A F F O R D A B L E $ $ A U D I O Ascend Acoustics CMT-340 SE SE), and its larger sibling, the MTM-aligned By Clarke Robinson CMT-340 SE.

Specifications The original version of the CMT-340 was re- leased in 2003, three years after the birth of Typical In-Room Frequency Response 45Hz - 20kHz +/- 3dB the much-lauded CBM-170. Both were redes- In-Room Sensitivity 92dB @ 1 watt / 1 meter igned last year and given the “SE” distinction Frequency Response (Anechoic) 48Hz - 24kHz (meaning +/- 3dB Sensitivity (Anechoic) 90dB @ 1 watt/ 1 meter “special edi- Average Impedance 8 ohms tion”). Most of Minimum Recommended Power 35 watts the SE im- Maximum Continous Power 240 watts provements Maximum Short Term Peak Power 400 watts Cabinet Internally Braced 5/8" MDF, Magnetically were to the Shielded, Bass Reflex via Rear Tuned Port drivers (As- Dimensions H x W x D (grill on) 21" x 7.5" x 10.5" cend designs Dimensions H x W x D (with stands) 45" x 10" x 14" their own driv- Weight (each) 26 lbs. each Tweeter: (1) High-definition 27mm soft dome tweeter w/ ers but has damping chamber and wide roll surround, ferrofluid them built by damped voice coil, wide dispersion faceplate, magneti- outside ven- cally shielded Woofer (2) proprietary 6.5" long throw polygel cone dors: the woofers w/phase plug, non-resonant polymer chassis, tweeters by rubber surround, shielded SEAS of Nor- Connectors (4) gold plated all metal 5 way binding way, the posts, bi-wire ready. Price $568/pair, optional stands $140/pair woofers by a manufacturer Without question, the best fast food restaurant that Fabrikant in the Western U.S. is In ‘n’ Out Burger. They has agreed consistently deliver the freshest, best quality not to name). ground beef sandwiches available within arm’s The tweeter reach of your driver’s-side window. Their se- was com- cret? Focus. Their entire menu consists of just pletely redes- three items: the Hamburger with onions, the igned, result- Cheeseburger with onions, and the Double ing in im- Double. Optionally, you can get fries, a soda, proved frequency response in both directions; or a shake. That’s it. No chicken, no fish filets, and a new cone material was developed for no burritos or chipotle bacon ciabatta what- the woofers, allowing better bass performance ever…they just keep it simple, and do it right. with lower distortion.

If speaker companies were fast food restau- Not Exactly Love at First Sight rants, Ascend Acoustics would be In ‘n’ Out To be honest, I didn’t think much of the CMT- Burger. Ascend was started in February of 340s when they first came out of the box. Built 2000 by an experienced team of audio pros out of 5/8" MDF, they’re not particularly heavy, (head honcho Dave Fabrikant is a veteran of and barely passed the “knuckle rap” test. Also, M&K Sound) with the goal of providing the and maybe I’m getting spoiled by AV123’s highest possible sound quality at the most af- gorgeous veneers, but for $568 a pair I was fordable price. Since then they have added somewhat put out by the Ascend’s unremark- but three products to their line up: a compact able black “orange peel” texture vinyl finish. sealed speaker (the HTM-200), an award- winning 6.5" bookshelf speaker (the CBM-170 If the build quality of the 340s was cause for concern, the matching stands were cause for

