Ascend CBM-170SE2 Speaker Review

[John.D]

Yes, our 200's.

View attachment 553090


I would refer to acoustic suspension more of a design approach rather than a technology, but that's just my opinion.

Our 200's use the smallest possible cabinet to house dual 4" woofers + tweeter. In order to reach the Qtc we desired (goal was maximally flat) while also having reasonable bass extension for a speaker of this size (having very limited internal cabinet volume), we designed the woofers with a high compliance suspension system that relies on the air-spring created by the internal cabinet volume to provide much of the restorative force for these woofers.

These types of designs were quite popular for "satellite" speakers back when I initially designed the 200's. And as an engineer for M&K sound throughout all of the 90's, (some would argue that M&K created the satellite subwoofer concept), it is a design I have a lot of experience with.

If you were to remove one of the 4" woofers from the cabinet (I don't recommend it, they are difficult to get out) - you would notice that when physically pushing the cone, it moves freely with very limited resistance.

I don't know if I made the mistake on the label design for the 170SE2 or if it was the printing company, but it was an honest mistake which has already been corrected. Below you can see the product label that was used on the previous version of our CBMs, where it clearly states Bass Reflex. We simply copied the 200SE2 label with minor text changes and that one text line did not get changed.

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Again, just an honest mistake and I am glad it was caught sooner rather than later.

Do we expect revised and optimised center speaker as well with new mid-woofer soon?

 

[AscendDF]

Forgot to ask... could you please share some pictures of the CBM-170se2 crossover ? thx

 

[AscendDF]

Do we expect revised and optimised center speaker as well with new mid-woofer soon?

I don't understand, please clarify.

With the completion of our CBM-170SE2, every speaker we now offer has been NFS optimized / revised.

 

[John.D]

I don't understand, please clarify.

With the completion of our CBM-170SE2, every speaker we now offer has been NFS optimized / revised.

I meant a new center speaker with matching mid base driver as new CBM-170SE2.
The one available right now used smaller mid base drivers and doesn’t give sync’d looks of same family.

 

[AscendDF]

I meant a new center speaker with matching mid base driver as new CBM-170SE2.
The one available right now used smaller mid base drivers and doesn’t give sync’d looks of same family.

Which center are you referring to? Our 340SE2 center is the ideal matching center to the 170SE2, also many customers are ordering a single 170SE2 for use as the center.

CMT-340SE2 CENTER

Uncompromising Performance, Our Best Value! New Klippel NFS optimized version! Using high resolution 360-degree measurements generated by our Klippel NFS, we have completely redesigned our highly revered CMT-340SE resulting in MAJOR improvements in every performance category. We have also given...

www.ascendacoustics.com

 

[LiveTek]

View attachment 553257

Looks great, as does the cabinet brace. Certainly levels beyond the junk internals I ran into recently with a kef q3 meta, which goes for a good bit more.

 

[AscendDF]

Looks great, as does the cabinet brace. Certainly leaves beyond the junk internals I ran into recently with a kef q3 meta, which goes for a good bit more.

I appreciate that, thank you! I truly wanted to properly honor the speaker that started it all for us. As I am sure you can imagine, there isn't much profit here at only $468/pair and I don't know how long we can hold that pricing for, but I have made several promises that we will keep this current pricing throughout all of 2026.

Based on the actual manufacturing costs and factoring in typical retail markup - 170SE2 would sell for a bit over $1K per pair if offered through retail outlets. Since this review hit, we have had many retailers contact us wanting to sell these to their customers, we usually never hear from them again after telling them "sure, you can offer it - but the current pricing is our wholesale pricing."

 

[ShadowBoxer]

The one available right now

There has never been a specific center channel speaker per se for the CBM-170.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

also many customers are ordering a single 170SE2 for use as the center.

Would there be any dispersion concerns for horizontal orientation as the tweeter cannot be rotated like the Sierra series?

