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Ascend Sierra 2 Speaker Review

Shazb0t

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I live in Australia and I just sent an e-mail to this company asking what the shipping costs would be to get them shipped over here. Then I thought - better see if any one has done any objective testing of this brand..............
Look I don't want to sound lazy but if you wouldn't buy this brand - (or more specifically this speaker) what brand would you buy? Yes I know I should go and listen to some speakers, and I do, but not all brands are available in Australia and some are located in other states.

I have around $5000 grand to spend on the speakers alone. The space I want to fill is modest - just a square room - 4x5 metres?

Many thanks if you'd like to offer an opinion.
I would try to snag a demo with a well-engineered speaker at the top of your budget just to get a sense of how such speakers perform. Think Neumann KH310A.
Thank you! I'll check them out.

I also wouldn't rule out trying the Ascends. They are well made speakers which nail tonality and are a well designed implementation of the RAAL ribbon tweeters.
 

mangoes4hands

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I'm in the market for bookshelf speakers to use for a 2.2 setup in a fairly wide TV room (so prioritizing horizontal dispersion), and I'm very interested in the Sierra 2EXs. Given the seeming popularity of these speakers (they are mentioned in a lot of threads on here), I'm very surprised that they haven't been measured yet. I'm pretty fixed on them (maybe foolishly given that I haven't heard them before) and am tempted to purchase and drop ship them to Amir to measure before they make it to me. Given the apparent sensitivity of the tweeters (and the reference to them being covered when shipped to protect from damage), I'm a little more nervous about them being shipped direct.

Any chance measurements are pending?
 

Shazb0t

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I'm in the market for bookshelf speakers to use for a 2.2 setup in a fairly wide TV room (so prioritizing horizontal dispersion), and I'm very interested in the Sierra 2EXs. Given the seeming popularity of these speakers (they are mentioned in a lot of threads on here), I'm very surprised that they haven't been measured yet. I'm pretty fixed on them (maybe foolishly given that I haven't heard them before) and am tempted to purchase and drop ship them to Amir to measure before they make it to me. Given the apparent sensitivity of the tweeters (and the reference to them being covered when shipped to protect from damage), I'm a little more nervous about them being shipped direct.

Any chance measurements are pending?
There is a spinorama posted by Ascend that looks pretty good. No reason to doubt its validity.
SPIN.gif


Other measurements available here:
http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/SRM2EX/srm2exmeas.html
 

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raindance

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I replaced my Magnepan .7 speakers with a pair of Sierra 2's. The treble extension with the Ascends is way better and the tonality of instruments is accurate, however I did find the mid-upper-bass a bit lean and moved them closer to the wall to compensate. My room is treated, mildly, and I have floor to ceiling bass traps in the front corners. The low bass I'm hearing from these little boxes is amazing. My room is 23' x 14' approx, the speakers are 7' apart with the cabinet fronts 22" from the wall. I sit approx 10' away. I don't listen particularly loud, max perhaps 85dB, although my Parasound amp has more juice than I need.
 

raindance

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One more comment: they handily spank the JBL 530's in my room and with no subs. They sound like floor standers in comparison.
 

MZKM

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There is a spinorama posted by Ascend that looks pretty good. No reason to doubt its validity.
View attachment 131559

Other measurements available here:
http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/SRM2EX/srm2exmeas.html
There is some directivity mismatch around 3kHz-4kHz but otherwise good. Very wide dispersion, almost never going above 5dab for the Sound Power DI till around 8kHz.

Due nite their graph has a 60dB scale and not the standard 50dB one.
 

jonfitch

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I'm in the market for bookshelf speakers to use for a 2.2 setup in a fairly wide TV room (so prioritizing horizontal dispersion), and I'm very interested in the Sierra 2EXs. Given the seeming popularity of these speakers (they are mentioned in a lot of threads on here), I'm very surprised that they haven't been measured yet. I'm pretty fixed on them (maybe foolishly given that I haven't heard them before) and am tempted to purchase and drop ship them to Amir to measure before they make it to me. Given the apparent sensitivity of the tweeters (and the reference to them being covered when shipped to protect from damage), I'm a little more nervous about them being shipped direct.

Any chance measurements are pending?

Generally I find the problem with shipping RAAL tweeters isn't physical damage, but rather the kinetic energy from drops can damage the tweeters. Although technically this is true of any speaker, the I've seen woofers torn from surrounds in shipping as well. It's always a risk in shipping, but as long as you buy on a credit card you should have purchase protection. It's only if you are selling it that I would always recommend paying for insurance.
 

JimB

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Generally I find the problem with shipping RAAL tweeters isn't physical damage, but rather the kinetic energy from drops can damage the tweeters. Although technically this is true of any speaker, the I've seen woofers torn from surrounds in shipping as well. It's always a risk in shipping, but as long as you buy on a credit card you should have purchase protection. It's only if you are selling it that I would always recommend paying for insurance.
Hi. In what way? There is so little mass in the ribbon... What have you experienced?
 

