Fantastic value! Great sound with superb clarity. Sound great with even moderate quality equipment.

??? None that I can think of

Living in a NYC condo definitely limits your speaker choices. I previously had Bose brand compact speakers on my Aiwa compact system. I rarely listened used the system.

By word of mouth I came across this company and figured I would try the CBM-170 bookshelf speakers... WOW, what a HUGE difference.. Music comes alive and my wife and I listen to music regulary now. Everything sounds clean and crisp. A pleasure to listen to.

If you need a compact bookshelf speaker and are willing to sacrifice some thumping deep bass in return for incredible realism and vocal clarity.. THESE ARE YOUR SPEAKERS!!

I extremely happy with my purchase. Ascend Acoustics is one of the best kept secrets on the net! If I could give them 6 stars... I would!

Equipment is a complete Aiwa compact component system.

Similar Products Used:

Bose, Aiwa

I looked at at least twenty diffrent makers of speakers, and I am sooooo glad I chose these. I have only had these a few days, but WOW. The tremble is still rather bright, but these are very fresh out of the box.

um, nothing

I purchased the complete HT set with HSU sub. I hooked everything up, and began to listen to various CD's. I couldnt believe the clarity the speakers delivered! I have read that the more I use them, the better they sound. I am looking forward to THAT! Let me just say that I had my 3801 Denon turned up to +6 and after I stopped listening to the music my ears were ringing :) and they never distorted at all.

Similar Products Used:

Bose, Paradigm, PSB

I haven't heard anything like this before. Vocals are amazing and it feels like you are there.

None that I noticed so far

I bought this speakers because of the good reviews and excellent price. I am really impressed and satisfied,I went ahead ang also got ascendacoustics center channel speaker. No company can beat this price and quality. No one that I can think off. For the price this is probably one of the best buys out there. Can anybody name another?

Similar Products Used:

Bose 301(no contest)

Everything!!!!! Soundstage, Accuracy, Vocals, Quality of

Soundstage, Imaging, Vocals, Accuracy, Quality Construction,
Value and Customer Service

Are you kidding....

These speakers are incredible...all of the great reviews of these speakers are true. I auditioned several speakers (see above)during my quest and was led to Ascend by all of the great reviews here and other places...am I ever glad I discovered these. I thought I would have to pay close to $1K to get sound like this, what a value.

Vocals and midrange are crystal clear,dynamic and accurate, and the bass is tight and clean. The soundstage and imaging are excellent...when we first got these and started listening my wife kept asking me if I had a center speaker hooked up. She loves these speakers also and we find ourselves listening to music much more than we previously did. She even let me put them in the family room on stands when before she insisted any speakers go in the bookshelf.

The build quality of these is great and they look much better in person than they do in the pictures on the web. I have them on Atacama Nexus 6 stands and they look great.

I haven't used these in a HT setup, only for music and for listening to music the experience is very rewarding...I hear nuances in my CD collection that I have never heard before. These are great speakers and a tremendous value. Buy them and enjoy....highly recommended.

Similar Products Used:

Vienna Hayden, Sonus Faber Concertino, Paradigm, B&W, Polk
Tannoy, JMLabs, PSB

Imaging, Vocal reproduction, and pretty much everything else.

If I was to put anything here, it would be like me calling a Porsche 911 Turbo out for not having a fast enough 0-60 time. These speakers are awesome!

First of all, it took me quite a while to actually order these speakers. I was worried about ordering something without being able to see them and hear them. I am ecstatic that I actually took the chance on these speakers!

As far as the speakers themself, they are built very well. Although the pic on the www.ascendacoustics.com shows these speakers as kind of ugly, they look much better in person. Matched with nice black stands, they look great in my house.

