It's very close at the top but there's almost 4db more output in the bottom octave of the LX. To some, that could be the difference between having a satisfactory standalone 2 channel music system, and needing a subwoofer right off the bat for fundamental enjoyment.
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Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1 V2 - Review & Measurements by Erin
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I think the dealer reset happened over 20 yrs ago with the advent of online shopping.
The dealers that survived in Aus are doing very well. There are a lot of people who prefer to inspect/auition/compare in person. The retailers also accomodate the luxury purchase crowd who have money to spend.
Buying online based on measurements - maybe an ASR/audiophile trend?
You may well be right, there may be a niche for dealers...
Matt_Holland
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I agree with @AudioJester
The niche is still the direct sales model.
Most customers value pre and post sales advice and support and many will buy a complete system that they need the dealers help installing.
EDIT: formatting of text.
TurtlePaul
Addicted to Fun and Learning
I started the Revel bashing, so I think I should come to their defense. The one thing they have going for them is that they have been at this engineering for a very long time.
When Ascend’s best seller was the Sierra-2 which received an OK-ish reception here and Kef was selling the flawed original LS50, Revel customers already had their very well measuring m105 and m106 for years. The current Performa3 lineup even predates this very website.
Maybe I am being a little unfair comparing Ascend’s 2023 speakers to Revels 2012 lineup but that is what is available on the market. Hopefully Revel updates the ‘Performa’ class products and doesn’t just keep shifting up market. I hope the next speaker announcement isn’t Performa F428 Be or Ultima Salon 3 for $25k+ per pair.
Fair play to Dave to take the best of the internet direct model and the best of the ASR feedback to keep on improving the Ascend lineup in 2023. There are some things, like the bamboo cabinets, where Ascend has been ahead of the game for a long time.
When Ascend’s best seller was the Sierra-2 which received an OK-ish reception here and Kef was selling the flawed original LS50, Revel customers already had their very well measuring m105 and m106 for years. The current Performa3 lineup even predates this very website.
Maybe I am being a little unfair comparing Ascend’s 2023 speakers to Revels 2012 lineup but that is what is available on the market. Hopefully Revel updates the ‘Performa’ class products and doesn’t just keep shifting up market. I hope the next speaker announcement isn’t Performa F428 Be or Ultima Salon 3 for $25k+ per pair.
Fair play to Dave to take the best of the internet direct model and the best of the ASR feedback to keep on improving the Ascend lineup in 2023. There are some things, like the bamboo cabinets, where Ascend has been ahead of the game for a long time.
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the revel "bashing" is fair imo... being owned by samsung gives revel pretty "deep pockets" ,and frankly they aren't keeping up... let's have an informal poll ::: who would order m105's right now(even with the current sale) over the s1v2??...not me , one vote for ascend....
Revel speakers are routinely discounted and with recently sales, go for far below standard retail prices. So don't go with MSRP against direct seller.
That's fair, they are a decent value at the sales prices in general....
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That is true, I would say they were the OG in terms of applying the most sophisticated and cutting edge science to their speakers.
But decades later, everyone else is catching up and I would even say some are surpassing. Back then, you needed to spend hundreds of thousands to build an anechoic chamber, today, $100k can buy you a Klippel NFS. The Purifi drivers, they are SOTA drivers. Now even the companies without the deep pocket can build SOTA speakers.
Revel needs to up their game and soon. I am OK with them releasing $30k speakers so long as the tech trickles down.
exactly... i hear " research" is the cause of the higher revel price (at least one rep used this explanation), well those days are obviously now gone "bye-bye"... we'll see how they fare...
Ricardojoa
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I used to have the v1 version. To be honest, they weren’t bad speakers. When I initially got them, this was way back in the 2009, they indeed gave me that honky sound and i sent a msg to Dave regarding this. His reply was that im probably getting used to the way the speaker sound. That honky sound quickly went away and once i set them up properly, they image like crazy. They are by far the most imaging able speaker i ever had. Very strong center image and image precisely within the sound stage. The only complaint i had was, the image is rather small and the bass was a bit of mono tone type. I would never describes these as being hot in the treble but rather exceptionally smooth treble . I would discribes these as smooth sounding with a bit emphasis in the mid and bass speaker .
I hope you all can bear with me here. I see these speakers measure very well, and kudos to the designers, but after reading through this thread I have no idea what they sound like!
I am coming from headphones, where bass is controlled, obviously no room effects
and resolution, instrument separation is well done by many manufacturers.
For those that have listened to these, how do they handle complex recordings? Say large symphonic recordings, are you able to pick out the instruments within the orchestra?
Or is that kind of resolution only possible for those that can do room correction properly, or those with the equipment to accurately measure and apply DSP?
For what it's worth, I'm not a fan of bright sounding headphones, or "V" shaped response curves, but I do enjoy being able to pick out subtleties that you can come across with some recordings.
Appreciate any help here, I am very interested in learning more about these speakers.
I am coming from headphones, where bass is controlled, obviously no room effects
and resolution, instrument separation is well done by many manufacturers. For those that have listened to these, how do they handle complex recordings? Say large symphonic recordings, are you able to pick out the instruments within the orchestra?
Or is that kind of resolution only possible for those that can do room correction properly, or those with the equipment to accurately measure and apply DSP?
For what it's worth, I'm not a fan of bright sounding headphones, or "V" shaped response curves, but I do enjoy being able to pick out subtleties that you can come across with some recordings.
Appreciate any help here, I am very interested in learning more about these speakers.
My take is worth about what you paid for it (hint: nothing), but using the transitive property:I hope you all can bear with me here. I see these speakers measure very well, and kudos to the designers, but after reading through this thread I have no idea what they sound like!
I am coming from headphones, where bass is controlled, obviously no room effects
For those that have listened to these, how do they handle complex recordings? Say large symphonic recordings, are you able to pick out the instruments within the orchestra?
Or is that kind of resolution only possible for those that can do room correction properly, or those with the equipment to accurately measure and apply DSP?
For what it's worth, I'm not a fan of bright sounding headphones, or "V" shaped response curves, but I do enjoy being able to pick out subtleties that you can come across with some recordings.
Appreciate any help here, I am very interested in learning more about these speakers.
- I haven't heard them but have extensive experience with the Revel M16s (they're on my desk nearfield w/out a sub) and yes, they do what you are looking for when I'm listening to things like Bach and they have a very neutral, non-V sound
- Erin directly compared the Sierras with M16s and found them very comparable, with him saying he'd probably choose the Sierras, so I'd bet that they do it as well
Maybe that helps and maybe it doesn't, but considering that the Sierras are only now on preorder Erin is probably one of the only ones that has actually heard them.
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ExPerfectionist
Active Member
Your room and room acoustics are going to affect the sound you hear at your listening position, regardless of what speakers you use. Well-designed speakers like this will give you a flatter, more accurate starting point to plug into the complexities of your room's unique acoustics.
I got measurements of the Sierra 1 v2 from Dave. The Klippel NFS is really a cool tech.
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i guess we can assess that Dave knows how to use the klippel (multiple meaning)...
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The measurements are already and openly published on their website. Do you mean you got measurements of your specific speaker?
Erin's vs Ascend's NFS spin.
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Can someone explain to me why the difference? Speaker parts tolerance or Klippel variance?
Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1 V2 - Review & Measurements by Erin
He certainly doesn’t have much in the way of complaints, which is a good thing. The only “significant” drawback seems to be its output limitations, which is reasonably expected for a compact bookshelf speaker with a single 5.25” mid/woofer. The output limitations seem pretty insignificant...
www.audiosciencereview.com
Klippel variance, except for this part:
Ascend noted:
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