Before SoundStage! Network publisher Doug Schneidermentioned sending me a pair of Ascend AcousticsC BM - 170 s for review, I had never heard of the company.A quick look at their website revealed enough informationto pique my curiosity. From their relatively expensiveAerogel woofers to their advanced and complex crossovernetwork, the $328/pair CBM - 170 uses unusually high-quality component parts for its exceptionally modest price.If you do the math, you soon realize that an extraordinarypercentage of the cost of this speaker has gone into theparts that count.

DescriptionThe CBM - 170 is a moderately sized "bookshelf" monitorthat, at 9"W x 10"D x 12"H, is very nearly a cube. Th efinish is basic black laminate over 0.625"-thick MD F,with rounded cabinet corners to reduce diffraction losses.While the finish isn’t exactly ugly, I wouldn’t call it elegante i t h e r, and the speaker’s middling size means that a pairof them won’t be all that easy to hide. Decorators won’tbe thrilled, but they should be able to work with it. Thesimple, easy-to-remove grille hides a magnetically shielded6.5" Aerogel woofer with a phase plug and rubbersurround, and a 1" soft-dome tweeter with a neodymiummagnet. Around back you’ll find a pair of all-metal gold-plated binding posts, a small port for enhanced bassresponse, and a pair of 0.25" threaded inserts for mounting

brackets, should you want to hang the CBM-170s onthe wall. At this price point you’re not going to get exoticveneers, but you do get a reasonably well-constructedspeaker with a quality of parts much higher than the norm.

Ascend states that their goal for the CBM - 170 was to"focus on vocal accuracy and clarity, instead of unrealisticover-emphasized bass." The frequency response support sthis claim: the bottom end is listed as 69Hz at the -3dBpoint, which is higher than many much smaller speakers.Ascend’s philosophy is that if you want deep bass, youshould pair their speakers with a high-quality subwoofer.Rather than design and build their own subwoofer, addingto an already crowded market, Ascend teamed up withHsu Research to offer the VTF-2 and VTF-3 subwoofersdirectly from the Ascend website. By happy coincidence, Ihad a VTF-3 on hand for review; the combination achieveda synergy that belied the relatively low combined price.

The CBM - 170 is a bit on the short side; Ascend recommendstall stands. My stands were just a bit short of what theyrecommend, but I was able to use the stands’ spikes totilt the whole assembly up toward the listening position.This worked just fine. The speakers were fairly forgi v i n gof placement—none of the positions I tried made themsound at all bad. I got the most balanced sound in myroom with the Ascends pointed directly at the primarylistening position, about 2’ out from the wall and about

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Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 Loudspeakers

by Jeff Van Dynejeff@goodsound.com

November 2003

8’ apart, which is just slightly less than the distance fromthe speakers to my chair.

I’ve dissected some similarly priced speakers that makedo with a single capacitor in series with the tweeter fora first-order crossover, but have no crossover at all onthe woofer. Ascend uses a second-order crossover that,combined with the natural rolloff of the drivers, producesa fourth-order acoustical crossover. As if this weren’tenough, Ascend also states that there’s a second filterabove the crossover point on the woofer, to increasethe rolloff of the woofer response even more. Sheesh!A crossover this complex costs money in a price rangewhere cutting costs is already unavoidable.

SoundThe true test of any speaker is its sound, and what bettertest disc than Nirvana’s N e v e r m i n d [Geffen 24 4 25]? I hadthe CBM - 170s hooked up with the VTF-3 while I listenedto "Smells Like Teen Spirit" at neighbors-calling, cops-knocking-on-the-door volume levels. This was onepotent combination—these little speakers could rock. Iserved it up and they dished it out. I fed them juice andthey took it. You get the picture. In "Lithium," a cymbal inthe left channel never quits— it was real enough throughthe CBM - 170s that it had me wondering where my l i t h i u mwas. I’d forgotten how loud this album could get in thehands of an immature male. I reminded everybody elsehow loud it is, too, but the Ascends didn’t complain;they handled the excessive volume levels and dynamicswith aplomb.

I love jazz, but because I get tired of the same old standardsand most of the current dreck of so-called "light jazz,"I’m forever on the prowl for something a little different.I found it in The Bad Plus’s These Are the Vistas[Columbia 87040]. For those of you who think a jazzpiano trio can’t do something different, check this oneout. I hesitate to call it "acid jazz," so I’ll just call it jazzwith a h e a v y rock influence. The opener, "Big Eater, "gives you a hint of what’s to come, with a heavy bassbackbeat and lots of percussion dished out over thepiano’s intricate, active, but somehow softer foundation.The Ascends kept up with all of it marvelously. The pianosounded perfectly natural, and cymbals and rim shotscame through with astonishing clarity. On Bad Plus’s

cover of Nirvana’s "Smells Like Teen Spirit," the attack ofthe piano, bass, and drums came through to present anintensity of anger that I don’t hear even in the original.Excellent. In The Bad Plus’s cover of the Aphex Tw i n s ’"Flim," the tight and tidy bass and drums are essentialto the presentation of this song, which the slightest bitof muddiness or coloration would ruin. No worries—theAscends reproduced it correctly.