Now on to the best part, the sound. I didn't hear anything in this price point that comes close to the sound of these speakers. I heard others I liked, but not even close to my price range (they were way too expensive for me). The great thing about these speakers are how well they do with both music and home theater. That is one thing I was running into. Speakers I listened to either sounded good for one of them, but not the other. These speakers do both very well. In fact, I like the speakers as well or better then anything I heard. If I factor in price, nothing was even close. Matched with the HSU VTF-2 that is part of the package, these things are outstanding. I elected to purchase 4 CBM-170s for my front and rear, a HTM-200 for the center, and the HSU sub. I got all of this for around $1174. I opted to go with a pair of CBM-170s for the rear due to that this system is my primary music system also. Don't get me wrong, the HTM-200 sounds great as a center, and would do outstanding as the rears, but I listen to a lot of music and explained this to Larry at Ascend, and he recommended that I consider this route. I am definitely glad I did, and would recommend these speakers to anyone. The HTM-200 speakers are smaller also, so with the stands I have, they wouldn't have looked as good as the CBMs for the rears. I would recommend either way though.

Personally, I wasn't able to find anything that comes even close to this for the money. These speakers are incredible. Music, movies, and pretty much everything I have thrown at them has sounded great. One thing I have noticed (which I didn't find locally) is how natural voices sound on these speakers. It is incredible. If I close my eyes, it actually sounds like Charlize Theron is in my house (man, that would be awesome). Anyway, I would highly recommend these. I tried an Atlantic Tech 350THX system before these, and these speakers blow them away overall. Movies is pretty close, but for music, the Ascends would be the Porsche, the Atlantic Techs would be a Yugo.

With the return policy, these are definitely worth the risk. I can't imagine anyone not liking them, but speakers are extremely subjective. For the money, I don't think anything is better. Order them, you will not be sorry!

Similar Products Used:

I listened to quite a bit. Paradigm, Def Tech, Klipsch (think nails on a chalkboard), JBL, and others

Compactness, excellent sound quality, easy to listen for a long period of time, FANTASTIC VALUE and TOP NOTCH CUSTOMER SERVICE!!

none so far

This is my very first review of a piece of audio equipment. I don't claim to be an audiophile or an expert regarding speakers (my terminology might be off), but, I am so pleased with my purchase that I felt I must leave a review.

My husband suggested a home theater system for his 50th birthday. I knew absolutely nothing regarding this so I hit the internet.

I received many recommendations from many different forums regarding different speaker packages. Ascend Acoustics seemed to be a great value and many people love their Ascends.

I purchased the complete multi-channel system and a Harmon Kardon AV510 receiver. Everything sounds wonderful! Music sounds so good that we have broke our television habit in lieu of spending an hour every evening drinking a nice glass of Merlot and putting on a CD.

I can only describe the sound one way as I do not know any audio terms, "If I sit back and close my eyes it sounds as if the singer is serenading me personally, right in front of me. His/Her voice sounds smooth and natural and I can hear other instruments behind her voice and off to the sides, like I was sitting in front of a live stage." I have never heard speakers that are capable of this, albeit in stores or at neighbors homes. And this is for just two speaker listening.

For movies, my system sounds better then any movie theater I have ever been in. In fact, we have not gone to a theater since we received the system.

This may sound silly, but this might be one of the best purchases I have ever made. My relationship with my hubby has never been better due to the time we now spend relaxing and enjoying music together. (the wine helps too :) Thank you Ascend Acoustics! A truly wonderful yet affordable product!

Similar Products Used:

Mission, Paradigm, Polk, Edge Audio, Norh

I had the same thoughts as recent postings: are these too good to be true? But, as the previous reviewer pointed out, there is a free trial plus the shipping is free and the return shipping has to be less than $10. So I gave them a try.

I'm not an audiophile (my whole system cost me less than many audiophile speaker cables)but I'm a serious music lover. There's probably a lot of folks like me out there: more interested in the music coming out of the speakers than the technical specifications or the brand of the cables that carry the sound. And I'm real (send me an email)and unconnected with these guys. I've listened carefully to all kinds of music coming from many speakers over the years.