4! Affordable$$Audio A F F O R D A B L E $ $ A U D I O alarm. These are basically hollow boxes made was that the material be thoroughly dry, as from even lighter 1/2" MDF and the same moisture is an enemy of MDF. One trip to black vinyl siding, albeit with a set of good Home Depot later and each stand was filled quality brass spikes. with 50 lbs. of kiln-dried playground sand (total cost around $10)…and I haven’t heard that Mind you, they don’t look bad, and even boxy coloration since. Gone also was any no- though their black vinyl finish matches nothing tion of the 340s dedicated stands being light- in my living room, at only 7.5" wide they don’t weight or inadequate for the task…at 50 lbs. really stand out. The 340s are each, they are now the technically mini-towers (21" most solid fixtures in my tall), but when mounted on the system. stands they certainly look the part of floorstanding tower The CMT-340s highs speakers, rivaling in appear- have a crisp presence ance most anything you can that is extended without find at a typical big box elec- being overbearing. The tronics chain. bass is tight and tuneful, not bleeding into the lower mids at all. This Don’t Judge a Book by its could make them sound Cover bass shy to some, but I …or a set of speakers by its assure you the bass is cheap vinyl finish. I positioned there (flat to below 50Hz the CMT-340s according to in my room), it just manual’s (very specific) direc- doesn’t make itself tions: 2 feet from be- known unless specifi- hind them, 7.3 feet apart, toed cally called upon. Still, in directly at the listening posi- the 340s benefit greatly tion 10 feet away. Once I put on from the addition of a some music, I went slack- subwoofer…I used a jawed…I was struck immedi- single Onix x-sub (easily ately by the 340s articulate the most musical sub sound, with a detailed, airy you’ll find for $200) for presentation I’ve only thought the majority of my listen- possible with much more ex- ing tests. pensive speakers. As nice as the 340s At first, I did notice a slight boxy bass & treble are, their coloration in the mids. It was pièce de résistance is subtle, but would stand out for the midrange. Neutral the first few minutes of each lis- but lively, this seems to tening session…after that my be the heart of where ears would adjust and the coloration seemed the Ascends’ detail lies. The new CMT-340 SE to fade. I suspected a cabinet resonance, and drivers use a new light-mass cone material fired off an email to Dave to ask what he Ascend calls “polygel”, which, according to thought. The cabinets, it turns out, are braced Fabrikant, “combined with the advanced motor and damped in very specific (and effective) assembly used and a real phase plug (which ways; he thought the culprit was probably the eliminates compression caused by a dust cap) stands, which he strongly recommended be allows the woofer to reproduce fast and accu- filled with sand or shot. The only requirement rate transients.” That means when the ampli-

Affordable$$Audio! 5 A F F O R D A B L E $ $ A U D I O fier tells the speaker to stop playing, it stops… Of course, speakers capable of demonstrating quickly. Subtle details (like the guitar pick such nuance do far more than rock. An audio- scraping the string just before the note phile acquaintance of mine recently turned me sounds) are kept intact, as are the even more on to Holly Cole’s of Tom Waits covers, subtle sonic clues that make up accurate im- Temptation. “Unless your speakers are up to aging and soundstage. it, it sounds like something is missing from this recording,” he advised. I first gave it a spin at This gives work, with a pair of $25 headphones1 plugged the 340s a in to the side of my laptop. Something was in- level of de- deed missing, and I wondered just what all the tail that is fuss was about this recording. When I came precise but home and cued it up on the Ascends, how- non- ever, Cole’s vocals came to life, and her fatiguing. I band’s deeply understated sense of groove was able to bubbled to the surface. listen to the 340s for The CMT-340s are particularly effective on hours on large ensemble recordings, quite often the end, and I bane of smaller speakers, which can have never found trouble keeping up during complex musical them unmu- passages. One of my favorite moments with sical or un- them was with Paquito D’Rivera’s powerful involving. A Portraits of Cuba, a Chesky SACD with par- good exam- ticularly good recording quality. I had it playing ple of this loud in the living room one night while attempt- was with ing to clean the kitchen one room away…I Led Zeppe- was continually pulled back into the living lin II…a re- room, as I was repeatedly convinced there cording with was a 14-piece Cuban horn band in my a boatload house! of raw rock ‘n’ roll en- David Murray, for my money the world’s ergy, but a greatest living saxophone player, has long fair helping been a noteworthy composer and arranger as of studio ar- well. This is demonstrated powerfully on his tifacts as Octet recordings, where he has always man- well. Clinical aged to make his band sound bigger that it sounding speakers will call so much attention really is. This illusion wasn’t lost when listen- to the latter that you miss out on the former, ing to Murray’s classic Home (Black Saint but this was not the case with the Ascends. 120055) on the Ascends. However, they pre- While they made the musical (and non- sented the music with more space around musical) detail in the recording clearly audible, each musician than I’ve previously heard, they presented this rock classic with enough which gave me new insights into the brilliant guts that it practically begged to be turned up. timbral and harmonic contrasts Murray uses to When I did, they gave it back to me in spades, get his “big band” sound. hitting volume levels that got my fist pumping and head banging even in my 13x20 foot liv- The same can be said for symphonic record- ing room. ings…I was transfixed hearing specific instru- ment placements in Fritz Reiner and the Chi- cago Symphony Orchestra’s Also Sprach Za-

