Ascend Acoustics ELX or BMR Tower

[PristineSound]

How much was the price then? Thanks.

What I would have liked to have seen is distortion measurements which they would have since they got them measured on the Klippel.

Well, apparently, Ascend is holding firm on the price. I've been told twice by Ascend that they plan to raise their prices in the last 6-7 months. First time was explained as the raising costs parts and materials, the second time was explain as the tariffs on parts. But apparently Dave still haven't raise the prices yet, don't know how long he plans to hold prices for.

Yes, I have not seen any distortion measurements on any of the Ascend, but there are claims on their website of "low distortion" and I have not detect any audible distortions with the ELX RAAL and LX. So take it for what it's worth.

 

[AscendDF]

Well, apparently, Ascend is holding firm on the price. I've been told twice by Ascend that they plan to raise their prices in the last 6-7 months. First time was explained as the raising costs parts and materials, the second time was explain as the tariffs on parts. But apparently Dave still haven't raise the prices yet, don't know how long he plans to hold prices for.

Yes, I have not seen any distortion measurements on any of the Ascend, but there are claims on their website of "low distortion" and I have not detect any audible distortions with the ELX RAAL and LX. So take it for what it's worth.

It is unfortunate, but we did raise prices on all Towers not too long ago. That price increase was to cover the continuously rising cost of our components, especially RAAL tweeters. We did get somewhat lucky as we received a large shipment of tower cabinets and components before the big tariffs hit (we did get hit with some, maybe it was 20%) but we ate the costs of that.

It is a truly unfortunate situation because like all manufacturers, we have absolutely no idea what the tariff rates are going to be, if any (based on some of the recent court rulings). We also had to slightly raise pricing on LX and S2EXV2, but this was quite minor ($50) to cover a small amount of the 30% tariff rate we are about to be hit with on our cabinets. Who really knows what the actual rate will be when our shipment lands - it is so insane and the amount of stress and stagnation in product development this causes is incomprehensible. I just keep saying to myself - "It is what it is"....

 

[AscendDF]

How much was the price then? Thanks.

What I would have liked to have seen is distortion measurements which they would have since they got them measured on the Klippel.

We post distortion measurements in our forum under the product announcement thread. In the case of our ELX Towers, it can be found in this thread:

We Saved The Best For Last!

For as long as we have been manufacturing speakers, we have received requests for a true end-game speaker. A speaker that provides class-leading performance in all the critical performance areas. Â Accuracy Detail Dynamic capability Directivity Wide dispersion High frequency...

forum.ascendacoustics.com

 

[seacard]

I am really struggling with this same decision as well: BMR Towers vs ELX Towers. Would one or the other be better for an untreated, asymmetrical living room (see below)? The speakers are about 7-8 feet apart, the listening position is about 13-14 feet away. It's an open floor plan, so the room itself is something like 40x20, even though the listening area is fairly small. All the open space is to the left; to the right is just the fireplace, a TV hanging above it, and a window/wall.

 

[Mort]

With the ribbon tweeters they are going to be a lot more alike than different.

The BMR tower is physically bigger and might overwhelm that space.
BMR Tower will go a little lower in room.
Philharmonic Audio finishes are better imo and that might matter in a mixed wood environment.

PA has the HT line which is not quite as wide as the RAAL but goes as low as the ELX and in the more stylish finishes.

 

[seacard]

With the ribbon tweeters they are going to be a lot more alike than different.

The BMR tower is physically bigger and might overwhelm that space.
BMR Tower will go a little lower in room.
Philharmonic Audio finishes are better imo and that might matter in a mixed wood environment.

PA has the HT line which is not quite as wide as the RAAL but goes as low as the ELX and in the more stylish finishes.

Thanks Mort! I agree that the Philharmonics definitely have the edge when it comes to finish quality. That said, I do like that the ELX comes in white or black; it’s a nice change of pace from all the wood tones in that room and I think would make a better contrast.

