Ascend Acoustics Sierra LX Review

[rageworm]

What color?

Espresso, which honestly, to me looks like super dark cherry.

 

[Pareto Pragmatic]

I may put mine for sale, as I'm leaning towards listening to my jbls(hdi-1600 and 580) all the time and frankly I love horn tweeter

Listen to what you love. The only thing I wish the LXs did would be to hit like a compression driver/horns do on my other speakers in that room (AV). So I 100% get that.

I grew to like the LXs more after a week steady, and now I like both and my choice comes from music or mood. But the crack of the drumstick on the drum rim (for example), just not the same.

 

[Audio Science Pal]

You almost need to see the Dark Cherry (left) and Espresso (right) side by side to distinguish the difference.

 

[rageworm]

Listen to what you love. The only thing I wish the LXs did would be to hit like a compression driver/horns do on my other speakers in that room (AV). So I 100% get that.

I grew to like the LXs more after a week steady, and now I like both and my choice comes from music or mood. But the crack of the drumstick on the drum rim (for example), just not the same.

This is a very good reply. Thank you for this.
I'm still debating with myself whether I should sell them or not, but I realized I really don't use them. This is why I said I "may" sell them, say if someone reaches out with reasonable offer and not causing me a headache with enormous amount of questions, including the questions that have been answered right away in my post above, so you know it's gonna be a smooth transaction, I probably would sell them. Otherwise I may list them on eBay at my convenience or... Maybe keep it, there's a room for it in my house, and right now 698s aren't a priority, but I'm gonna go after them eventually, however, it might as well be a pair of HDIs, whether 3600 or 3800, depending on their sale price. Erin measured, compared studio 6 to HDIs, while they're somewhat similar, they are not, and considering ongoing sale prices for HDIs, well... Sorry for the rant irrelevant to the topic.

 

[Pareto Pragmatic]

Sorry for the rant irrelevant to the topic.

I think it is very relevant. Given so much praise for these, knowing when NOT to choose them is a good thing to add to the thread.

 

[Jimbob54]

This is a very good reply. Thank you for this.
I'm still debating with myself whether I should sell them or not, but I realized I really don't use them. This is why I said I "may" sell them, say if someone reaches out with reasonable offer and not causing me a headache with enormous amount of questions, including the questions that have been answered right away in my post above, so you know it's gonna be a smooth transaction, I probably would sell them. Otherwise I may list them on eBay at my convenience or... Maybe keep it, there's a room for it in my house, and right now 698s aren't a priority, but I'm gonna go after them eventually, however, it might as well be a pair of HDIs, whether 3600 or 3800, depending on their sale price. Erin measured, compared studio 6 to HDIs, while they're somewhat similar, they are not, and considering ongoing sale prices for HDIs, well... Sorry for the rant irrelevant to the topic.

I'm going to point you here and request you refrain from requesting people message you if interested. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ible-to-post-items-for-sale.22965/post-765731

 

[gilency]

I may put mine for sale, as I'm leaning towards listening to my jbls(hdi-1600 and 580) all the time and frankly I love horn tweeter while midrange and especially lows are better in the LX. I would like investment the money in JBL 698.
If anyone is interested, let me know. I could do a eBay(where I have a good rating as a seller) listing so you don't have to just trust some random guy from forum, I wouldn't.
Speakers are in the same new condition that I received them from the company. With magnetic covers.
United States only.
Thanks

Couldn’t figure out how to pm you. I may be interested

 

[rageworm]

Couldn’t figure out how to pm you. I may be interested

Hello.

I'll need to create a separate thread for that. Otherwise it's a violation of rules here on ASR.

Sell via DMs is also a violation, per my understanding.

Sorry...

They banned me for some time even though I didn't really attempted to sell it.
Admin gave a a warning, which I acknowledged, fine, but then automatically banned me a couple hours later. What was the point of the warning if he bans people automatically afterwards anyways is still a mystery to me. One vicious moderator that was, takes out his anger on new forum users, I guess... Hopefully that helped him sleep that night.

 

[goldark]

A Luna variant was developed with the same Titan dome used in the Sierra LX. You could consider it a "mini" version of the Sierra LX, if you will. Measurements attached for those interested.