6! Affordable$$Audio A F F O R D A B L E $ $ A U D I O rathustra (RCA Living Stereo, SACD). The more difficult to tell apart. Both were obviously 340s also did an excellent job with the schizo- voiced with neutrality in mind, and each ar- phrenic dynamics of Berlioz’ Symphonie Fan- rived close enough to the goal that I was un- tastique (Mercury Living Presence, SACD), in able to pick a favorite. The VR-1s have more particular the dramatic tympani/ duet sec- extended bass, which gave a solidity and tion near the end of the 3rd movement, and weightiness to their lower midrange presenta- the chaotic finale. I did detect a bit of conges- tion that bested the 340s during full-range lis- tion near the end of the 1st movement, where tening, but this advantage diminished with the I couldn’t quite hear each individual mallet use of a subwoofer. The VR-1s also threw a strike in some of the more complex tympani wider soundstage, and boasted a smoother work, however this could just as well be room top-end (although I’m not 100% convinced sound from the original masters (the perform- that this “smoothness” was anything more ance was recorded, after all, in 1959…in a De- than treble roll-off). troit high school auditorium). Although the Ascends’ more punchy upper Room sound is a big part of avant-garde alto mids made the Steinway Model D on Keith sax player Jemeel Moondoc’s Spirit House Jarrett’s Carnegie Hall Concert and the (Eremite 029), recorded live in Bezanson Re- Bösendorfer Imperial on Clark Terry’s One on cital Hall at the University of Massachusetts, One sound a tad bright (two not nor- Amherst. The naturally-recorded reverb pre- mally known for being bright), they brought a sent in the hall was portrayed realistically, welcome presence to vocals, guitar, saxo- making for a particularly life-like listening ex- phone, trumpet, etc. that the more polite VR- perience…I found myself clapping after the 1s lacked. Also, the 340s are 3db more effi- solos! The spirited performance gets a bit ca- cient in-room (according to both manufactur- cophonic at times, especially during two con- er’s specs), and with double the midrange ducted group improvisations, but the 340s pro- cone area, are capable of playing a good deal jected a consistent, stable image of each of louder before running out of steam. the 10 musicians position on stage (7 horns plus a guitar, bass & drum rhythm section), I don’t really know which speaker had the making the complex music easier to follow. most neutral, uncolored presentation, as I wasn’t there for the final mixdown of any of the recordings I own. I found most of the differ- Comparisons ences between these two sets of speakers to During my time with the Ascends, I borrowed a be just that: differences, and one could make pair of the highly-regarded Von Schweikert a case for either speaker based on individual VR-1s from a friend. The VR-1s are mini moni- priorities. It is entirely possible that higher tors, but at nearly twice the price of the 340s, I quality electronics could reveal subtle refine- thought they would make good competition. ments in the VR-1s more clearly, but overall I found that while the Ascends may not be giant In a beauty contest, the VR-1s would walk killers, they can stand comfortably in their away with the rhinestone-encrusted tiara in a presence without embarrassment. heartbeat. The least expensive of Von Schweikert’s venerable line, they sport the same light maple veneer available on their five Conclusions and six-figure models, and 45° chamfered The longer I spend with the CMT-340s, the edges give them a touch of class that the As- more convinced I am that Ascend got the rec- cends don’t attempt. ipe absolutely right: a perfect combination of quality sound, transparency, and value. These When the lights went down and the music are serious speakers…probably the most “no came on, however, these two were much nonsense” I’ve ever had in my system. They

