression drivers look interesting, but I have not been able to find any reviews with measurements. Do you have any links?
 
zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
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zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
shadyJ said:
The JBL 500s with the compression drivers look interesting, but I have not been able to find any reviews with measurements. Do you have any links?
Click to expand...
Not yet - however, I am searching for them - I may buy a pair
of them bookshelves - I do like a good JBL sound.
 
brabus

brabus

Audioholic Intern
The Focal 716v's in black are sold out everywhere I have looked, including the site you linked that has the black center. Would the 814's then be as good as the 716's?

Would the Focal's perform better than the Ascend's, or are they close enough that it would be subjective?

I am also looking at the Carnegie CSB1's that someone linked. Those appear to have a different type of tweeter than the other speakers I have been looking at here.
 
zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
brabus said:
The Focal 716v's in black are sold out everywhere I have looked, including the site you linked that has the black center. Would the 814's then be as good as the 716's?

Would the Focal's perform better than the Ascend's, or are they close enough that it would be subjective?

I am also looking at the Carnegie CSB1's that someone linked. Those appear to have a different type of tweeter than the other speakers I have been looking at here.
Click to expand...
The 814 is a special version of the 716 - pretty much the same

You have good speaker options - and only you can make the decision.
It all comes down to subjection and some nit-picking - plus some bias
due to human nature. I do not take sides between Retail and ID.
 
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ImcLoud

ImcLoud

Audioholic Ninja
I tried A LOT of speakers in my HT before keeping the 340s and 200 surrounds, I can promise you, if you are looking for something nice you won't find it for less money... The Carnegie's are also a very nice buy and the fit and finish is leaps and bounds above the 340s, the highs are nicer in the csb1's but the 340s fill a room a little easier, I havent heard the matching center for thecsbs yet, but I really like them with a sub for music...
In closing if you don't mind the finish on the 340s {which isnt bad, just not a fancy gloss or veneer by any means}, you wont regret the purchase... I have heard the focals and they are also nice, but I think the ascends sound better, but again, the finish on the focals is nicer... To get a better ht speaker that is noticeably better than the 340s in all aspects, expect to spend $2000+, now there are spaekrs out there for much less that look better, but thats not where ascend decided to spend the build budget on these... Also a nice front end is the 340 center with the cbm170 left and right...
 
lsiberian

lsiberian

Audioholic Overlord
Money and quality don't always go hand in hand in audio. Just because a speaker is "discounted" doesn't make it better than speakers at it's same price. If you can afford it get 3 kinds of systems and demo them all in your home. Keep the best and return the rest. Aperion and svs even pay shipping both ways. Every space and every ear is different. My speakers for example are fantastic for my space and ears. They might suck at your house.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk
 
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