Ascend Acoustics Sierra LX Review

[umberto]

I'm currently auditioning some R3 Meta's and I'm not extremely impressed, especially for the price. These were my second consideration, and I was wondering if anyone has had both and had any good insight on their differences. I'm in a smaller room and typically listening at 65-75 dB, and the Meta's don't seem great at the lower volume. I was wondering how these sound at those levels. The Meta's are a bit fatiguing, so I'm concerned another metal tweeter and cone speaker may be similar. I'm super close to ordering these this week. Cheers!

 

[tw 2022]

I'm currently auditioning some R3 Meta's and I'm not extremely impressed, especially for the price. These were my second consideration, and I was wondering if anyone has had both and had any good insight on their differences. I'm in a smaller room and typically listening at 65-75 dB, and the Meta's don't seem great at the lower volume. I was wondering how these sound at those levels. The Meta's are a bit fatiguing, so I'm concerned another metal tweeter and cone speaker may be similar. I'm super close to ordering these this week. Cheers!

i am curious as well...

 

[AVKS]

I'm currently auditioning some R3 Meta's and I'm not extremely impressed, especially for the price. These were my second consideration, and I was wondering if anyone has had both and had any good insight on their differences. I'm in a smaller room and typically listening at 65-75 dB, and the Meta's don't seem great at the lower volume. I was wondering how these sound at those levels. The Meta's are a bit fatiguing, so I'm concerned another metal tweeter and cone speaker may be similar. I'm super close to ordering these this week. Cheers!

IMO and IME you can't draw any kind of specific conclusions specifically from driver material beyond some very general potential characteristics - don't be concerned about that. I too have found some speakers extremely fatiguing and even painful, such as the original Elac UB5, and can listen to the LXs for hours and hours with no issues.

Given the pricepoint of these speakers and assuming that things like toe-in don't improve it for you (taken from your posts in the AVSforum thread), your best course of action would likely be to get a pair and directly compare them in your own room. The money spent on a return would be nominal in the long run.

 

[umberto]

IMO and IME you can't draw any kind of specific conclusions specifically from driver material beyond some very general potential characteristics - don't be concerned about that. I too have found some speakers extremely fatiguing and even painful, such as the original Elac UB5, and can listen to the LXs for hours and hours with no issues.

Given the pricepoint of these speakers and assuming that things like toe-in don't improve it for you (taken from your posts in the AVSforum thread), your best course of action would likely be to get a pair and directly compare them in your own room. The money spent on a return would be nominal in the long run.

Yeah the Kef are very fatiguing and almost painful for some reason. They're definitely giving me a bit of a headache, and making me tired even. Extreme Toe-in didn't sound good at all and didn't relieve any of those symptoms. It's my first Hi-Fi system though, so my brain is definitely adjusting to it all. I think I will give it a couple of more days to adjust, and then order some LX to compare. I'm also not that into the airy sound of the Kef, it doesn't work great in my small room. I've talked to Dina, and she was pretty adamant I wouldn't have any issues with them but you never know.

How does everyone find using a 3rd LX as a center, vs a three-way like the R2 meta, etc. I can't fit a Horizon in my set-up.

 

[Open Mind Audio]

I'm grounded today until UPS delivers my LX. This will be my first $1000+ set of speakers.

Great choice. One of my early forays into hi-fi was a pair of Ascend CBM-170s -- this was more than 20 years ago now, when they were one of the best measuring set of bookshelves you could buy at a reasonable price. They never stopped sounding fantastic. I finally passed them along to a friend as his intro to better sound, and they continue to give great service.

 

[robh]

How does everyone find using a 3rd LX as a center, vs a three-way like the R2 meta, etc. I can't fit a Horizon in my set-up.

I bought 3 LX's. Center is on its side. Position is 8' from my couch.

Slight treble drop when (way) off center as to be expected, but otherwise have no complaints.

 

[muad]

Yeah the Kef are very fatiguing and almost painful for some reason. They're definitely giving me a bit of a headache, and making me tired even. Extreme Toe-in didn't sound good at all and didn't relieve any of those symptoms. It's my first Hi-Fi system though, so my brain is definitely adjusting to it all. I think I will give it a couple of more days to adjust, and then order some LX to compare. I'm also not that into the airy sound of the Kef, it doesn't work great in my small room. I've talked to Dina, and she was pretty adamant I wouldn't have any issues with them but you never know.

How does everyone find using a 3rd LX as a center, vs a three-way like the R2 meta, etc. I can't fit a Horizon in my set-up.

The kefs are pretty much a constant directivity speaker, so the typical narrowing you see above 7khz with most speakers doesn't happen with the r3 metas. You can see.it on the polar response.

Try them straight out into the room, basically go for little to no toe in.

 

[audioje]

Great choice. One of my early forays into hi-fi was a pair of Ascend CBM-170s -- this was more than 20 years ago now, when they were one of the best measuring set of bookshelves you could buy at a reasonable price. They never stopped sounding fantastic. I finally passed them along to a friend as his intro to better sound, and they continue to give great service.

After listening to LX for a few days, I should have bought them earlier.... Not sure why I wasted that many hours to find a good budget set (well, lx can be a budget set for some). Nothing to complain and my speaker search is done (at least for the bedroom).

 

[djw.cloud]

I have had both. I will write about it laiter but the LX tweeter is one the first metal tweeters I have enjoyed.