Affordable$$Audio! 7 A F F O R D A B L E $ $ A U D I O won’t pass for fine furniture, and they won’t it is important to note that in order to deliver caress your ears with sweet, tubey warmth. If this level of performance at this price point, either of these is something you’re looking for, compromises are necessary. Most (if not all) look elsewhere. What the Ascends are great loudspeaker manufacturers allocate the bulk at is providing a clear window into your record- of production costs to the cabinetry and finish. ings, and they do it in a lively, dynamic way. Our approach is a bit different in that the ma- These are speakers I could live with for a very jority of our production costs are spent on the long time. “guts” of the loudspeaker, namely the proprie- tary drivers and advanced crossover — the components that we feel matter most. For 1. Sennheiser HD-201s. While they certainly fall into the those consumers who desire a less discrete category of cheap headphones, these are actually an and fancier finish, we offer gorgeous custom incredible bargain, and sound leagues better than any- thing I’ve heard in the price range (they make a notice- finishing options for an additional fee. able improvement over the stock iPod earbuds). $25 is David Fabrikant $25 however, and they’re only going to take you so far.

Ascend Acoustics Manufacturer’s Com- ments

Thanks for the review, Clarke and I am pleased that you enjoyed the speakers. I think

8! Affordable$$Audio A F F O R D A B L E $ $ A U D I O Interview: Dave Fabrikant of Ascend chain. When they started to outsource service, Acoustics they moved me into “sales” where I spent By Clarke Robinson most of my time locked away in the soun- droom listening to all the different loudspeak- A$$A - How/when did you first get into audio ers. as a hobby? What was your first audio sys- tem? A$$A - What is your favorite aspect of running a speaker company? What is your least favor- Dave Fabrikant - I think I was about 8 years ite? old. I was fascinated with my grandfather’s audio sys- DF - My favorite as- tem, can’t pect is that I am 100% use the term free to design what I “stereo” as it want to design, no was a mon- matter how absurd. aural sys- My least favorite as- tem. The pect about running a single loud- speaker company is speaker, I just that — running a believe it was speaker company :-) a Fisher, was the size of a refrigerator. A few Oh, and marketing…I hate “marketing”. years later (I think I was 10) I blew up one of my father’s loudspeakers and I convinced him that I could fix it and make it sound better. A$$A - Do you manufacture your speakers in- That was not as easy as I thought it was going house? to be ;-) DF - Our loudspeakers are assembled in- A$$A - What is your all-time favorite speaker/ house using parts that are built for us from a amp combination? variety of locations, including the US, Norway, France and Asia. Each and every loudspeaker is then subjected to rigorous QC testing before DF - For a long time my favorite combination it is cleaned and boxed for shipping. A loud- was a Spectral DMA-250 amp with matching speaker that we ship to a customer is typically DMC-20 pre-amp together with a pair of the assembled and tested 1-2 days prior to the original B&W matrix 801s. Over the past few day it ships, often being assembled and tested years, I must say that the TAD Reference-1 even that morning! mated with the right amp is amongst the best I have ever heard. But to be perfectly frank, I have a very special pair of Ascends that I ab- A$$A - How come Ascend offers so few solutely love listening too and I feel compare speaker models? well with some of the best I have ever heard. These are my current favorites. DF - Simple, because I spend years develop- ing each model and I am a fanatic regarding A$$A - How/when did you first get into audio performance. I have a problem with determin- as a career? ing when performance optimizations are com- pleted. I can’t ever seem to say “OK, it is fin- ished”…obviously, I drive my vendors a bit DF - I think it was 1982 — I worked as a tech crazy ;-) in the service room of a popular A/V retail

Affordable$$Audio! 9 A F F O R D A B L E $ $ A U D I O A$$A - Will there ever be an Ascend floor- stander? A$$A – In order from greatest to least, what do you think are the most important compo- DF – I guess that depends on how you define nents in a sound system and why? “floorstander” ;-) I do know what you mean though, and it is probably one of the most DF –!1. the loudspeakers common questions asked of me. I believe we 2. 2-7 the loudspeakers will someday offer a true “floorstander” but for 7. room now I am a firm believer that a subwoofer + 8. 8-10, everything else “limited bass” loudspeaker is the way to go in order to achieve the most accurate in-room response. Generally speaking, the ideal room As to why…obviously the loudspeakers repre- location for midrange and high frequency re- sent the single biggest influence on audio per- production is not ideal for bass reproduction. formance, as they are the component that With a sub + limited bass loudspeaker system, converts the electrical energy into kinetic en- you can optimally place both the loudspeaker ergy so that we can hear it. It has the most in- and subwoofer in order to achieve an overall fluence on the characteristics of what we hear. more accurate in-room response. The room interacts with that kinetic energy so in my opinion, it offers more influence than any of the electrical energy components pro- A$$A - What was the overall sonic/market vided that those components do their job cor- goal for the 340? rectly.

