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Submitted by
ghill166
a AudioPhile
from Date Reviewed: January 17, 2012
Bottom Line: My entire experience with Ascend was top-notch. The customer service was great, and very responsive.
It's already documented all over the internet that these speakers contain drivers and a crossover that are WAY above their price-range, but you really need to see the speakers to get a feel for the quality.
My main concern with these speakers was that they would not be able to compete with the clarity of some of their metal tweeter based competitors like Axiom or Paradigm. I regret ever having doubted Ascend. If there is one word to describe this speaker, it's CLARITY. I'm not a fan of Norah Jones, but she has always had some great recording quality. On some of her songs, you can literally hear the "smack" of her lips opening and closing before she sings! Now, my Polk's sound like someone had covered them with a blanket.
I should also mention that these speakers have great dynamics. They're not big by any means, but they can really put out some SPL's for their size! They can easily fill any medium sized room when paired with a sub, and they sound so natural even when they're cranked. Even my wife mentioned that the music sounded like it was being played in the room.
There is one downside, though. Now, I need to buy a new receiver just ot make sure that my Ascends properly treated.
Forget about the competition and take the plunge. You won't be disappointed.
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Submitted by
Kumar
a Audio Enthusiast
from Date Reviewed: April 30, 2011
Bottom Line: Paid $80 for a used pair and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the sound these speakers produce.
Don't buy them if u are concerned about how they look.... they look quite ugly and cheap except for the binding posts. I compared them with my NHT VT 1a floor standers and the CBM170s have a much wider range comparatively. I drive them on my Nakamichi AV-1 and cant even increase the volume to 15-20% in my decent sized living room. These dont have any artificial bass or any artificial warmth seen in most medium priced speakers. A friend of mine says these sound very much like his Paradigm Studio 20s, thats quite a comparison considering the price difference.
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Submitted by
RWoods
a AudioPhile
from Date Reviewed: December 4, 2010
Bottom Line: Picked these up for $298 on Black Friday and man do they rock. I typically only build my speakers because honestly the price/performance ratio just isn't there on mass produced audio equipment. But, I'd been hearing a lot about Ascend on the various audio forums, so I'd been wanting to give them a shot and for $298 I figured why not.
I only have one pair of commercial speakers to compare these against, which are Paradigm Studio 20s I purchased in the early 2000s, before I discovered the wonders of DIY. Compared to the Studio 20s, the Ascends blow them away for about half the price. They reproduce music so accurately it's really quite astonishing. In my room I measured about +/- 2 dB from 70 Hz - 18 kHz...pretty incredible for a sub $300 speaker! The highs are airy and let you "see" into the music better than any commercial speaker under say $750 that I've ever heard. They are missing some bass. These don't go much lower than 60 Hz. But, what is there is punchy and accurate. No fake boom to make these sound deeper than they actually are.
In terms of build quality, they are very good. WAF isn't there, because honestly the finish is pretty ugly, but the cabinet uses pretty thick MDF and is well braced. The drivers are high quality, manufactured by OEMs with pretty prestigious reputations, and supply drivers to some speaker manufacturers for use in speakers that cost in the thousands of dollars. The tweeter, made by SEAS, is the real star, but the Audax woofer is excellent as well. They really work well together. Finally, you have the crossover which you can tell had a lot of work put into it. This is not a single capacitor used simply to keep the speaker from blowing up, which is what you'd find in the typical sub-$300 speaker (and sub $1000 for that matter). This crossover is actually doing something! Ascend doesn't skimp here either using pretty high quality air core inductors and bypass caps.
OK, I'm done rambling. In a nutshell, these are a great alternative to DIY and far superior to anything you'd find your typical "audiophile" shop. Honestly, I'm not sure I could build complete speakers for $300 that sound as good as these.
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Submitted by
Audiophonics
a Audio Enthusiast
from Date Reviewed: June 15, 2008
Strengths: Great tweeter, airly highs. Midrange is spot on.Weaknesses: weak low end, but, of course are meant to go along with a sub.Bottom Line: I purchased these speakers as rear surrounds to complete a 5.1 system. My setup consists of a Panasonic sr55 reciever, paradigm studio 20s as LR and a 470 center. Basically I wanted an inexpensive way to complete the setup without resorting to buying another set of studio 20's. (aiming to get studio 60's soon).
Anyway, these speakers fit the bill perfectly. Had no expected such quality, but they sure come close to the studio 20's, for half the price. The timber matching is off slightly, but far closer to my mains and center than I ever expected. Highs are airy, midrange is full, and imaging is quite wide. I am getting a VTF2.3 to complete the setup, and I have no doubt that the 170s will shine with the low end support.
Additionally, the time I did test the 170s as mains when I first purchased them, I did hear a small but distinct difference between the tweeters of the 170's and those of the 'digms. The studio 20's are ever so slightly crisper w/dialogue, and in the upper harmonics of explosions and the like, this is probably due to the 170's soft dome tweeters vs the studio's aluminum one. As I've said the difference is slight, and the 170's are quite a phenomenal value.
Price Paid:
$368.00
Purchased At: Ascend
Similar Products Used: Sony, Aiwa, Klipsch RBs, Paradigm Studio
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Submitted by
stimuli
a Audio Enthusiast
from Date Reviewed: July 1, 2007
Strengths: Excellent Value, reasonable price for quite good sound. Beautiful highs, decent mids.Weaknesses: Nothing glaring, when used with a quality sub. Works as engineered to (small rooms, on-axis, with sub).Bottom Line: The are good speakers; nothing more, nothing less.
The highs are outstanding and are what separate these from big box retail speakers. The mids are good; the bass weak and in need of a quality subwoofer for true full-spectrum sound.
Off axis sound is unremarkable... these are not Ohm Micro Walshes! But for small box speakers these have fair imaging and are not brutally unforgiving of less-than-ideal positioning. For the very fair price these will surely please, if not amaze, the audio enthusiast. Pair with a detailed amplifier and good digital source for
A very good product at a fair price, with no glaring weaknesses sans the lack of bass (which was a conscious trade-off of the manufacturer). Don't let he endless stream of over-keen reviews skew your judgement: these are not miracle-working speakers. Nonetheless I do recommend them.
Price Paid:
$368.00
Purchased At: Ascend
Similar Products Used: Polk, Mirage
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