CMT-340 versus Intimus 5C

[David1899]

I need to upgrade my center speaker and am thinking about either the Ascend Acoustics CMT-340 or the Aperion Audio Intimus 5C. The Aperion is $50 more.

Any thoughts on which is the better buy? Preferences for either speaker/company?

Thanks.

 

[oppman99]

Not quite the answer to your question, but......Some recommend using the same speaker as your fronts also mounted vertically. Not really practical in many set-ups. Next best is a center in the same brand/line as your mains. Ideally you want timbre matched speakers across the front to provide a seamless soundstage. Mixing and matching may or may not work well depending on the combination you choose. It's a gamble unless you know someone who has tried the same combination. Let us know what you use for your mains, and someone might have experience with one of the combinations you're looking at or give you a different route to consider.

 

[AVRat]

So Dave, what about the 170 that you feel the need to upgrade? The 340 is necessary for proper timbre match. How does it all sound?

 

[David1899]

This is a long story, but the short version is as follows....

Our furniture didn't provide a good place for my center channel and my wife absolutely refused mounting the 170 on the wall. My installer (old friend, of course) said he had an in-wall that he would put in for basically nothing on top of what he was already charging for the wiring. I was skeptical but he said he did it all the time and there was no way I would notice the difference. We went that direction. I noticed.

We have since purchased new furniture and now have a place for the center. I was thinking "center speaker" when I started this thread, but have reread everyone's advice and am going for the 170.

As far as how it all sounds... not good right now, but should be better in a hurry.

Thanks again for your responses. I will definitely let you know how everything sounds when its up and running.

 

[AVRat]

I was really wondering, with the exception of the center, how the rest of the system sounds? Have you tried running it with the center turned off? It will be better with the center, but just as a test filling your room with sound. Did you buy a sub? Is it sufficient?

 

[David1899]

I held off on ordering a sub for $$ reasons and have been using a Proficient Audio 12" that I am borrowing. It's not performing well and I'm not sure if it's simply too small for the room, poor quality or both.

Now that I've resolved my center situation, I'd like to go ahead and start looking for a sub again. I have several suggestions from my previous thread so let me know if you see a good deal or there's something else I should consider.

It's a little hard for me to say how the system sounds due to the above, but, to my untrained ear, the 170s have plenty of "power" and I'm happy with the Aperion in-walls as well.The biggest problem I was having was with dialogue. Unless the volume was cranked way up, you couldn't understand what anyone was saying and then the fronts always seemed to overpower the center.

On that note, I've used the automatic speaker callibration on my Onkyo 607. Should that be sufficient or would you recommend manual callibration? If so, is there some form of guide you recommend? I don't feel I have a good enough grasp of tech specs to do it on my own.

I never thought about turning of the center and playing the others (dumb). I'll have to give that a go.


Thanks for the help.