Ascend Acoustics Sierra LX Review

[defec1]

How large is your room and how loudly do you plan to listen?

I have both. The LXs are wonderful bookshelf speakers - they're very neutral/balanced and offer truly impressive bass output and power handling for their size.

To me, the ELX ribbon towers are on another level. Even above subwoofer frequencies, (upper bass) the ELXs are noticeably "punchier". They're smoother and less constrained sounding across the midrange. The directivity widening around the crossover region of the LXs (very typical of 2-ways) I think is a large reason why I prefer the ELX here. For treble reproduction, it's also an easy nod to the ELX to my ears. If you start really cranking up the volume (upper 80s to 90+dB from the LP), the scale of the ELX becomes progressively larger and more impressive than it does with the LX. I use both in essentially the same 20' x 11' room (one above the other, the floorplans are virtually identical). In a small/untreated space I can believe that the ELX might overwhelm the listener with reflected sound before the LXs would. You're then also much less likely to need to push either speaker to their limits (where the ELX has a headroom advantage). If your listening distance is rather short, as might be the case in a small room, the vertical window of the LX is larger and better suited to nearfield use.

Right now they'd go into a room that is 15'x10' with me being probably 7-7.5' away. I plan to move to a place with a room that is a bit larger down the road. I listen about at 78-80db measured where my head is. Would the ELX with a Titan tweeter be comparable to the vertical window of the LX in the same room? Thanks.

 

[CleanSound]

The top-end is very slightly bright, but not straining or annoying at all. I actually prefer it as it sounds higher definition and more detailed/accurate. Probably will get smoother with burn-in.

With speakers, any "burn in" is only few hours to loosen up the spider and surround..

So a tad bright?

 

[CleanSound]

Just wanted to add, the term "bright" I used usually refers to detail retrieval and analytical sounding speakers, not that they are very sharp, that's a whole other thing.

The term "bright" is subjective to different people. Your meaning for bright is different from at least mine. When I hear people say a speaker is bright or too bright, it just means that the high frequency is elevated, relative to the rest of the frequency response.

 

[AVKS]

It's been a few months now and I'm still thrilled with how fantastic these sound in my nearfield application. Zero EQ applied or needed for me - just set up, tweak the positioning, and rock out. A true joy to listen to.

 

[CleanSound]

It's been a few months now and I'm still thrilled with how fantastic these sound in my nearfield application. Zero EQ applied or needed for me - just set up, tweak the positioning, and rock out. A true joy to listen to.

I just order a pair.

 

[Matias]

I just order a pair.

Can you drop ship them to Erin or Armir for review? That would be awesome. Thanks.

 

[JATC]

Can you drop ship them to Erin or Armir for review? That would be awesome. Thanks.

Pay shipping twice for a speaker that already has Klippel data published and readily available? Why? Erin already reviewed the Sierra 1 V2 that uses the same tweeter and his data almost lined up perfectly with what Dave at Ascend published.

 

[Matias]

Pay shipping twice for a speaker that already has Klippel data published and readily available? Why? Erin already reviewed the Sierra 1 V2 that uses the same tweeter and his data almost lined up perfectly with what Dave at Ascend published.

They (Erin, Amir) can help with the second shipping fee, as the donations are there to cover this kind of expense. And the why, well, both offer more measurements than the manufacturer, along with subjective insights and comparisons. To me it is well worth it.

 

[AVKS]

I just order a pair.

What will you be coming from/comparing them to? I see what's in your avatar so may be a stupid question I haven't given my M16s a second thought since firing these up.

 

[JATC]

They (Erin, Amir) can help with the second shipping fee, as the donations are there to cover this kind of expense. And the why, well, both offer more measurements than the manufacturer, along with subjective insights and comparisons. To me it is well worth it.

Yeah I get it,but that's hard to compare sometimes too,as Erin and Amir both measure distortion differently and only Erin measures compression and IMD. I think the data Dave published is enough to understand the speakers performance for the most part. If someone is really interested I would just buy them and listen to them in your own room against other speakers if possible. Ascend offers a 30 day trial. That's what I did. I can only trust Amir and Erin's subjective opinions so much. They both have different preferences than I do.

 

[CleanSound]

What will you be coming from/comparing them to? I see what's in your avatar so may be a stupid question I haven't given my M16s a second thought since firing these up.

Revel M16 as well, which will now go into my wife's office.

 

[CleanSound]

Can you drop ship them to Erin or Armir for review? That would be awesome. Thanks.

So I thought about it. But I'm a still salty after I offered Amir to test a Wharfedale I have, he told me that other members complains about him testing older models that's not vintage; then about two weeks later, what does he do? He tested an older gear that is no longer on sale that's also not a vintage. I'm still very salty about that, almost PMSing salty.

Lastly, to other's point, the NFS data are all already published. And I know it's not fudged because it's already confirmed by Erin.

 

[Matias]

BTW IMO Ascend should release a center speaker with a W-T-W configuration to match the Sierra LX. The Sierra LX Center with its asymmetric W-T configuration triggers my OCD like crazy lol. I would seriously consider this trio for my HT. @AscendDF

 

[robh]

I have three LX speakers for my fronts and the wide dispersion sounds fine with the center one on its side. You won’t even notice with the grill on.

 

[JATC]

BTW IMO Ascend should release a center speaker with a W-T-W configuration to match the Sierra LX. The Sierra LX Center with its asymmetric W-T configuration triggers my OCD like crazy lol. I would seriously consider this trio for my HT. @AscendDF

I had just enough room under my TV to run mine vertically,it ended up only being an inch or two lower than my L/R. I really enjoyed the LX's when I had them.

 

[fun]

BTW IMO Ascend should release a center speaker with a W-T-W configuration to match the Sierra LX. The Sierra LX Center with its asymmetric W-T configuration triggers my OCD like crazy lol. I would seriously consider this trio for my HT. @AscendDF

I have the same uncomfortable feeling about the asymmetric center as well. I have a question about placement of such center speaker on its side. Does the tweeter need to be aligned with the MLP or it's ok for the middle of the speaker to be aligned with the MLP?

 

[ExPerfectionist]

I have the same uncomfortable feeling about the asymmetric center as well. I have a question about placement of such center speaker. Does the tweeter need to be aligned with the MLP or it's ok for the middle of the speaker to be aligned with the MLP?

I aligned my LX so that the midpoint between tweeter and bass driver is at the midpoint of the TV, speaker on its side. I'd love to be able to put it vertical.

 

[moonthink]

Pay shipping twice for a speaker that already has Klippel data published and readily available? Why? Erin already reviewed the Sierra 1 V2 that uses the same tweeter and his data almost lined up perfectly with what Dave at Ascend published.

Reproduction and confirmation of data has value.

 

[moonthink]

BTW IMO Ascend should release a center speaker with a W-T-W configuration to match the Sierra LX. The Sierra LX Center with its asymmetric W-T configuration triggers my OCD like crazy lol. I would seriously consider this trio for my HT. @AscendDF

With the grille on, maybe you wouldn't be visually triggered?

 

[Matias]

With the grille on, maybe you wouldn't be visually triggered?

Not really, I would still know it is asymmetrical lol.