Upgrade drawing near...

[Hi Ho]

I am getting closer and closer to a major upgrade to my system. As that time gets closer I am becoming even more indecisive.

I have already decided on the speakers. I am either building a set of three AscendantAudio Arbiter MTM's or two TM's and an MTM center. Most likely, it will be three MTM's unless I simply cannot come up with the extra $100. I am very excited about these speakers they are looking better all the time. I can't wait to get started. I will be keeping my existing surrounds for now because there is no way I could possibly place the large Arbiter's in the back of my living room. It just won't happen.

My indecisiveness is on a receiver. I have had my mind set on a Yamaha RX-V2500 for quite a while. Will that drive those speakers well? Recently I have been looking at the Pioneer 1015. Is that comparable to the 2500? I am going to call Ascendant later today and get some answers about the power requirements and impedance of those speakers. Maybe that will help in deciding.

 

[little wing]

Receiver purchase

I had a Yamaha 2500 in my system for about 9 months. It's a well built receiver with nice features. And it sound great in DD for movies. Although I had absolutley no use for the 50 or 60 different surround modes. I thought that was way overkill. With the mic and GUI it was easy to set up. Where I had a problem with this receiver was 2 channel sound. The "stereo" mode sounded unfocused. The "Pure Direct" mode sounded anemic. The best option for me was the "Straight" mode. But it still sounded thin. This receiver is for video, IMO. So, I put it on the market and a fine gentleman from across the pond (England) to be exact, bought it from me. I now have an Integra DTR 7.6, which I think sounds much better in stereo. Or maybe it's just more to my taste. It all depends what you are looking for. At least you could take home a 2500 from an authorized dealer, say tweeter, and take it for test drive.

 

[Swerd]

I have already decided on the speakers. I am either building a set of three AscendantAudio Arbiter MTM's or two TM's and an MTM center. Most likely, it will be three MTM's unless I simply cannot come up with the extra $100. I am very excited about these speakers they are looking better all the time. I can't wait to get started. I will be keeping my existing surrounds for now because there is no way I could possibly place the large Arbiter's in the back of my living room. It just won't happen.

My indecisiveness is on a receiver. I have had my mind set on a Yamaha RX-V2500 for quite a while. Will that drive those speakers well? Recently I have been looking at the Pioneer 1015. Is that comparable to the 2500? I am going to call Ascendant later today and get some answers about the power requirements and impedance of those speakers. Maybe that will help in deciding.

I thought I knew most of the DIY speaker kit building websites, but Ascendant Audio is new to me. I didn't notice a price anywhere, what do they cost? Have you listened to these speakers? Do you know anyone who has done business with them? Were they satisfied? What is their return policy?

If I sound suspicious, it's because they give little or no detailed info about the speakers' performance. The writeup on the MTM speakers was full of breathless enthusiasm and marketing hype but provided no solid info. I find that odd considering they are marketing to DIY kit builders. I couldn't find an estimate of the speakers' sensitivity or impedance, which would give you an idea of their power requirements. I also would like to see a frequency response curve.

I'm not saying that these are bad products, just that they don't tell you enough about their products. They might be fine and a great bargain, but they might also be the kit equivalent of white van speakers.

 

[jcPanny]

Receivers

I think that the Yamaha RX-V2500 will be much more transparent and have a better pre-amp stage then the yamaha. It has been recommended as a pre-pro due to these qualities.

Good luck on the speaker project. Have you checked out the Onix X-LS bookshelf speakers for $200 / pair, already assembled, real wood veneer. They received a great review and would be cheaper then the parts for your project.

 

[Hi Ho]

Swerd, I have down business with Ascendant in the past The subwoofer I built used an Ascendant Audio Atlas 12" and it is phenominal. They are making a name for themselves in the DIY community.

They are not finished updating their site yet so all of the information is not there. The prices are toward the bottom of the page in red. $155 each for the MTM with all hardware/crossover parts plus the flare port.

I trust them to sell a good quality product. If their subwoofers are any indication, the Arbiter's should be excellent. As I said in my original post, I will be calling them to get more information. Their website is sort of a mess right now.

 

[highfihoney]

Swerd, I have down business with Ascendant in the past The subwoofer I built used an Ascendant Audio Atlas 12" and it is phenominal. They are making a name for themselves in the DIY community.

your sub looks great,you did a very nice job building it & you should be proud of it.

 

[Hi Ho]

Thanks, I will finally get around to applying cherry veneer when I build the speakers, which will also be cherry.

 

[Swerd]

Swerd, I have down business with Ascendant in the past The subwoofer I built used an Ascendant Audio Atlas 12" and it is phenominal. They are making a name for themselves in the DIY community.

They are not finished updating their site yet so all of the information is not there. The prices are toward the bottom of the page in red. $155 each for the MTM with all hardware/crossover parts plus the flare port.

I trust them to sell a good quality product. If their subwoofers are any indication, the Arbiter's should be excellent. As I said in my original post, I will be calling them to get more information. Their website is sort of a mess right now.

OK, I did find the prices, they are very low, and it makes a big difference that you have already done business with them.

Just a heads up about the Vifa XT25 tweeters that Ascendant mentions. Tymphany (http://www.tymphany.com/), the company that recently bought the Danish speaker lines of Vifa, Peerless, and ScanSpeak has sold the name Vifa. http://www.tymphany.com/products_Peerless_vline.html. The old Vifa XT25 tweeter is now called the Peerless Vline XT25. Beware of any other product now carrying the name Vifa unless you can be certain of its origin. Ask Ascendant if their tweeters were made by Tymphany or Danish Sound Technology which was the company that Tymphany bought last summer. If they are knock-offs of the real thing, which may be so considering the price, it may still be OK as long as you know up front. At Madisound, the current price for the XT25 is $53.50 each, and $68.50 for the shielded version. http://www.madisound.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?exact_match=yes&product=VIX&cart_id=7927280.13797

The XT25 is a very good tweeter, but should be crossed over at somewhat higher frequencies than many other tweeters, say from 2,500 to 3,000 Hz. I was curious about that in the Ascendant MTM, but they didn't provide enough info.

 

[Hi Ho]

I was too late in calling yesterday (stupid time zones ) but I will try again today. Judging by the pricing of the poly midwoofer alone ($35) the total price seems to be inline with the price of the tweeter. Again, I will ask all these questions when I talk to them.

They have expanded a lot recently and these are their second generation products. Before all they had were two lines of subwoofers, Atlas and Avalance. I bought the "low end" Atlas and the performance is stunning. I can't imagine what the Avalanche would be like.