Ascend Acoustics Sierra LX Review

[CleanSound]

But the REW measurement showed the LX has plenty of detail though, just that for the longest time I was used to the elevated 10Khz~20Khz range from the Titanium tweeters. lol

Everything is relative. That's what happens to a lot of people, they listened non-neutral sound for their entire lives and when they do listen to neutral sound, it's like fixing all the wrongs done for so many years, so it takes time for their brain to register what neutral is.

Before ASR, Erin and Spinaroma, I relied on Soundstage, but their data is very limited. And before Soundstage, I had no reference, I just went by ear.

 

[Xcaliber]

Everything is relative. That's what happens to a lot of people, they listened non-neutral sound for their entire lives and when they do listen to neutral sound, it's like fixing all the wrongs done for so many years, so it takes time for their brain to register what neutral is.

Before ASR, Erin and Spinaroma, I relied on Soundstage, but their data is very limited. And before Soundstage, I had no reference, I just went by ear.

Good thing from a neutral sounding speakers is that I don't have any ear fatigue or headache after hours of listening session. Even with a small bump in the upper 10Khz I never once felt strain or fatigue from the LX, it's silky smooth and just as detail as Titanium and Ring Radiator tweeters.

 

[Matias]

@Xcaliber try using 50 dB on the Y axis scale for comparison.

 

[Pareto Pragmatic]

-Silky smooth top range between 10Khz~20Khz, LX is VERY detail and respond well to tuning from Audyssey, I can listen to music, play games, and watch movies at higher dB level for much longer period of time without getting fatigue.

I am experiencing that as well, but it's dependent on the toe. I have been listening to mine set up straight into the room, 6 feet apart and 7 feet from my ears. That beams some of the highs to the outside, leaving me with about a 5db drop off above 12-13k in my room (which I quite like it turns out). As I toe them in more, that dip starts to rise, point them right at me, and... I have not measured it, but it's a bit bright for my tastes for long sessions. Short term, sure, long term no.

In theory I should be able to change the toe and end up perfectly flat up top, but I doubt I will do that. But good to keep in mind as my HF hearing continues to degrade with age.

 

[ExPerfectionist]

I played around with toe angle when I first got them last year. I found that I could aim them wider than I had my 340-SEs and still maintain a strong center image. However I use Norah Jones as one of my test listens, and her voice seemed lower than I had been used to. I angled the speakers back in a little closer to the center a little, and her voice regained some of the higher end tonality I was used to. So I kept them aimed about where I had my 340-SEs -- aimed towards the sides of the LP, so if I lean a foot to either side, the inside edge/wall of that speaker disappears and is aiming straight at me.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

I think it's great that Ascend is starting to get a reputation as making superior, ultra high value speakers. When a manufacturer puts in the work, effort and expertise to make something as good as these speakers and their slightly smaller brothers, the achievement should be recognized. Kind of think that if this guy ever got to Amir or Erin, it would single itself out as the absolute best passive stand mounted speaker under $2k, and one of the three or four best at any price.

 

[Xcaliber]

I am experiencing that as well, but it's dependent on the toe. I have been listening to mine set up straight into the room, 6 feet apart and 7 feet from my ears. That beams some of the highs to the outside, leaving me with about a 5db drop off above 12-13k in my room (which I quite like it turns out). As I toe them in more, that dip starts to rise, point them right at me, and... I have not measured it, but it's a bit bright for my tastes for long sessions. Short term, sure, long term no.

In theory I should be able to change the toe and end up perfectly flat up top, but I doubt I will do that. But good to keep in mind as my HF hearing continues to degrade with age.

I prefer to toe out my LX just a little bit, about 5 degree, but one of the main reason why I love using the Denon AVR as a preamp is so I could change the EQ curve on the fly in Audyssey MultEQ XT, the Reference setting has the top end roll off a bit so it's great for general use, I would use the Flat setting for poor recordings when I need a small boost in the upper 10K region. i can't hear above 14Khz anymore due to age .

I've been having fun listening to the LX everyday since last Monday, it's very versatile and blend seamlessly with the SVS sub, these LX works VERY well in movies, musics, and games, it's great even at low volume listening. Never once have I felt a need for more detail up top either.

I played around with toe angle when I first got them last year. I found that I could aim them wider than I had my 340-SEs and still maintain a strong center image. However I use Norah Jones as one of my test listens, and her voice seemed lower than I had been used to. I angled the speakers back in a little closer to the center a little, and her voice regained some of the higher end tonality I was used to. So I kept them aimed about where I had my 340-SEs -- aimed towards the sides of the LP, so if I lean a foot to either side, the inside edge/wall of that speaker disappears and is aiming straight at me.