 

[Jim Taylor]

A Luna variant was developed with the same Titan dome used in the Sierra LX. You could consider it a "mini" version of the Sierra LX, if you will. Measurements attached for those interested.

I have a particular affection for small speakers used in the nearfield (When I say "nearfield", I mean a position close enough to easily reach out and touch the speaker). These measure 10.625" x 5.75" x 6.0". They exhibit a wide beamwidth, and can be situated so that the listener's ears are above the tweeter dome.
If a customer was space restricted, they could match this with a reasonable-size sub and have an end-game system.

 

[jarofchris]

I have a particular affection for small speakers used in the nearfield (When I say "nearfield", I mean a position close enough to easily reach out and touch the speaker). These measure 10.625" x 5.75" x 6.0". They exhibit a wide beamwidth, and can be situated so that the listener's ears are above the tweeter dome.
If a customer was space restricted, they could match this with a reasonable-size sub and have an end-game system.

I am looking for new desktop nearfield speakers and I currently have Emotiva B1+s which I like. I am upgrading 1. for aesthetic purposes and 2. curiosity/endgame within a budget (<$1500 / pair). I am very interested in the Luna V2s and this data is very encouraging. I would buy the dome tweeter Luna V2s right now, but I am wondering 1. does the RAAL ribbon significantly improve the high frequency sound (the ribbon tweeters are currently $350 more than the dome tweeters) and 2. does the ribbon significantly cut down on vertical directivity? Obviously at a desk vertical directivity is less essential, but would leaning back in my chair and dipping below ear level cause a significant loss of frequency? What about standing up and walking 6 feet away to the back wall of the room?

 

[AVKS]

I am looking for new desktop nearfield speakers and I currently have Emotiva B1+s which I like. I am upgrading 1. for aesthetic purposes and 2. curiosity/endgame within a budget (<$1500 / pair). I am very interested in the Luna V2s and this data is very encouraging. I would buy the dome tweeter Luna V2s right now, but I am wondering 1. does the RAAL ribbon significantly improve the high frequency sound (the ribbon tweeters are currently $350 more than the dome tweeters) and 2. does the ribbon significantly cut down on vertical directivity? Obviously at a desk vertical directivity is less essential, but would leaning back in my chair and dipping below ear level cause a significant loss of frequency? What about standing up and walking 6 feet away to the back wall of the room?

The measurements are there on their site to compare, so you can decide how much difference is acceptable to you vs the angles under consideration in your room. There is significant vertical narrowing in the treble of the ribbon vs the dome.

 

[Jim Taylor]

I am looking for new desktop nearfield speakers and I currently have Emotiva B1+s which I like. I am upgrading 1. for aesthetic purposes and 2. curiosity/endgame within a budget (<$1500 / pair). I am very interested in the Luna V2s and this data is very encouraging. I would buy the dome tweeter Luna V2s right now, but I am wondering 1. does the RAAL ribbon significantly improve the high frequency sound (the ribbon tweeters are currently $350 more than the dome tweeters) and 2. does the ribbon significantly cut down on vertical directivity? Obviously at a desk vertical directivity is less essential, but would leaning back in my chair and dipping below ear level cause a significant loss of frequency? What about standing up and walking 6 feet away to the back wall of the room?

I've never met a ribbon that was better than a high-quality dome. Different, yes ... better, no. Because most ribbons exhibit restricted vertical dispersion, I find them annoying in the nearfield (I change my seating position quite a bit, reaching for stuff like files and books.).

As for listening to them from a distance of 6 feet, that's something you will need to decide. Different rooms, different recorded material and different output levels will all have a bearing on this that will be unique to you.

 

[jarofchris]

The measurements are there on their site to compare, so you can decide how much difference is acceptable to you vs the angles under consideration in your room. There is significant vertical narrowing in the treble of the ribbon vs the dome.

Thank you for this response, I had not seen the measurements on the website and was able to review them. It is pretty clear that the ribbons lose a significant amount of treble going off-axis vertically. Unfortunately I have no way to know whether or not this difference is generally audible. Would 90% of people note a significant difference in sound at 50 deg off-axis, or would it be more like 20% of people?

