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Ascend Acoustics Sierra LX Review

I bought these speakers a couple of months ago. I was actually in the market for floorstanders, but I was impressed with the reviews of the Sierras, and I was thinking that at my budget I was probably going to need to eventually augment whatever I bought with a sub or two anyway.

My unboxing impression is that these are very nice looking speakers (I got the walnut), and heavier than I expected. I also bought the matching stands.

The only amp I had at the time was an older Harmon Kardon receiver. The source for the time being is a Yamaha CD player.

My first listening impression was, well, not good. In particular, the vocals sounded very muddy and compressed. However, I got the impression that it wasn’t the speakers that were at fault. I had been wanting a small amp for my desk anyway, so I bought a Fosi ZA3.

This sounded far better IMO. The bass, as has been widely reported, is surprisingly strong for speakers of this size. The speakers can handle the ZA3 at 0db, and they produce a pretty impressive SPL for their size and, for the most part, did justice to my initial selections (Yes, Supertramp, Allen Parsons Project, Led Zeppelin).

However, I can’t say that I’m completely satisfied. I can’t get away from the impression that all this sound has been stuffed into two smallish boxes. Obviously, this is an entirely unscientific listening opinion, and I don’t know the cause. But listening to some selections (Donald Fagen’s The Nightfly comes to mind in particular), I just get the idea that I would be happier with larger speakers. And I think I’m probably going to need to double my budget. I may consider eventually trying to sell the Sierras, or I may decide to use them in a multichannel setup.

In the meantime, I bought a Purifi amp. Unfortunately it arrived DOA, so it’s on the way back to Apollon for replacement. I may post a review of the difference between the amps with these speakers, if I think it’s significant enough to warrant it.

What is your room setup like, in terms of size and distances and furniture? What did you do to set them up in terms of finding the right distance from the walls, angle towards the listening position, etc.?

Is the sound not big or full enough for you? Or do you just prefer having larger cabinets to look at?


*I run mine with a Rythmik F12SE in a medium size room and they get louder than I can comfortably listen to.
 
What is your room setup like, in terms of size and distances and furniture? What did you do to set them up in terms of finding the right distance from the walls, angle towards the listening position, etc.?

Is the sound not big or full enough for you? Or do you just prefer having larger cabinets to look at?


*I run mine with a Rythmik F12SE in a medium size room and they get louder than I can comfortably listen to.
This is where they are now, but I've tried a lot of different positions; distance from the wall, from each other, and toe-in. The cabinet is 5' for reference.

Please see my post just above yours. As far as I can determine, it doesn't seem to be a psychological effect of wanting bigger cabinets just for the appearance.

Loudness isn't an issue; that part I'm satisfied with.

Sierra 2.jpg
 
This is where they are now, but I've tried a lot of different positions; distance from the wall, from each other, and toe-in. The cabinet is 5' for reference.

Please see my post just above yours. As far as I can determine, it doesn't seem to be a psychological effect of wanting bigger cabinets just for the appearance.

Loudness isn't an issue; that part I'm satisfied with.

View attachment 383885
Having them up against the lamp tables can’t be good. And the asymmetrical layout of the left one fairly close to the corner while the right is farther from the side wall. Also that circular table close to the left speaker isn’t ideal.

Looks like a lot of hard, reflective surfaces and sparse decor. Is it a very live room?

The atypical shape of the room looks like it would be challenging to configure a layout.
 
If you want to judge the speakers, try near field listening. Get the speakers away from walls, maybe a 3ft/1m triangle. See what they sound like in that situation. In other words, try to take as much of the room out of the equation as possible. Because...

...that is a problematic space!

I am not sure how floor standing speakers would change things in this space. A bit higher tweeter position would be likely, but given the high ceiling that doesn't seem like it would alter things in a big way (all things being equal).

I will suggest something to try. Flip your speakers over, tweeter on the bottom. Angle them SLIGHTLY up. See how that sounds.

The idea is to send more reflections up to that second level, which hopefully can eat some sound for you. It might help, it might not.

Personally, in that space, I would try shifting the speakers over to the right, and angling the seating area a bit. If you get the left speaker out of the corner a bit, that might help. If you do try this, getting the balance of sound from each speaker, given different sidewall angles, will take a bit of care. At a guess, you will want the left speaker closer to the wall than the right. How much? Experiment.

When you do, whatever is behind that seating area matters. If you can send more reflections away from the main area into other parts of the space (kitchen, hallway for example) that will help.