To cut to the chase: I believe that all you read here about these speakers is accurate. To my ears they are very, very good, especially for the price. I am really enjoying the sound they make for jazz, rock and classical music. All you read about the customer service of Ascend is also correct: they are great. It's worth that $10 bet.

My modest system:

Harman HK3470 Receiver
Adcom GCD-750 CD player
Infinity Reference 4 main speakers
SVS 20-39PC powered subwoofer
BetterCables Silver Serpent Interconnects
Monster MCX-IS speaker cables
and now.....Ascend CBM-170s bookshelf speakers

Similar Products Used:

Bose 301 series II, Infinity Reference 4, Parallax (don't ask) and some very old Advents.

Vocals. Accuracy. Neutrality. Soundstage.

As in any speaker of this size, bass

Beautiful sound. All the hype is true. I auditioned the Aegis one's. Believe me, they cannot compare to the Ascends. I also auditioned the Axiom M3ti's. This was a more difficult comparison. Both speakers are excellent. The ascend gets the slight edge due to vocals. Try them and I assure you a wonderful listening experience. BTW, since many people seem to be expressing concerns, I am not affiliated with Ascend. I am merely a buyer who read all the reviews and decided to try them.

Similar Products Used:

Aegis One's, Axiom M3ti's

Guys, it's okay to be skeptical. I was too. But what you need to think about is that if people were buying these speakers as a result of phony reviews, and then were subseuently disappointed, they would post that here for all to read.

Plus, the speakers have a 30-day return policy so if they were posting phony reviews about weak speakers they'd be getting most of them back. What would be the point?

I've owned these speakers for about 6 months, and I thought about buying them for about 6 months before I finally pulled the trigger. I corresponded with Ascend a lot during that time, and they were absolutely upfront and honest in everything they told me. If you've got doubts, e-mail them yourself. I think they'll be able to answer any questions you have.

These are, without a doubt, the best sounding bookshelf speakers I've ever heard. I auditioned every bookshelf I could, from Paradigm, to Monitor, to Klipsch, to Boston Acoustics and many more, and nothing sounded as good as these sound.

Listen, you can fuss and stew all you like about whether I am legit, or the reviews are legit, or whatever else you might find to worry about, but the bottom line is that you have nothing to lose by ordering these speakers. You have 30 days from the delivery date to return these for a FULL REFUND if you don't like them. Try to get the same deal at most stereo stores and they'll laugh at you!

The reason everyone here raves about this speaker is because it is terrific, plain and simple. The only way to find out for yourself is to order them. And then you'll be back here raving about them and giving them five stars just like everyone else has done. Just make sure to thank me when you do! ;-)

Vocals/ Midrange, Imaging and soundstage

No deep bass---no suprise due to monitor size

I bought these speakers after searching this sight for many days.
John, I do not believe the reviews are related to the manufacturer because I had conversations with Acsend Acoustics. They seemed to be unaware of the upcoming review that www.cheaphometheater.com was about to come out with. Check out their reviews as well.
I was attracted to this speaker because it was specifically designed to accurately reproduce the human voice. After owning the Classics I was very spoiled. The mid range and human voice became very important to me. This is what I was measuring these speaker against.
Legacy Classics-$3000.00 Ascend Acoustics $ 356.00
After listening to these speakers for over 2 months, I can report that they deliver the goods. They are every bit as good as the Legacy Classics in my room from the mid range on up to the highest frequencies. The voices are very real, immediate and present in the room with me and that's what I wanted without paying 1K or up. You don't need to pay a lot to get a lot in audio. They are not furniture grade like the Classics but they are well made and they are not fake wood either.
The bass is sufficiant and tight without a sub for music but can also benefit by the use of a one. I have not heard any bass doubling either; Very gentle roll-off at it's limits. The bass that it does reproduce is tight and defined.

They can play very load. Louder than the Atoms and as loud as the Classics.They are very accurate; not at all boxy in sound.

I'm very picky and I would not hesitate to ask for a return If I wasn't happy. I've done it before.

Similar Products Used:

Legacy Classics and Paradigm Atoms