 

[robh]

I have had both. I will write about it laiter but the LX tweeter is one the first metal tweeters I have enjoyed.

If it matters to anyone in this thread, the LX is the first metal tweeter I have ever owned. I was a ScanSpeak D2905/9500 kind of guy.

 

[rheology]

Put in an order yesterday. Excited to get them in and listen!

 

[AVKS]

Yeah the Kef are very fatiguing and almost painful for some reason. They're definitely giving me a bit of a headache, and making me tired even. Extreme Toe-in didn't sound good at all and didn't relieve any of those symptoms. It's my first Hi-Fi system though, so my brain is definitely adjusting to it all. I think I will give it a couple of more days to adjust, and then order some LX to compare. I'm also not that into the airy sound of the Kef, it doesn't work great in my small room. I've talked to Dina, and she was pretty adamant I wouldn't have any issues with them but you never know.

How does everyone find using a 3rd LX as a center, vs a three-way like the R2 meta, etc. I can't fit a Horizon in my set-up.

Been listening to my LXs for 6 hours now and ears are as happy as they were when I started. These speakers are superb.

 

[djw.cloud]

I wanted to share my thoughts on metal tweeters and the Ascend LX series. I've noticed that even though metal tweeters, like those made from aluminum or titanium, often measure really well and deliver super crisp highs, they can sometimes feel fatiguing over long listening sessions. It's like, despite what the measurements say, there's something about the sound that can get harsh or edgy after a while. I think it's because metal tweeters can have these resonant peaks or certain distortions that aren't obvious in standard measurements but become noticeable when you listen for a longer period.

Now, on to the Ascend LX series. I've been really impressed with their tweeters. They're often compared to the D2905/9500 soft dome tweeters, which are known for their smooth and detailed highs. The Ascend LX tweeters have a really pleasing sound – they're smooth and natural without that harshness you sometimes get with metal tweeters. They have a nice, even dispersion, so the sound is consistent no matter where you are in the room. Plus, they keep distortion levels low, which makes for a really clean and enjoyable listening experience.

If you're looking for speakers with great high-frequency performance but don't want to risk listening fatigue, the Ascend LX series is definitely worth checking out. They manage to hit that sweet spot between clarity and comfort, making them a great choice for long listening sessions.

What do you all think? Have you had similar experiences with metal tweeters or the Ascend LX series?

---

Hope that fits what you were looking for!

 

[Kylo Ren Amamiya]

Are most of you using room EQ for the low frequency range?

Have you run the LX full range without room EQ and if so was there too much bass at times with certain content?

The latter may apply more to those with smaller rooms.

 

[ExPerfectionist]

Are most of you using room EQ for the low frequency range?

Have you run the LX full range without room EQ and if so was there too much bass at times with certain content?

The latter may apply more to those with smaller rooms.

I use Audyssey for LX + sub, limit it to 500~1KHz. I also use the O-plugs in the LX. If you're not using EQ, you'll probably want to play with the distance to the wall and the plugs on the speakers to optimize the bass. Otherwise it can easily sound very boomy.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

Ascend CBM-170s -- this was more than 20 years ago now, when they were one of the best measuring set of bookshelves you could buy at a reasonable price

Since the CBM-170 are still sold to this day I wonder why the vendor doesn't post any Klippel measurements on their web site?

 

[djw.cloud]

Are most of you using room EQ for the low frequency range?

Have you run the LX full range without room EQ and if so was there too much bass at times with certain content?

The latter may apply more to those with smaller rooms.

No room EQ and placement is about 18 inches from back wall in a medium sized room.

 

[AVKS]

Are most of you using room EQ for the low frequency range?

Have you run the LX full range without room EQ and if so was there too much bass at times with certain content?

The latter may apply more to those with smaller rooms.

My speakers are on my desk in nearfield and I have the two lowest bands on my Lokius turned down to about 10:00. My office is completely open to the entire volume of the rest of the house, with one speaker's unplugged port facing the open foyer and the other about 2 feet from the wall with the semi-open Q Plug in the port.

I did a lot of experimenting and this gives me fantastic punch and bass extension in a sound that stays satisfactorily balanced at all volumes.

 

[umberto]

Alright, I just placed my order for 3x Sierra LX in Satin Espresso. They come in around $800 cheaper than the R3 Meta + R2 Meta I'm testing right now, so if they sound better and cost even less than I can't really go wrong here. My only concern is the Sierra LX being a worse center than the R2 Meta, but man I can't really handle the Kef listening fatigue. Toe-in, etc didn't change much in that aspect so they're back to being straight out. Now, it may be room acoustics and the Sierra LX do the same thing but I'm really hoping not.

 

[AVKS]

Alright, I just placed my order for 3x Sierra LX in Satin Espresso. They come in around $800 cheaper than the R3 Meta + R2 Meta I'm testing right now, so if they sound better and cost even less than I can't really go wrong here. My only concern is the Sierra LX being a worse center than the R2 Meta, but man I can't really handle the Kef listening fatigue. Toe-in, etc didn't change much in that aspect so they're back to being straight out. Now, it may be room acoustics and the Sierra LX do the same thing but I'm really hoping not.

At your distance and in your room, there is nothing to worry about regarding center performance. Get the speakers and play them for several days to let your ears adjust. I would bet significant money that you're fully satisfied.