Asymmetric set up can help with asymmetric rooms, but it's a pain to get right, and always involves compromise. But defintitely keep symmetry for the direct sound-listening position when you try options.

I would try those options first, since they are free and easy to try. Then I would see what I could do with some PEQ settings. Depending on the results, I might then try some room treatment (curtains, something on the wall between the windows, that kind of thing). Then I would decide if new gear would be in order.
 
If you want to judge the speakers, try near field listening. Get the speakers away from walls, maybe a 3ft/1m triangle. See what they sound like in that situation. In other words, try to take as much of the room out of the equation as possible. Because...


...that is a problematic space!

I am not sure how floor standing speakers would change things in this space. A bit higher tweeter position would be likely, but given the high ceiling that doesn't seem like it would alter things in a big way (all things being equal).

I will suggest something to try. Flip your speakers over, tweeter on the bottom. Angle them SLIGHTLY up. See how that sounds.

The idea is to send more reflections up to that second level, which hopefully can eat some sound for you. It might help, it might not.

Personally, in that space, I would try shifting the speakers over to the right, and angling the seating area a bit. If you get the left speaker out of the corner a bit, that might help. If you do try this, getting the balance of sound from each speaker, given different sidewall angles, will take a bit of care. At a guess, you will want the left speaker closer to the wall than the right. How much? Experiment.

When you do, whatever is behind that seating area matters. If you can send more reflections away from the main area into other parts of the space (kitchen, hallway for example) that will help.

Asymmetric set up can help with asymmetric rooms, but it's a pain to get right, and always involves compromise. But defintitely keep symmetry for the direct sound-listening position when you try options.

I would try those options first, since they are free and easy to try. Then I would see what I could do with some PEQ settings. Depending on the results, I might then try some room treatment (curtains, something on the wall between the windows, that kind of thing). Then I would decide if new gear would be in order.
Thanks for the suggestions. I'm using the ZA3 upstairs in my office, so I'll probably wait to receive my replacement Purifi amp before doing anything.
 
If you can put the couch so it sits parallel with the edge of the carpet, facing the corner, and the speakers to the left and right of the corner area, that may sound better. Symmetrical instead of one side with a wall and one side open, and first reflection point for both might put the reflected sound behind you. Reduces wall-reflected sound.

FYI those stands are for the 340-SEs. I have those since I bought the V1s of the 340s 15~ years ago. For my LX I just bought some basic black narrow pipe stand (Monoprice Monolith).
 
I thought about that and tried listening with that in mind, but I still couldn't shake that impression.

And in hindsight, I think that trying to get by with a <$2000 pair of speakers was probably a mistake, regardless of size. Now I just hope that I won't feel like I've made the same mistake with my next pair, which will probably be in the $3000 - $5000 range.
Have you reached out to Dave for feedback on setup or other recommendations?
 
Update: My replacement amp arrived today. The power light stayed on this time; definitely a good sign. I made a slight adjustment to the speaker placement from my pic above, moving the tables farther apart and placing the speakers a bit closer to the wall. For a preamp, I’m currently using a Drop THX AAA One headphone amp. The source is a Yamaha CD player and the amp is a Purifi 1ET400A from Apollon Audio.

As a caveat to my listening impressions today, I should mention that the last time I listened to the speakers was over 2 weeks ago, and I have little faith in my ability to accurately judge less-than-really-obvious sonic differences without doing an A/B test, and even then sometimes I’m not quite sure.

Alice in Chains’ Dirt was in the player, so I started with that. Damn, this sounded good. Definitely better than I remembered from the ZA3 amp (using its integrated preamp); more dynamic in general, and possibly a bit more bass. And the high midrange/lower treble output on the first track, “Them Bones,” was… stunning. So much so that I turned it down a bit out of concern for my hearing.

Next up was another listen to The Nightfly, which I had mentioned previously as somewhat disappointing in the vocal presentation. I simply wasn’t able to recreate that impression this time – except when I got up and stood beside one of the speakers. Had this been, at least predominantly, a speaker placement issue? I didn’t think that this was likely, since I had tried numerous different positions. But the amp/preamp doesn’t really seem to be a likely candidate for the “smallish boxes” impression, although I guess it might be possible to some extent. So that leaves placement or psychoacoustics. Or break-in of the cables.

Ha, just kidding. In any case, I have to say that this most recent listening session left me with quite the opposite impression – these things sound pretty damned impressive IMO for sub-$2000 speakers. I think I can be content with putting off a speaker upgrade for a while (the recent stock market downturn made this decision a little easier also :-/ ).
 
