SVS, HSU, aSCEND & SO MANY MORE...HELP!

Slater

Slater

Junior Audioholic
With so many solid internet direct companys & options how can one decide!
In my budget these are all comparable but I cant decide without hearing them so would love to hear everyones opinions & experiences..
SVS SCS
HSU HB-4
Ascend cbm-170

So many deals out right now & really want to jump on this!
My main concern is just want an amazing ht experience, really not that imporatant to me about how they play music.
Does one company shine more than the next?
Thanks for the info
 
njedpx3

njedpx3

Audioholic General
With so many solid internet direct companys & options how can one decide!
In my budget these are all comparable but I cant decide without hearing them so would love to hear everyones opinions & experiences..
SVS SCS
HSU HB-4
Ascend cbm-170

So many deals out right now & really want to jump on this!
My main concern is just want an amazing ht experience, really not that imporatant to me about how they play music.
Does one company shine more than the next?
Thanks for the info
How much is your budget? How big is your room?

I have an SVS subwoofer and they rock! - SVS great quality and customer service. The SVS home theater in a box would also be good. Hsu and Ascend are good brands also. You might check the Audioholics online store, they also have some good HTIB systems. http://store.audioholics.com/section/80/1/home-theater-in-a-box


You are looking for HTIB, but you might also consider and AVR and fronts.

Good Luck!

Forest Man
 
Slater

Slater

Junior Audioholic
How much is your budget? How big is your room?

I have an SVS subwoofer and they rock! - SVS great quality and customer service. The SVS home theater in a box would also be good. Hsu and Ascend are good brands also. You might check the Audioholics online store, they also have some good HTIB systems. http://store.audioholics.com/section/80/1/home-theater-in-a-box


You are looking for HTIB, but you might also consider and AVR and fronts.

Good Luck!

Forest Man
I have an Onkyo 706
room is 30 x 20 but is seperated by the kitchen.
Have pics on my previous post.
 
Slater

Slater

Junior Audioholic
Ive been doing my research & trying to make a choice but with so many great options out there with ID companies & without hearing them, makes it really tough to do so. Been looking at the HSU bookshelfs with horn tweeters, the SVS small bookshelfs, The Ascend cbm-170's, also even considered the EMP e5ti tower package, will be needing a 12" sub also.
My room is 30x20 but 10x10 of that is open to the kitchen.
Listening to all these is not an option but from your guys experience, where would you put your money????
Another question which may save me some$$$, if the rear surrounds are directly behind the sofa should I still go with a quality matching bookshelf or will a small less expensive satelite be plenty in my large room?
My concerns are mostly with home theater use 90%, but ofcoarse they should sound good while playing music which I personally never do. That im sure will change after I get my system done & in ahhh over the sound, I hope.
So, opinions & advise would be really appreciated at this point, thanks! One of these must shine hands down without a doubt from the rest in every way but me being a newbie, I dont know & would like multiple inputs before I waste my money.
Lots of great deals out there right now but if I cant decide....


Purchased a Vizio 55inch LED/LCD from Costco & I just picked up an Onkyo 706 per Jacks recommendation from accecories4less.
Listening habits, I guess I would say low to moderate volume levels. Im not looking to shake the house or huge volume levels arent that important to me. Im sure all my choices will be loud enough! Ive read a few post regarding more nuetral speakers vs. more forgiving softer speaker.
Dont know what that really means to me & my untrained ears, etc..
I would like it to sound great at lower levels as I see myself using it during everyday tv use.
The HSU is the only one that has a horn, not sure if that would be a + or not.
Shipping costs & sales tax is another thing im considering. Im in San Diego so HSU appears that ide be paying sales tax.
I havent actually confirmed with SVS but looks like about $150-$160 in shipping charges for a complete system with sub according to the website.
Seems ridiculious!
 
ErnieM

ErnieM

Audioholic
Hsu guy

SVS is highly respected in this community, but so also is Hsu, though not as popular. After a lot of thought and auditioning speakers like the B&W 685 I went with Hsu. I am VERY pleased with my system (for details, see my signature).