On the opposite side of pianoland is Michael Nyman’sThe Piano Concert o [Naxos 8.554168]. The Ascendsproved their abilities again, but this time with subtleties.Where the music ebbs and flows, the Ascends wereright there, neither leading with an etched treble norfollowing with a muddy bass line or midrange. Th eCBM-170 is one of the few budget speakers I’ve heardthat seemed equally comfortable playing soft or loud. Itpresented a nice balance throughout this recording,adding a sense of presence with a touch of sparkle inthe horns in the background of "The Beach," and goodlayering of instruments in "The Hut." This is the stuff ofmuch more expensive speakers, or so I used to think.

One album of jazz standards I can never get enough ofis Bill Berry’s For Duke [ R e a l Time 50 01]. The beauty of thiscollection of Duke Ellington hits lies in its simplicity. Theoriginal recording, cut directly to vinyl back in 1978, wasone of the sweetest, most involving jazz recordings ofthat era. For more than 20 years, I’ve listened to severaltracks of this album through every speaker I’ve had inthe house, so to say that I know For Duke well wouldbe an understatement. And a simple recording should beeasy to get right, shouldn’t it? Wrong. I’ve heard it soundevery way, from dry and analytical to fat, bloated sludge,and a whole lot in between. The best speakers let the album live and breathe with a touch of warmth and sweetness, while retaining exceptional articulation.So far, only three speakers I’ve had in my house havenailed it. The first was a pair of Magnepans I once owned.The second are my current references, the SilverlineSonatinas. The third is the Ascend Acoustics CBM-170.The Maggies and Silverlines are pretty lofty company fora $328/pair speaker!

If you’re in the mood for a little fun, check out Ween’sChocolate & Cheese [Elektra 616 39 ]—but be prepared formore than a little bad taste and political incorrectness.

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Speaking of which, the chimes on "Spinal Meningi t i s "travel between and beyond the speakers with perfectprecision. The Ascends reproduced this effect accurately.

At all times during the course of this review, the Ascendwas the absolute model of clarity and precision, withoutsacrificing musicality. It easily kept up with the fast, funkytoe-tapping pace of Voodoo Lady, whose pop tuneswere no challenge. With the Hsu Research VTF-3 subswitched in, the combo got down and dirty with "I Can’tPut My Finger On It," freely and loudly punching out allthe grunge of the vocals in this track.

ComparisonThe reference speakers to compare with the AscendC BM - 170s would have to be the $399 Paradigm Esprit v. 3and $400 Mirage Omni 50. Compared to the Pa r a d i g m s ,the Ascends were more detailed all along the frequencyspectrum, with especially clear vocals and upperfrequencies. The Paradigms imaged just a little betterand threw a soundstage that was ever so slightly larger,but the two were very close in this regard. The small-tower Esprit v.3 covers another octave on the bottom ofthe audible spectrum than the Ascend does, which youshould consider if you don’t see a subwoofer in yourfuture. And the fact that the Ascends require decentstands to sound their best negates their lower price.

The Mirage Omni 50 was a closer match, with nearly asgood detail and clarity through the upper frequencies,though the Ascend was smoother across the spectrum.This, I’m sure, had much to do with room interactions,which are taken into consideration as part of the Omni design. The effect of those interactions is a hugesoundstage and openness that few, if any, conventionalspeakers in this price range can hope to match. Th eAscends couldn’t defy basic physics; while they produceda good soundstage, they couldn’t match the Omnis inthis respect. On the other side of the equation, the Omnis’design means they pay a price in image specificity; herethe Ascends prevailed, with excellent image specificityand good soundstage depth.

ConclusionWhile writing this review, I kept coming back to The BadPlus’s These Are the Vistas. It’s one of those collectionsof music that conveys and evokes a tremendous rangeof emotions. To convey those emotions successfully, thespeaker in question must get out of the way and let the music speak. Many budget speakers on the marketcan accurately translate the signal sent them by the amplifier, but there are all too few, at any price, thatcan fully convey the emotion of a song. The AscendAcoustics CBM-170 does that in spades. It represents,in my opinion, the state of the art of budget loudspeakers.

© Schneider Publishing Inc. • Box 20068 • 390 Rideau Street • Ottawa • ON • K1N 9N5 • Canada

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Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 LoudspeakersPrice: $328 USD per pair.Warranty: Five years parts and labor with 30-day

satisfaction guarantee and 60-day complete-replacement guarantee in case of defects.

Ascend Acoustics, Inc.16921 S Western Ave., Suite 111Gardena, CA 90247Phone: (310) 719-9786Fax: (310) 388-1500

E-mail: sales@ascendacoustics.com Website: www.ascendacoustics.com