Center channel Advice needed - Ascend 170SE or 340C?

[wilkenboy]

All,

I picked up two Ascend 170s (Classic) for my left / right channel off of ebay. Now I'm trying to decide on the center: 340C or 170SE (upright)

Basic facts:
Lets assume price is not a factor.
I have space / mounting for either.
Usage is 80% HT, 20% music (primarly through DVD-A)
Seating is about 10' from the speakers, but spread up to 8 feet to either side of the centerline.

So the fundamental question here is do I go for the same speaker (tonally matched) across the front, or for a more beefy (extension / dispersion) center channel?

Thanks in advance-

~Josh

 

[Nick250]

I have not heard the Ascends, but if it were me I buy whatever Ascend speaker would mostly closely matched my mains. I am very pleased with my front three all being the same. I would do it the same if I had to do it all over again. I have my center studio 20 laying on it's side, no audible drawbacks to that positioning that I can detect.

Nick

 

[silversurfer]

Will the center be sitting on top of a TV? If so, I would go for the 340c since it has the EXBAC circuitry which compensates for the baffle the TV face creates. Also, the classic 170's and classic 340c I heard were very well timbre matched, so I do not think there will be an issue.

On the otherhand, a lot is to be said for using the same speakers all the way around.

If you were to go with 170SE's, I would also consider upgrading the classics to SE's as well. Heck, I think I would even if you went with the 340SE.

After reading what I wrote, it does not seem like much help. Sorry.

 

[j_garcia]

I'd go with the 340C.

 

[wilkenboy]

I'd go with the 340C.

But why? Sometimes the why means more than the actual response.

~Josh

 

[wilkenboy]

I'd go with the 340C.

Especially since you opted to go with 5 of the same speakers all around, I'm really interested in why your advice is to go with the 340c?

Did you build the GRs yourself or did you order?

~Josh

 

[jcPanny]

New center

The center channel is very important for HT so go with the larger 340 center. Then your next upgrade can be the 340 Mains and you can move the 170's to the surround channels.

 

[j_garcia]

Mine are all M-T-M speakers, which are very similar in design to the 340. The higher sensitivity of the 340 vs the 170 should help give you better dialogue without effort, and likely will have better dispersion over the listening area. If it were a budget consideration or size constraint, then there would be no problem with using another 170, but in this case I'd go for the 340 because it will move much more air and give you more of everything the 170s are great at; the greater sensitivity will benefit almost regardless of room size. This was very obvious to me when I went from Paradigm Mini Monitors to Monitor 5s, and then again when I went from A/V-1s to A/V-2s. What I was actually going to suggest you do is get 340s across the front and use the 170s as surrounds like jcPanny said.

I bought my A/V-2s built, but basically rebuilt them from the ground up when I upgraded x-overs (except the cabinets, obviously). The front 3 have the Sonicap upgrade but the rears do not.

*Looks like I will get the opportunity to hear the 340SEs this weekend

 

[hopjohn]

Since neither would be an exact match I'd go with the 340 SEC if watching movies a good deal of the time. I feel the 340 would be better with movie dialogue, after all that is why they designed it.

 

[wilkenboy]

jcPanny, hopjohn, j_garcia,

All very sensible advice, and thanks for elaborating on the rationale for me.

I like the idea of eventually having the 340s as the fronts and moving the 170s back at that point.

Decision to come soon.

Found out over lunch my 170s shipped this morning!

~Josh

 

[Nick250]

The center channel is very important for HT so go with the larger 340 center. Then your next upgrade can be the 340 Mains and you can move the 170's to the surround channels.

If you do plan to upgrade to the 340s as your fronts, then I would go along with what jcPanny rather than the 170 I mentioned in my post. However you do it, having the same three up front provides for a wonderful sound stage IMO.

Nick

 

[wilkenboy]

Its decided!

Pulled the trigger on the 340c. Someday in the distant future (after the sub upgrade) I'll pick up anothe pair of 340s and move the 170s to surround duty.

Ultimately I decided the 340 for its slighly lower extension, slightly better off-angle response, and for the upgrade path to 340s in the L/R slots. The voicing of this speaker appears to be very close to the 170s based on FR plots.

For now I think its a BIG step forward from the Logitech speakers that have been serving as my mains and center!!!

Many thanks to all who offered sage advice- chicklets for you all!

~Josh

 

[Nick250]

Sounds like a great plan. Enjoy!

Nick

 

[wilkenboy]

Sounds like a great plan. Enjoy!

Nick

Thanks Nick, and for the advice as well!

~Josh

 

[cyberbri]

I think you'll be very happy with the 170s and the 340SEC. The SE upgrades are supposed to sound very good for midrange/treble, although it's not as important for the 170s if they are going to be moved to the rear.


One thing, though. Do you really have your speakers up to 8' to the side from the center? So they are about 16' (or less) apart? Is there no way to bring them closer together. That far apart, the soundstage and imaging probably aren't very good. Can you move them to 8-10' apart, equally spaced from the TV? The more symmetrical you have it set up (distance apart, distance from wall, distance to LP), the better the imaging and soundstage will be.