JimB

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I'm in the market for bookshelf speakers to use for a 2.2 setup in a fairly wide TV room (so prioritizing horizontal dispersion), and I'm very interested in the Sierra 2EXs. Given the seeming popularity of these speakers (they are mentioned in a lot of threads on here), I'm very surprised that they haven't been measured yet. I'm pretty fixed on them (maybe foolishly given that I haven't heard them before) and am tempted to purchase and drop ship them to Amir to measure before they make it to me. Given the apparent sensitivity of the tweeters (and the reference to them being covered when shipped to protect from damage), I'm a little more nervous about them being shipped direct.

Any chance measurements are pending?
FWIW, I much prefer my S-2EXs to my S-2's.
 

Dennis Murphy

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Hi. In what way? There is so little mass in the ribbon... What have you experienced?
I've shipped hundreds of various RAAL's with no damage. I use the magnetic covers RAAL provides, but they're really only necessary for air shipping. They help guard against damage from sudden decompression. RAAL was having some problems on Fed Ex flights out of Serbia. For ground shipping, it's a non-issue.
 

Shazb0t

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I'm pretty fixed on them (maybe foolishly given that I haven't heard them before) and am tempted to purchase and drop ship them to Amir to measure before they make it to me.
I encourage you to do this! As stated by previous members the likelihood of shipping damage, specific to the RAAL 70-20, while in the original manufacturers packaging is incredibley small.
 

Dennis Murphy

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I encourage you to do this! As stated by previous members the likelihood of shipping damage, specific to the RAAL 70-20, while in the original manufacturers packaging is incredibley small.
And if it were to happen, the ribbon for the 70-20 (but not the 64-10) is user-replaceable and no doubt covered by warranty.
 

richard12511

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I'm in the market for bookshelf speakers to use for a 2.2 setup in a fairly wide TV room (so prioritizing horizontal dispersion), and I'm very interested in the Sierra 2EXs. Given the seeming popularity of these speakers (they are mentioned in a lot of threads on here), I'm very surprised that they haven't been measured yet. I'm pretty fixed on them (maybe foolishly given that I haven't heard them before) and am tempted to purchase and drop ship them to Amir to measure before they make it to me. Given the apparent sensitivity of the tweeters (and the reference to them being covered when shipped to protect from damage), I'm a little more nervous about them being shipped direct.

Any chance measurements are pending?

That would be outstanding and hugely appreciated if you did send one in. I'm guessing they'll measure quite well, and be a great option for those who like really wide dispersion.
 

echopraxia

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I wouldn’t be worried about direct shipping, since Ascend does this for all of their speakers, and if anything does go wrong, they’ll remedy it.

I’ve owned the Sierra 2EX and Sierra RAAL towers, and loved them especially for the amazing treble and wide soundstage. And as shown by their measurements, they are overall just extremely good speakers. Keep in mind there are always pros and cons, of course.

Pros: Extremely good treble (smooth neutral treble that is neither recessed nor fatiguing, IMO as good or better than most much more expensive speakers aside from similarly priced Genelec and Neumann products), very impressive deep bass extension for a small/medium bookshelf speaker with this size woofer. Overall very wide dispersion which gives a very wide soundstage effect, if that’s what you like.

Cons: Deep bass extension from a small woofer still cannot defeat the laws of physics, which means it will bottom out if you try to play deep bass too loudly. They’re great for full range bass at medium/low volumes, but will need a subwoofer otherwise. No waveguide means the tweeter and woofer directivity integration/continuity isn’t as good as similarly priced designs from Genelec, Neumann, Revel, and others, which lack this issue.
 

Ericglo

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I'm in the market for bookshelf speakers to use for a 2.2 setup in a fairly wide TV room (so prioritizing horizontal dispersion), and I'm very interested in the Sierra 2EXs. Given the seeming popularity of these speakers (they are mentioned in a lot of threads on here), I'm very surprised that they haven't been measured yet. I'm pretty fixed on them (maybe foolishly given that I haven't heard them before) and am tempted to purchase and drop ship them to Amir to measure before they make it to me. Given the apparent sensitivity of the tweeters (and the reference to them being covered when shipped to protect from damage), I'm a little more nervous about them being shipped direct.

Any chance measurements are pending?

I think the BMRs might be a better option for roughly the same price.
 

Chromatischism

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I'm in the market for bookshelf speakers to use for a 2.2 setup in a fairly wide TV room (so prioritizing horizontal dispersion), and I'm very interested in the Sierra 2EXs. Given the seeming popularity of these speakers (they are mentioned in a lot of threads on here), I'm very surprised that they haven't been measured yet. I'm pretty fixed on them (maybe foolishly given that I haven't heard them before) and am tempted to purchase and drop ship them to Amir to measure before they make it to me. Given the apparent sensitivity of the tweeters (and the reference to them being covered when shipped to protect from damage), I'm a little more nervous about them being shipped direct.

Any chance measurements are pending?
I believe the EX improves bass performance due to the new woofer but the rest of the speaker is the same. In that case Amir's measurements would not change outside of the bass region, so should still be valid.
 

goldark

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I believe the EX improves bass performance due to the new woofer but the rest of the speaker is the same. In that case Amir's measurements would not change outside of the bass region, so should still be valid.

This is not true. The EX woofer covers much of the midrange as well and is more linear in the midrange than the S2 woofer. I've talked to Dave of Ascend and he says the EX measures more flat and sounds more neutral - the original S2 has a rising response that even he admits.
 
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