Update: My replacement amp arrived today. The power light stayed on this time; definitely a good sign. I made a slight adjustment to the speaker placement from my pic above, moving the tables farther apart and placing the speakers a bit closer to the wall. For a preamp, I’m currently using a Drop THX AAA One headphone amp. The source is a Yamaha CD player and the amp is a Purifi 1ET400A from Apollon Audio.

As a caveat to my listening impressions today, I should mention that the last time I listened to the speakers was over 2 weeks ago, and I have little faith in my ability to accurately judge less-than-really-obvious sonic differences without doing an A/B test, and even then sometimes I’m not quite sure.

Alice in Chains’ Dirt was in the player, so I started with that. Damn, this sounded good. Definitely better than I remembered from the ZA3 amp (using its integrated preamp); more dynamic in general, and possibly a bit more bass. And the high midrange/lower treble output on the first track, “Them Bones,” was… stunning. So much so that I turned it down a bit out of concern for my hearing.

Next up was another listen to The Nightfly, which I had mentioned previously as somewhat disappointing in the vocal presentation. I simply wasn’t able to recreate that impression this time – except when I got up and stood beside one of the speakers. Had this been, at least predominantly, a speaker placement issue? I didn’t think that this was likely, since I had tried numerous different positions. But the amp/preamp doesn’t really seem to be a likely candidate for the “smallish boxes” impression, although I guess it might be possible to some extent. So that leaves placement or psychoacoustics. Or break-in of the cables.

Ha, just kidding. In any case, I have to say that this most recent listening session left me with quite the opposite impression – these things sound pretty damned impressive IMO for sub-$2000 speakers. I think I can be content with putting off a speaker upgrade for a while (the recent stock market downturn made this decision a little easier also :-/ ).
Placement can make more of a difference than would be intuitive. Especially in a room like yours where things are close to the wall and fairly reflective, you end up with interference in the low mids / vocal range that can really crap up the overall sound. Symmetrical position and getting really close to (or really far from) the walls can often improve things dramatically.
 
Would would be the recommended room correction frequency range for LX without a subwoofer?
 
Would would be the recommended room correction frequency range for LX without a subwoofer?
I'd measure with REW first, if possible, to see the in-room response to see how low to correct. That said, the LX do play pretty deep, at least in my room, and I'd probably correct to mid-20's to low-30's, with a roll-off below (if possible with your equipment).
 
Would would be the recommended room correction frequency range for LX without a subwoofer?
I think manufacturer suggests to correct around 40-80 or basically the base region only.
 
Those stands are for the 340s not the Sierra. I had a set when I got my 340s back in 2007
 
Yup those are for the 340SEs, made to match and look like a tower speaker. They're not "for" the LX.

At first I was using my 340SE tower stands when I got my LX, with a block as a riser. But when I moved to a new place I got better looking speaker stands from Monoprice that are the right height, and have my 340SEs + stands in my office for music
 
Can anyone give me an overview of the 3 currently Sierra bookshelves for sale?

Obviously the Sierra 1 v2 is the least expensive, but the other two options are about the same price - the LX and EX v2. What's the difference between those? Why choose one over the other. Considering picking up a pair of used Sierra's for cheap and upgrading the components to the newest versions.
 
The S1 v2 and LX use the same dome tweeter. The LX has a more powerful woofer than can play louder with less distortion.

The EX v2 uses a ribbon tweeter. The EX v2 sensitivity is a little higher than the other two, but it probably can't play as loud without compressing/distorting. The ribbon tweeter has wider dispersion horizontally compared to the dome, but narrower dispersion vertically compared to the dome.

So a lot depends on personal preference, listening levels, music selection, room setup (hardwood floors? carpet? high or low ceiling? sidewalls nearby or very wide room?).
 
The S1 v2 and LX use the same dome tweeter. The LX has a more powerful woofer than can play louder with less distortion.

The EX v2 uses a ribbon tweeter. The EX v2 sensitivity is a little higher than the other two, but it probably can't play as loud without compressing/distorting. The ribbon tweeter has wider dispersion horizontally compared to the dome, but narrower dispersion vertically compared to the dome.

So a lot depends on personal preference, listening levels, music selection, room setup (hardwood floors? carpet? high or low ceiling? sidewalls nearby or very wide room?).
Thanks - large room. I've got one SVS SB-1000 sub but plan on adding a second. I've got a Hypex ncore 252 amp for the front L/R. Mostly HT use.
 
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