With regards to my first question, how significantly does the ribbon affect tone vs the dome? I’m afraid these questions are subjective and the only way is to trial them, but I’m looking for people’s experiences due to the costs involved…

 

[jarofchris]

I've never met a ribbon that was better than a high-quality dome. Different, yes ... better, no. Because most ribbons exhibit restricted vertical dispersion, I find them annoying in the nearfield (I change my seating position quite a bit, reaching for stuff like files and books.).

As for listening to them from a distance of 6 feet, that's something you will need to decide. Different rooms, different recorded material and different output levels will all have a bearing on this that will be unique to you.

Thanks, this is helpful.

 

[robh]

Thanks, this is helpful.

I would buy the dome tweeter 9/10 times. It would have to be a specific kind of music and seating position for me to prefer a ribbon. Don't sweat the decision - just get the dome.

 

[AVKS]

Thank you for this response, I had not seen the measurements on the website and was able to review them. It is pretty clear that the ribbons lose a significant amount of treble going off-axis vertically. Unfortunately I have no way to know whether or not this difference is generally audible. Would 90% of people note a significant difference in sound at 50 deg off-axis, or would it be more like 20% of people?

With regards to my first question, how significantly does the ribbon affect tone vs the dome? I’m afraid these questions are subjective and the only way is to trial them, but I’m looking for people’s experiences due to the costs involved…

Dave at Ascend provides great advice and direction for specific questions about the tonality between the two. From what I've seen it typically comes down to types of music/material one will be playing and even then Dave himself doesn't note significant differences between the two for most people (a bit more air/openness in the RAAL). I chose the Titan dome for my LXs because I listen to a lot of hard rock/electronic, which the Titan seems to be suggested as a bit better for vs the airiness of the RAAL, but it really came down to the bass extension for me.

In your case, you seem to have notable concerns about the vertical performance. With the better vertical dispersion of the Titan, and especially if you are looking for quality bass output from the speakers, go with the Titan and don't think twice about it. You can't really go wrong between the two tweeters - they're more of slightly different flavors of awesome than truly better/worse - but the extra bass extension on the Titan version is significant and noticeable.

 

[goldark]

Thank you for this response, I had not seen the measurements on the website and was able to review them. It is pretty clear that the ribbons lose a significant amount of treble going off-axis vertically. Unfortunately I have no way to know whether or not this difference is generally audible. Would 90% of people note a significant difference in sound at 50 deg off-axis, or would it be more like 20% of people?

With regards to my first question, how significantly does the ribbon affect tone vs the dome? I’m afraid these questions are subjective and the only way is to trial them, but I’m looking for people’s experiences due to the costs involved…

I used to own the Sierra 2 EX v2 with the RAAL ribbon and currently own the Sierra LX.

I would say the super wide dispersion of the ribbon in a typical listening room subjectively adds a sense of "air" and "space" to the treble and this benefits acoustic/orchestral tracks the most. Sitting near-field at a desk where the direct sound is more prominent, I'm not sure how this will affect your listening experience. It depends on the specifics of your room I suppose.

The LX sounds bigger with larger vertical dispersion and still wide horizontal dispersion (but not as wide as the ribbon). The upper bass performance of the LX woofer makes for a "fuller" and "warmer" sound and I think this shows up in the measurements when comparing the estimated in-room response with the LX having more of a tilt.

The Luna versions of both of these speakers use the same woofer but I think you can extrapolate the tweeter differences from my experiences above.

 

[Penelinfi]

If using a ribbon and standing up at the back of the room, you'd place the speakers down at the seated position, and angle them up so that they still point at your ears when at the standing position. Probably the best you can do for such use case

 

[Sly fox]

I haven't heard the Polk R200's but I have owned these speakers the past two years.

Arendal 1723 monitors,1961 Monitors,Towers
Ascend Sierra LX
CSS Criton 1TD-X and 2TD-X
JBL 4309
KEF R3
Klipsch RP600M II
Philharmonic BMR's

I preferred the Sierra LX over all of them. Second best would be the BMR and third would be the Critons.

What was it about these that you liked over the 1723 monitors? I'm thinking of changing up and like the 1723 sound but the dispersion isn't how I like it, ie wider, more enveloping.