cavedriver
Addicted to Fun and Learning
I look forward to hearing Dennis' new center speaker and seeing it reviewed against the Ascend center that has measured well. A little healthy competition going on there...
-
WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!
Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1 V2 - Review & Measurements by Erin
- Thread starter VintageFlanker
- Start date
The original Horizon center was measured by Amir: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...coustics-horizon-center-speaker-review.15199/
But since then, there have been a couple of upgraded versions, the Horizon V2 (with the improved NFS optimized crossover) and the Horizon ELX version (with the newer drivers). Both are measurable improvements over the original.
yes, nice catch... Dave and Dennis are friends with a healthy respect for each other... i think they actually feed off of the others success .. it's good to see....
Yeah I would hope so,my comment mainly stems form this one,I'm sure it's not the majority opinion.
https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...eries-with-mat-white-paper.43946/post-1563039
except for the grille mount holes, it looks almost perfect for the price. But I am surprised no one picked up on the low sensitivity, 81.5db is maybe the lowest I have seen (especially when the spec says 87). I would not mind much, as I listen at low volume 90% of the time, but still made me count whether my 100W amp would be enough.
I'm going to betcha that the low sensitivity was a result of not compromising on the crossover to get as neutral a response as possible from both those drivers. And / or these are off the shelf drivers that don't quite match in terms of dB levels, so the tweeter was brought down a bit vs making less audio friendly compromises . You can either beat down the peaks, futz with notch filters, or compromise with a simplier xover but sacrific over all sensitity to get things to behave and not look like the EKG of a meth head which often sounds better to aging audiophiles with too much hair in their ears. Looking at you B&W.
I'll take the low sensitity and neutrality any day
Ascend has always been one of those companies that get it, but don't have that much recognition. Just hoping the keep 'getting it' and produce an active version wit the same neutrality.
I'll take the low sensitity and neutrality any day
Ascend has always been one of those companies that get it, but don't have that much recognition. Just hoping the keep 'getting it' and produce an active version wit the same neutrality.
agreed, I would trade high sensitivity for flat FR every time, especially now when powerful amps are so affordable, but they should not say it is 87db. I see it is an industry standard to overstate the sensitivity, but they seem to be measurement oriented, so it was a bit surprising.
FWIW the stated anechoic sensitivity is 83db,in room sensitivity is listed as 87db.
Happy Holidays!
It is important to understand the difference between in-room sensitivity and anechoic sensitivity, we list both for every speaker on our site. Anechoic sensitivity is the sensitivity specification of the speaker without any room gain or reflections, as if the speaker was being used outside and mounted on a 12 foot pole. Our in-room sensitivity specification is a much more accurate representation of sensitivity a user should expect, as it includes room gain and reflections, which can typically add as much as 6dB more output to the anechoic sensitivity spec, sometimes even more.
We measure in-room sensitivity with the speaker positioned in our medium sized demo-room. We find that with our speakers that use dome tweeters, reflections + room gain typically add about 4dB. With our ribbon tweeters, they typically add about 3dB, and this is due to having increased vertical directivity which lessens reflections from the floor and ceiling.
Hope this is useful info!
thank you for the swift response, I appreciate that you distinguish between different sensitivities, and it does makes sense of course. But it seems the approach is not the same for all manufacturers, so it makes the comparisons a bit confusing. Still when I compare the same measurement (e.g. from Erin's page) with other speakers, the sensitivity comes out quite low, sure not a problem as long as it is matched with appropriate amp.
X2 as a person who has Dennis Murphy modded speakers, I'm going to agree wholeheartedly, that's one way he got better neutrality from my speakers (emotiva b1s), he a Dave sometimes do similar work...
As to other manufacturers sensitivity ratings, if they don't use the term anechoic sensitivity - then you should assume it is in-room, but it should be verified by 3rd party measurements when possible.
For us, lower sensitivity was a design choice based on the tremendous success of our LX speakers. It is not physically possible to get this type of bass extension in such a small speaker without sacrificing sensitivity. It also allows for better linearity in the midbass and upper bass frequency range, where it is common to have a bump in the response at around 100Hz followed by a dip.
Take for example this speaker:
See the bump at around 120Hz, followed by the pronounced dip at ~ 300Hz? That dips down to about 82dB, and that would end up being the sensitivity if one were trying to achieve a flat on-axis frequency response. This type of response is quite common in bookshelf speakers where the designer prefers to not sacrifice some sensitivity.
That stated, with the popularity and overall cost savings with the newer class D amplifiers, higher power amplifiers are now in reach for all consumers.
If someone is looking for higher sensitivity, our signature line would be ideal. Our new 340SE2 has high sensitivity and excellent on and off-axis performance, but a subwoofer is strongly recommended.
it should still be an easy load to drive , and a speaker this size isn't going to shake walls no matter how loud you want to go...
100% correct. For those that don't understand, it means that the amp or receiver will generate less current to reach a specific volume level compared to speakers that have lower impedance, higher impedance eases the amplifier's workload (it will run cooler and have overall greater dynamic range)
Last edited:
Cool Runnings
Member
- Joined
- May 16, 2023
- Messages
- 78
- Likes
- 88
Just got my Sierra 1 V2s. Bought them because of Erin and ASR reviews and feedback. Running them with MXN10 streamer and dac to Topping PA5+.
Still tweaking but so far very happy with the SQ. Dark background (finally!), well balanced with good details, good mids and good bass. Still tweaking to find locked in center image. It's there but doesn't feel as locked in as the JBL A120s. Soundstage doesn't extend beyond the speakers. Not sure if I can achieve bigger soundstage beyond this.
Any advice is appreciated.
Still tweaking but so far very happy with the SQ. Dark background (finally!), well balanced with good details, good mids and good bass. Still tweaking to find locked in center image. It's there but doesn't feel as locked in as the JBL A120s. Soundstage doesn't extend beyond the speakers. Not sure if I can achieve bigger soundstage beyond this.
Any advice is appreciated.
play with toe in/out and distance from front wall...the closer to the wall generally kills soundstage size / depth....
Cool Runnings
Member
- Joined
- May 16, 2023
- Messages
- 78
- Likes
- 88
Thanks managed to get the center pretty well locked. Physical space constraints is limiting my ability to get wider soundstage. Not sure I can achieve that in my space. But I’m happy enough to get the center right.
Cool Runnings
Member
- Joined
- May 16, 2023
- Messages
- 78
- Likes
- 88
Thanks. Interesting. I’ll see how to do this. Have some space constraints. One speaker is closer (~1 foot) to the side wall than the other (-2 feet)
Similar threads