My advice if you are wondering about horn-driven speakers, go somewhere that sells Klipsch or other horns and compare them to non-horn speakers in roughly the same price range. If the horns sound too "bright" to you, then you won't like the Hsu HB 1 Mk 2 s. If you like the Klipsch sound, you'll probably like the Hsu. BTW, Klipsch is also a decent brand! Check out the Klipsch RB 81. I elected to go with Hsu because ordering via internet I got more "bang for my buck."

I'm only running a 5.1 system and my surrounds are the very small Hsu VT 254 s. They do the job for me.

Check out the sales on the Hsu site.
 
Slater

Slater

Junior Audioholic
SVS is highly respected in this community, but so also is Hsu, though not as popular. After a lot of thought and auditioning speakers like the B&W 685 I went with Hsu. I am VERY pleased with my system (for details, see my signature).

My advice if you are wondering about horn-driven speakers, go somewhere that sells Klipsch or other horns and compare them to non-horn speakers in roughly the same price range. If the horns sound too "bright" to you, then you won't like the Hsu HB 1 Mk 2 s. If you like the Klipsch sound, you'll probably like the Hsu. BTW, Klipsch is also a decent brand! Check out the Klipsch RB 81. I elected to go with Hsu because ordering via internet I got more "bang for my buck."

I'm only running a 5.1 system and my surrounds are the very small Hsu VT 254 s. They do the job for me.

Check out the sales on the Hsu site.
Im very aware of all the sales right now which is another reason im on the fence. Have heard allot of good thisngs about the Ascends but also can get quite a discount with the others that offer a sub in a package deal.
The Rythmik sub Ascend offers is way out of my league & not necessary for my needs.

At this point in the game I dont see myself installing any acoustic wall treatments so a horn tweeter may make matters worse.

Ascend is about an hour away from me & are offering a nice sale on bstocks also.
 
Slater

Slater

Junior Audioholic
Ok, went to my local Magnolia BestBuy & listened to 2 bookshelfs, dont have model #s.
$219 each Definitives & $400 each Kilipsh's.
Observation to my untrained ear. We watched a shoot'em scene in the Incredible Hulk.
The bullets & gunshoots were very twangy & way more dramatic with the Kilipsh's vs the Definitive hands down were very muffled to me.
Wouldnt have paid $50 to get the sound I heard from the Definitives, they were very blah & ordinary to my ear. Not sure if it was the bass that made them sound muffled or just lack of a horn tweeter compared to the Kilipsh. Being able to listen to the 2 speakers side by side I can say I would want the sound that the Kilpish offered me. Even though I would never spend $419 per speaker. That was the only horn loaded bookshelf they had for my comparision.
So I guess I dont like a soft sounding speaker. I loved the sharpness of the highs in the Kilipsh.
Not sure if that means the HSU's are my answer or the quality in The Ascends will give me the same sound???
 
Ares

Ares

Audioholic Samurai
Ok, went to my local Magnolia BestBuy & listened to 2 bookshelfs, dont have model #s.
$219 each Definitives & $400 each Kilipsh's.
Observation to my untrained ear. We watched a shoot'em scene in the Incredible Hulk.
The bullets & gunshoots were very twangy & way more dramatic with the Kilipsh's vs the Definitive hands down were very muffled to me.
Wouldnt have paid $50 to get the sound I heard from the Definitives, they were very blah & ordinary to my ear. Not sure if it was the bass that made them sound muffled or just lack of a horn tweeter compared to the Kilipsh. Being able to listen to the 2 speakers side by side I can say I would want the sound that the Kilpish offered me. Even though I would never spend $419 per speaker. That was the only horn loaded bookshelf they had for my comparision.
So I guess I dont like a soft sounding speaker. I loved the sharpness of the highs in the Kilipsh.
Not sure if that means the HSU's are my answer or the quality in The Ascends will give me the same sound???
If memory serves me the def techs that you listen to were the pro monitor 1000's and the klipsch Icon 4" xb-10 model according to the price that you gave. actually the kilpsch is $499 on best buys website. Bass? please explain. also this is not a fair fight the klipsch you could have it on volume 2 and the def tech at the same volume level and the klipsch would kill it every time you would have to raise the volume level of the def tech to match the klipsch then you can really evaluate the speakers.
 