Do you have yours on a stand or shelf? I tried mine on 24"and 29" stands, worked best for me on the shorter stands when the tweeters lined up at ear level.

​

 

[CleanSound]

I prefer to toe out my LX just a little bit, about 5 degree, but one of the main reason why I love using the Denon AVR as a preamp is so I could change the EQ curve on the fly in Audyssey MultEQ XT, the Reference setting has the top end roll off a bit so it's great for general use, I would use the Flat setting for poor recordings when I need a small boost in the upper 10K region. i can't hear above 14Khz anymore due to age .

This just proves how much your room plays into the overall sound reproduction.

With my Perlisten, it sounded meh in my living room, when I finally got it down to my main room, it sounded like meh too. Man, I was worried because there are no return on these speakers, and I was racking my brains out asking myself how did it sounded so good at the dealer. There was bass resonance and the imaging wasn't what it was at the dealer. What happened?

Rarely, rarely, if ever, when speakers measures good, doesn't sound good. And I know these speakers measures terrific and it's confirmed by James Larson, then I told myself to calm down, it has to be room acoustics.

So I played around with positioning and room treatment and measure with REW, played around some more. And the last few inches, bam! Angels came down from heaven and sung to me, it was glorious, it even sounded better than at the dealer, by a large margin.

I don't know how some audiophiles don't even try to give REW and room treatment/DSP correction a crack. They are not getting the full potential from their speakers.

 

[AVKS]

Think?

For a minute I thought I was reading ASR.

Nothing preventing the vendor from sending over the LX for review.

Dave's already using a Klippel and 2 other speakers have now yielded the exact same measured results as his. If the objective performance is the bar being discussed, perhaps safe to say the LX can have that title.

 

[AscendDF]

I'll eventually get an LX over to Erin or Amir. We are now starting to get low on inventory on basically everything, fulfilling orders always comes first and we have basically hit our peak production capabilities. Another large boost in sales from an LX review would be difficult for us to manage right now. I truly enjoy being "hands on" with my production workers and I test every speaker we ship, there are not enough hours in the day for me to get everything done anymore. But yes, I will definitely get an LX out once we get caught up and we can better handle daily production.

That stated, LX basically measure the same as S1V2, but with deeper bass extension and much lower distortion from the woofer. I plan on posting some comparative measurements between S1V2 and LX, including distortion - now that I am confident our distortion measurements closely match up with both Erin's and Amir's.

 

[Pareto Pragmatic]

However I use Norah Jones as one of my test listens, and her voice seemed lower than I had been used to.

This past weekend I found some female vocalists a bit lacking, during a long session of female vocalist listening. So I toed them in a bit, which helped.

Turns out that in my room and the zone of uncertainty that is the current speaker location, going from no toe to full toe to the center turns the 1-2k bump (which I like) into a 1-3k bump (which I don't). I ended up going with a slight toe in, but will dial it in more this weekend, since I have time and an empty house. So no time constraints on measurements, basically.

Which is good because I am at the stage of moving a few degrees/inches to dial things in. Speakers, seating area, other furniture. This process is reminding me why I love the room as a whole, but hate some parts of the room.

I am being super picky (shocking for someone on this site, I know), but the LX sound very good all the time. They just sound so amazing when everything is close to just right. I hope I can get to "just right".

 

[elsonido]

The LX are very enjoyable speakers that easily beat the focal aria they replaced. Using topping 90 dac and pre, I have swapped in la90 and pa7 amps, but then settled on orchard audio mono amps and I am super happy. This is a “mini” system that fits into an open dining and kitchen area so everything has to be compact. Originally I thought I had to go front ported a la focal, but I’m glad I changed my mind. The focal are now on stands in my office w the pa7 and twin 8” subs. I really like the focal that way actually and it’s nice for low listening levels. Using an SVS sb3000 w the ascend. Pb 3000 arrives today for the home theater!!!

 

[CleanSound]

I'll eventually get an LX over to Erin or Amir. We are now starting to get low on inventory on basically everything, fulfilling orders always comes first and we have basically hit our peak production capabilities. Another large boost in sales from an LX review would be difficult for us to manage right now. I truly enjoy being "hands on" with my production workers and I test every speaker we ship, there are not enough hours in the day for me to get everything done anymore. But yes, I will definitely get an LX out once we get caught up and we can better handle daily production.