DF - As with all of our products, we don’t look A$$A – What do you think are the most impor- for a particular market segment or price point. tant aspects of a speakers’ design (cabinet, Our loudspeakers are used by audio enthusi- drivers, crossover design/components, etc.)? asts, audiophiles, professional and amateur recording engineers, college music rooms, DF - I would say all components are equally churches…we have a very diverse customer important, the performance of each compo- base. The design goal was for a loudspeaker nent is determined by the performance of that offered accurate sound reproduction with every other component. the added output capabilities to fill large rooms with clean and effortless good sound. A$$A – In designing a speaker, do you rely more prominently on measurements or listen- A$$A - What do you listen for when determin- ing tests to determine the success of your de- ing the quality of a sound system? signs? How do you know when a new design is “done”? DF - If am familiar with the source material, I listen for the realistic reproduction of the DF - I rely more on a very specific set of source material. If I am not familiar with the measurements that I have developed over the source material, I try to listen to the subtle de- course of many years of evaluating and de- tails behind the fundamental output of an in- signing loudspeakers. I do extensive listening strument, such as a harmonic created by the tests, but most of my listening is to familiarize pick hitting a guitar string, the breaths of a vo- myself with the character of the loudspeaker calist etc. I also listen for how balanced the itself and to confirm that what I hear or can’t system is so that no range of frequencies are hear, correlates to my measurements. emphasized or de-emphasized more than an- other.

10! Affordable$$Audio A F F O R D A B L E $ $ A U D I O As far as how I determine when a design is is a “target” and the products are junk. Much finished; I have no set formula for this and I like the well known white van scam, only in- find that this aspect often causes me great stead of selling out of the back of a van, they distress. With my latest design, I spent are selling the products from a fancy website. (wasted) about 4 months making a costly Often, these websites don’t even offer a con- change to the magnet assembly of the tact address or phone number. tweeter, only to come to the conclusion that this change actually hurt performance and I reverted back to the previous revision. It was A$$A – Where do you see Ascend Acoustics at this point that I realized I could do no more in 5 years? In 20 years? and I was done. DF - I would like to see our controlled growth A$$A – What are some recordings you use to continue as we introduce one exceptional voice/test/evaluate your designs? product after another. I see our customer base and sales volume expanding but never to the point where we are unable to provide DF - I try to use a wide variety of music, with the personal service and quality control meas- each recording highlighting a different instru- ures that we are able to offer now. This is a ment and style but the majority of what you delicate balance and something we have been call voicing is done by precise measurements. able to maintain through the years, but it be- I don’t like to use the term “voicing” as that comes increasingly difficult as a company implies trying to give the speaker its own grows. unique sound, we attempt to try and remove any “voicing” the speaker creates such that what you hear is as close to the source re- I am most curious as to what the audio indus- cording as we are capable of accomplishing. try will be like in 20-years. With the popularity of the PC and the major advancements in PC- Audio, I suspect that eventually, the PC indus- My own list of recordings constantly try and audio industry will merge. When this changes... Some of my all time favorites are does happen, I am positive that there will still Santana “Supernatural”, Nils Lofgren “Acous- be a large group of consumers who will relish tic Live”, Sara McLachlan “Solace”, Roger Wa- the hours spent listening to good sound and ters “”, various Jesse Cook you can bet we will be there to provide it! recordings, a local band called “Venice” (fan- tastic vocals), Dave Matthews “Crash”, and many more…

A$$A – What trends in the audio industry do you currently see that you find particularly alarming/encouraging?

DF - I am very encouraged by the rebirth of quality audio which I feel has been helped by the internet direct audio industry. At the same time, I find it somewhat alarming at the num- ber of new ID audio companies entering the market and attempting to use this distribution method to give the illusion of passing savings to the consumer while in reality, the consumer

Affordable$$Audio! 11