 

[AscendDF]

No,

Would there be any dispersion concerns for horizontal orientation as the tweeter cannot be rotated like the Sierra series?

This tweeter is rotationally symmetrical, so there is no concern. All dome tweeters we are now using (this includes our Titan dome tweeter in our Sierra series) are rotationally symmetrical.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

Is there a non-obvious reason SEAS uses a truncated faceplate on this model tweeter that is rotationally symmetrical?

 

[AscendDF]

Is there a non-obvious reason SEAS uses a truncated faceplate on this model tweeter that is rotationally symmetrical?

It isn't SEAS that uses the truncated faceplate, it was per our specifications. We spent a fortune tooling the faceplate so that this excellent tweeter was a drop-in replacement for the Audax tweeter we used in our original 170 and 200. The truncation is necessary for our HTM-200.

I should mention, this is a fully custom tweeter.

 

[cbelmont3]

It isn't SEAS that uses the truncated faceplate, it was per our specifications. We spent a fortune tooling the faceplate so that this excellent tweeter was a drop-in replacement for the Audax tweeter we used in our original 170 and 200. The truncation is necessary for our HTM-200.

I should mention, this is a fully custom tweeter.

i own a pair of the HTM 200 and i have had my new cb170SEv2 for a week now. im using the htm200 as a center and the 170's as my L/R. I plan on using a cb170SEv2 as a center once i get more amplifiers and a single cb170SEv2. Having the full Ascend line up for my L/C/R has made a huge improvement in SQ for movies. Im 50 this year and its rare that a listening session has brought literal tears to my eyes. Not only am i enjoying these speakers beyond words but the biggest enjoyment has been my son coming home from work to audition his favorite music on the new speakers. Thank you Dave to you and your whole team.

 

[AscendDF]

i own a pair of the HTM 200 and i have had my new cb170SEv2 for a week now. im using the htm200 as a center and the 170's as my L/R. I plan on using a cb170SEv2 as a center once i get more amplifiers and a single cb170SEv2. Having the full Ascend line up for my L/C/R has made a huge improvement in SQ for movies. Im 50 this year and its rare that a listening session has brought literal tears to my eyes. Not only am i enjoying these speakers beyond words but the biggest enjoyment has been my son coming home from work to audition his favorite music on the new speakers. Thank you Dave to you and your whole team.

Thank YOU for putting your confidence in us! I am jealous, neither my son nor my daughter have ever joined me for listening sessions, although my son seems to be finally recognizing good sound, while my daughter is fully content with air pods

 

[daniboun]

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You can tell that work has gone into the crossover design. Getting the measurements right wasn't just a matter of chance—bravo!

 

[Matt_Holland]

You can tell that work has gone into the crossover design. Getting the measurements right wasn't just a matter of chance—bravo!

Danny Richie would have those sand core resistors and iron core inductors in the bin straight away!

And ruin all the hard work.

 

[daniboun]

Danny Richie would have those sand core resistors and iron core inductors in the bin straight away!

And ruin all the hard work.

LOL )))) Danny is definitely the specialist in "downgrading"—the philosophy of paying to reduce performance.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

It isn't SEAS that uses the truncated faceplate, it was per our specifications. I should mention this is a fully custom tweeter.

As I'm sure you are aware, SEAS has several stock tweeter models available with truncated faceplates, so the "custom" aspect is not really the faceplate I would presume (as is the standard sized circular faceplate of the Sierra model).

 

[daniboun]

As I'm sure you are aware, SEAS has several stock tweeter models available with truncated faceplates, so the "custom" aspect is not really the faceplate I would presume (as is the standard sized circular faceplate of the Sierra model).


View attachment 553289

I think hat Ascend Acoustics simply took the Seas 27TFFNC/CG tweeter, removed the honeycomb grilles, and likely made slight modifications to the design.

Stock spec

 

[Penelinfi]

Danny Richie would have those sand core resistors and iron core inductors in the bin straight away!

And ruin all the hard work.

Cheese connoisseur