That stated, LX basically measure the same as S1V2, but with deeper bass extension and much lower distortion from the woofer. I plan on posting some comparative measurements between S1V2 and LX, including distortion - now that I am confident our distortion measurements closely match up with both Erin's and Amir's.

Now, you're just showing off

In all seriousness, wonderful work Dave.

For any potential customers out there, I also want to add that it's not just the superior product, it's also the personal hands on customer service directly from the owner you get before and after the sale with this brand.

 

[AVKS]

GEICO: everyone here alreay knows that.

And, yet, the vendor still sent the S1V2 in to Erin for review. So, apparently, Klippel results don't preclude a hands on review.

That's great. It doesn't preclude my point either, and arguably supports it even more.

 

[ExPerfectionist]

Do you have yours on a stand or shelf? I tried mine on 24"and 29" stands, worked best for me on the shorter stands when the tweeters lined up at ear level.

Stands, I think the Monoprice ones. Yes I have the tweeter at ear level or a little higher, depending on my posture on the couch and how straight I'm sitting up.

 

[CleanSound]

I'm not clear on exactly what your point is?

That if the vendor has a Klippel that no other third-party analysis or confirmation should be necessary?

Because we've had two other (Klippel) analysis from third-parties already taken place. Sounds like you don't think that was really necessary, but again I'm not really clear on the point you are trying to make.

*MY* point was that comments along the lines of..."well, I bet so and so..." are not what ASR is about. ie purely subjective speculation are not useful and just take up space.

Settle down my man, no need to be this confrontational.

Dave made his comment already as to why he has not sent the LX in for a review, his comment makes perfect sense to me and I have no reason to not believe him. Are you waiting on a NFS measurement by a third party before you buy the LX? If so, then you just have to wait away if you don't trust the manufacturer's published NFS measurements.

For the folks who already purchased the LX, we took a bit of leap of faith and trust the manufacturer's published NFS results. So for us who already purchased it, we are good and enjoying the LX.

 

[Xcaliber]

Ascend do offers 30 days satisfaction guarantee, if the LX doesn't suit someone they have the option to exchange or get a refund within the 30 days trial period. If i remember correctly per Dave on Ascend forum, they have very low return rate like 98% of customers kept the LX, just a few would exchange the LX for the 2EXV2 when they listen to mostly jazz and classical which the RAAL excel at.

 

[AVKS]

I'm not clear on exactly what your point is?

That if the vendor has a Klippel that no other third-party analysis or confirmation should be necessary?

Because we've had two other (Klippel) analysis from third-parties already taken place. Sounds like you don't think that was really necessary, but again I'm not really clear on the point you are trying to make.

*MY* point was that comments along the lines of..."well, I bet so and so..." are not what ASR is about. ie purely subjective speculation are not useful and just take up space.

Not sure what you're on about but at no point did anyone suggest not reviewing it. Between nit-picking the neutrality comment, the bass extension, and now this, you seem intent on taking some sort of issue with things here. That's an even bigger waste of posting space.

And my opinions are based on me actually owning the LX. Your hand-wringing isn't necessary; the speakers are absolutely as advertised.

 

[Xcaliber]

This just proves how much your room plays into the overall sound reproduction.

With my Perlisten, it sounded meh in my living room, when I finally got it down to my main room, it sounded like meh too. Man, I was worried because there are no return on these speakers, and I was racking my brains out asking myself how did it sounded so good at the dealer. There was bass resonance and the imaging wasn't what it was at the dealer. What happened?

Rarely, rarely, if ever, when speakers measures good, doesn't sound good. And I know these speakers measures terrific and it's confirmed by James Larson, then I told myself to calm down, it has to be room acoustics.

So I played around with positioning and room treatment and measure with REW, played around some more. And the last few inches, bam! Angels came down from heaven and sung to me, it was glorious, it even sounded better than at the dealer, by a large margin.

I don't know how some audiophiles don't even try to give REW and room treatment/DSP correction a crack. They are not getting the full potential from their speakers.

Absolutely, I just saw Amir's test/review of the S1V2 and those are also responding very well to minor tweak in EQ/DSP the same way i experienced with the LX, they really woke up a lot with a bit of tuning to suit my office and my personal preference/taste with the help from both REW and Audyssey.

 

[moonthink]

Now, you're just showing off

In all seriousness, wonderful work Dave.

For any potential customers out there, I also want to add that it's not just the superior product, it's also the personal hands on customer service directly from the owner you get before and after the sale with this brand.

I have to 100% agree on that point.