Ascend Acoustics CMT-340 SE SE), and Its Larger Sibling, the MTM-Aligned by Clarke Robinson CMT-340 SE
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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 the wall 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 album 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.