 

[seacard]

Follow-up question: can the Philharmonic be placed closer to the front wall because it is front ported? How far does the ELX need to go not to compromise any performance?

 

[raindance]

Follow-up question: can the Philharmonic be placed closer to the front wall because it is front ported? How far does the ELX need to go not to compromise any performance?

The location of the port makes no difference to close wall placement performance.

 

[PristineSound]

Follow-up question: can the Philharmonic be placed closer to the front wall because it is front ported? How far does the ELX need to go not to compromise any performance?

Ascend say that the ELX, I believe, needs a minimum of 2x port diameter from the wall.

The people I talked to have ~2 foot from the wall, myself included. But I cannot say if that has more to do with getting a equilateral triangle from the listening position or if that is boundary effects; haven't experimented to figure out why 2 foot from the wall sounds better in my listening space.

 

[Mort]

Follow-up question: can the Philharmonic be placed closer to the front wall because it is front ported? How far does the ELX need to go not to compromise any performance?

Sure. Bear in mind the BMR are a half foot deeper in the first place.

 

[Penelinfi]

A port being closer to the wall will have more boost from that; naturally, rear ported speakers can get a full amount of boost. It doesn't necessarily mean they can't be put closer to the wall, but will usually have more bass and slightly more lower mids depending on port output.
The port itself is not affected by the close placement unless severely obstructed

 

[JonfromCB]

I have/had several ribbon tweeters over the years...Heil AMTs, folded AMTs (not a fan), and Ascends with RAALs. Nothing sounds like a well executed Heil AMT. They are airy, clear and seem like the sound is coming from everywhere and honestly that takes away from imaging. Lots of negativity about RAALs vertical dispersion. My opinion is that limited vertical dispersion more often than not is a good thing and not a weakness. Ceiling bounce in rooms with lower ceilings and in rooms with ceilings that have various heights, bulkheads, and angles are not good places to try to tame speakers with lots of vertical dispersion.

I haven't owned the BMRs, but I can tell you that the Ascend towers were thoughtfully designed with the RAALs placed perfectly at ear level while seated and that's where I am when listening to both music and for home theater. So regardless of towers or bookshelf, get the RAALs on axis in both planes and you will most likely chuckle at the folks who say it's vertical dispersion is an issue.

I also use a Horizon center which is another plus for the Ascends because it has identical drivers and box volume as the towers. Who else is doing that or even makes a center with overall performance as close to it's flagship L/R towers? If you get LCR RAALs at identical heights the imaging with good source material is stunning.

 

[Mark609]

I have/had several ribbon tweeters over the years...Heil AMTs, folded AMTs (not a fan), and Ascends with RAALs. Nothing sounds like a well executed Heil AMT. They are airy, clear and seem like the sound is coming from everywhere and honestly that takes away from imaging. Lots of negativity about RAALs vertical dispersion. My opinion is that limited vertical dispersion more often than not is a good thing and not a weakness. Ceiling bounce in rooms with lower ceilings and in rooms with ceilings that have various heights, bulkheads, and angles are not good places to try to tame speakers with lots of vertical dispersion.

I haven't owned the BMRs, but I can tell you that the Ascend towers were thoughtfully designed with the RAALs placed perfectly at ear level while seated and that's where I am when listening to both music and for home theater. So regardless of towers or bookshelf, get the RAALs on axis in both planes and you will most likely chuckle at the folks who say it's vertical dispersion is an issue.

I also use a Horizon center which is another plus for the Ascends because it has identical drivers and box volume as the towers. Who else is doing that or even makes a center with overall performance as close to it's flagship L/R towers? If you get LCR RAALs at identical heights the imaging with good source material is stunning.

Well said. I too have the ELX/RAAL and Horizon/RAAL, both on an Anthem MRX1140. Excellent combo. Can finally understand dialogue too! I like the sound with the grills off too.

 

[PristineSound]

Well said. I too have the ELX/RAAL and Horizon/RAAL, both on an Anthem MRX1140. Excellent combo. Can finally understand dialogue too! I like the sound with the grills off too.

