Wow. Thanks for the kind words!
If nothing else, I think George - and by extension, everyone else reading this thread - is certainly getting a great, first hand education as to just how much room acoustics, placement, and setup really do affect the sound. And I, for one, certainly appreciate that George is coming at this with patience, persistence, and a willingness to go through a whole bunch of trial and error.
I harp on about the importance of the room as being a full 50% of any sound system, and I bemoan how decidedly NOT "plug and play" a great sound system really is. The audio side of home theatre is deceptively complex. Each individual part is not necessarily all that complicated. But there are a lot of parts! And more than that, they all need to work together. And that's where things get really tricky.
Since I have a fair bit of first hand experience with Onkyo's current higher-end lineup of receivers, I still don't think the 818 is inherently "to blame". Hopefully, George and I will be able to talk further, and possibly sort out some issues with that 818. I'm optimistic
But I think what's really important to note here is that all indications are that the Ascend speakers are not inherently flawed. The CMT-340SE have exceptionally wide and linear dispersion. That tends to make the effects of the room's reflections more pronounced. And George's experience of walking around the room and easily hearing the difference in sound quality at various locations within the room are consistent with that expectation. I personally prefer these types of wide, even dispersion speakers, because they are the only way to have a very wide "sweet spot", where every seat in the theatre is treated to similarly good sound. But I am also a strong advocate of acoustic room treatments, and reducing reflections and the effects of the room's acoustics - so these things go hand-in-hand.
At the moment, I've recommended that George wait on purchasing any room treatments because he does not plan to stay in this room long term. And to me, it makes more sense to focus on room treatments that will be designed for a more permanent installation in the future. But right now, I think George is suffering the consequences of having purchased speakers that very much interact with the room's acoustics, but without addressing those acoustics at the same time.
With the change in AV Receiver, it's also clear that the Ascend speakers are more than capable of conveying the changes in the signal chain. And again, I come back to them being very neutral and transparent speakers that simply "tell it like it is". Because of that, I once again do not think that the speakers themselves are inherently "to blame" for less than pleasing playback. In essence, they can sound any way you want them to sound. There simply need to be equalization adjustments made, and the Ascend speakers will accurately reflect those changes.
This is tough. But I keep coming back to the topic of setup and calibration because I know the capabilities of these products quite well. Thanks to George's patience and willingness to work through all of these issues, we're getting a great account of what I so often try to convey: great gear is only half of the audio equation! And even great products can produce disappointing results if there are problems with that other half.
I want nothing more than to get this system working to the point that George is truly happy with it. And if equipment changes are the only way to achieve that, I'm all for it! But I'm happy to see George's first hand account of just how much the room's acoustics, and changes to the setup and calibration really do affect the sound. If we're aware of that, then we're on the right path. Now we just need to take away all the wrong turns and dead ends, and we'll be in business!