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Slater

Slater

Junior Audioholic
If memory serves me the def techs that you listen to were the pro monitor 1000's and the klipsch Icon 4" xb-10 model according to the price that you gave. actually the kilpsch is $499 on best buys website. Bass? please explain.
They used a deftech smaller sub with 3 drivers, 3 6" drivers if I remember correctly. Looking at the best buy site after I got home, you are correct. The Dt's were 90db & K's were 92db.
 
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Ares

Ares

Audioholic Samurai
Sounds like the SuperCube III nice sub, if you audition these 2 again ask them to turn off the this would a little and make sure to raise the volume on the def techs to match the klipsch then you should have your answer.
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
Based on what I have read, if you want a more detailed sound, go with the Ascends. If you want greater dynamic response, go with the Hsu's. If you want a better off axis response, go with the SVS speakers. These are just guesses though, and the only speaker I have heard personally are the Hsu's. I think any of them would be good speakers.

Something to consider is the Ascend and Hsu speakers are rear ported, so you cannot mount them directly against the wall, they will need space behind them. The SVS can be placed directly on a wall, and it shouldn't hurt the sound as much. The Hsu's and probably the Ascend, really benefit from space around them. Positioning is important with the Hsu's too, the sound can change quite a bit depending on where they are pointed at. However, I wouldn't be surprised if they have the best bass extension, and I would also expect them to have the best dynamic response. In a large room, I would go with the Hsu's, in a medium size room, the Ascends. The SVS might be best in a smaller room since you can place them right on a wall.

Remember, this is mostly just speculation though.
 
Ares

Ares

Audioholic Samurai
Shady correct me if I am wrong don't the Hsu's have a room loudness rating of 4, You could also move the SVS more towards a corner for little bass boost they are more forgiving in that way than a rear ported speaker.
 
Slater

Slater

Junior Audioholic
I stand corrected!
The Kilpsh's I listened to were wb-14 92 db vs Defs were pro monitor 1000's @ 90db. Talking to the geek squad guy on the phone just now Kilpsh were set at -7 & we played the Defs at +5

So they were somewhat level matched. Started with the Defs & switched to the K's he stated we turned the volume down & we actually did this a few times. Im actually will be going back in the morning & listen to some towers also & be doing the bookshelves again with the gf's ear for another opinion..
 
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Ares

Ares

Audioholic Samurai
If you could this might sound a bit much to you take an spl meter with you so you can set everything you listen to is matched according to the spl meter.
 
Slater

Slater

Junior Audioholic
Pete at HSU & Dave at Ascend both said they can be wall mounted on an omni mount & when angled down will give them enough wall clearance. Dena @ Ascend is trying to convince me on a set of 340,s on the front & 170's in the rear but I dont even want to think about that right now. Just want to make sense of what I heard...
 
Ares

Ares

Audioholic Samurai
They tried the same thing with me and they will keep pushing those 340's.
 
Slater

Slater

Junior Audioholic
They tried the same thing with me and they will keep pushing those 340's.
Well in your situation isnt the 340 somewhat comparable to the SCS that you decided on?
i would think the 170 would be compared to a sbs..
 
Ares

Ares

Audioholic Samurai
340 90db weight 26lbs price $468pr w/o shipping
SCS-01 87db weight 19lbs price $329pr w/o shipping
170 89db weight 14lbs price $348pr w/o shipping
SBS-01 85db weight 11lbs price $149pr w/o shipping
So with this info I started to make my choice took into account price and sensitivity, so with that I choose the 170's and the SCS's because they were closer in the two points I was looking at. the SCS's and 340's did not match up in my comparison because of price and sensitivity I did not want to spend more then $400 a pair for speakers.
 
Slater

Slater

Junior Audioholic
West Coast / East Coast battle right there! I can drive up to Ascend, about an hour away no shipping. SVS package $160 shipping sub & 5.1, isnt looking good for them hanging out in my living room at this point in the battle...
 
Ares

Ares

Audioholic Samurai
Do have to pay tax on them. also I thought you were looking into the SBS-01? which are $149 a pair.
 
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