View attachment 477742

The only issue with the ELX center is that, it's (1) too tall, so it's hard with placement if you don't want nose bleed viewing angle and frankly, the looks is a bit underwhelming (2) the vertical dispersion is not ideal for multi row home theatre setup.

I hope Dave can come up with a better designed center.

 

[Mark609]

The only issue with the ELX center is that, it's (1) too tall, so it's hard with placement if you don't want nose bleed viewing angle and frankly, the looks is a bit underwhelming (2) the vertical dispersion is not ideal for multi row home theatre setup.

I hope Dave can come up with a better designed center.

Sierra Horizon V2 with RAAL works for me. Add in my red jatoba lumber stand and it's good looking too.

I built in a little upward tilt on my stand. Top sits at the bottom of my screen. Dialogue images from around the center of the screen.

Icing is having the ports on the front baffle. Placing them against the wall works great. Well designed!

 

[JonfromCB]

The only issue with the ELX center is that, it's (1) too tall, so it's hard with placement if you don't want nose bleed viewing angle and frankly, the looks is a bit underwhelming (2) the vertical dispersion is not ideal for multi row home theatre setup.

I hope Dave can come up with a better designed center.

Is it's height really an issue, or is it that your setup does not allow you to place it where you would like too? The Horizon is actually one of the best designed center speakers available. More often than not I see/hear HT setups with some seriously expensive speakers that don't throw an accurate soundstage simply because the high frequency drivers LCR are not at the same height. The most accurate soundstages I've heard all used identical LCR speakers with the high frequency drivers at ear level. So Dave actually has designed a "better" center... just use three identical speakers for your LCR. If the Horizon and being able to place it perfectly didn't work so well for me, I would certainly consider an electric acoustically transparent screen with three ELX's for LCR.

Fixed screens can be replaced with acoustically transparent screens to achieve proper speaker placement and I've even heard some very good setups with the LCR placed above the screen to accommodate multi-row seats. Compromise is compromise and physics is physics. Surround sound is like real estate...location, location, location Expensive good measuring speakers improperly placed or in a "bad" room never sound as good as mediocre speakers perfectly placed in a good room.

 

[PristineSound]

Is it's height really an issue, or is it that your setup does not allow you to place it where you would like too? The Horizon is actually one of the best designed center speakers available. More often than not I see/hear HT setups with some seriously expensive speakers that don't throw an accurate soundstage simply because the high frequency drivers LCR are not at the same height. The most accurate soundstages I've heard all used identical LCR speakers with the high frequency drivers at ear level. So Dave actually has designed a "better" center... just use three identical speakers for your LCR. If the Horizon and being able to place it perfectly didn't work so well for me, I would certainly consider an electric acoustically transparent screen with three ELX's for LCR.

Fixed screens can be replaced with acoustically transparent screens to achieve proper speaker placement and I've even heard some very good setups with the LCR placed above the screen to accommodate multi-row seats. Compromise is compromise and physics is physics. Surround sound is like real estate...location, location, location Expensive good measuring speakers improperly placed or in a "bad" room never sound as good as mediocre speakers perfectly placed in a good room.

For single row seating, ideally the screen should be eye level, with screen size as big as they are today, it's very hard to place a center this tall. transparent screen is nice, but if you have a transparent screen, at that point, might as well go tower for the center channel too.

 

[Ricardojoa]

Go with dual center, one below, one above. Ideally with separate distance settings. I can’t imagine theater having only one center channel.

 

[Mark609]

Go with dual center, one below, one above. Ideally with separate distance settings. I can’t imagine theater having only one center channel.

What centers do you use?

 

[Ricardojoa]

What centers do you use?

I don’t have good experience with center channels not because of quality but the location it is at. Having below tv will make sound comes from below, so i thought about dual centers but this will probably have comb filter at listening position so i think having the ability to adjust individual distance on the center may help.