The PIR is 44% Early reflections, 44% sound power and 12% listening window.
There is no gaming the preference score. A good score should not be gamed.
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Independent measurements of Ascend Acoustics Sierra-LX?
- Thread starter kenshone
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The PIR is 44% Early reflections, 44% sound power and 12% listening window.
There is no gaming the preference score. A good score should not be gamed.
I would agree in some ways. I have Revel F226Bes in a different setup, and while they're obviously very different speakers, the LXs have a similar voicing / tone to the Revels, particularly in the higher frequencies. The Be tweeter and waveguide offer similar directivity and frequency response to the LX's custom SEAS tweeter, and in my opinion they sound very similar. I'm not at all confident that I'd be able to pick out which was which in a blind test. The Revels have the advantage of being 3-way, and they sound smoother across the midrange. The LX's, despite being down a woofer and living in a smaller cabinet, output quite a bit more bass, and have deeper extension. Obviously the LXs give up sensitivity to get there, but with decent amplification, this should be largely moot.
Both are capable of more power handling than I would ever need. I did manage to find the mechanical limits of the LXs' woofers, but that was while playing Tool's Chocolate Chip Trip in full range at volumes well above what I'd ever sit back and listen to even at my loudest (over 95dB continuous at the MLP). The moment I engaged the subs/crossover, they went back to sounding extremely clean with no signs of straining. While they may not be everyone's ideal bookshelf speaker, they are undoubtedly an incredible bargain.
i've heard that the lx delivers a good amount of bass , so i figure they may hit their spl limits a little sooner than some other speakers .. the bmr monitor seems to have this trait as well, and it is noted for bass extension ..
3 way vs 2 way and all that entails in regard to f.r.....i was anecdotally informed of lx extension.. So i'm sure you are more aware(at this time) than i about the specs.. I'm actually contemplating the 2ex as a possible future purchase...
To support your point, here's the LX's PIR at various angles. Note the scale. The direct sound and dispersion mismatch seems to have negligible effect at the listening position.
Other speakers definitely try to "game" things more, like elevating the on axis treble to achieve a flatter sound power or offset the off axis treble with waveguided speaker. . The LX has an on axis bump that balances out the off axis mismatch right before the crossover. Since the direct sound plays such a small roll, the PIR ends up smooth.
This thing is incredible for a flat baffle wave guide less speaker.
If you look at the F226be in room response and PIR, it has a nice wide q dip through the 2/3khz region. Likely most responsible for the smooth sound. I would expect it to sound more pleasant than the F228 or F328. Personally, I find that tends to make a speaker more forgiving and enjoyable. If I had the money I would buy the F226be and be done with this hobby
Revel PerformaBe F226Be Floorstanding Speaker Review
Finally! It's done! This review kicked my butt. Obtaining accurate, anechoic data from 20Hz to 20kHz with resolution down to 20Hz intervals without an NFS or anechoic chamber is a daunting task. I spent multiple days measuring, analyzing and re-measuring the speakers. Hoisting this large...
www.audiosciencereview.com
If you're really worried about variability you can pay extra to get Klippel measurements for one or both of the speakers that you order.
In my experience the LX smashed Ascend's own flagship, the Sierra RAAL towers, after comparing them with instant A/B switching in 4 different positions in my room, even after calibrating both them to the same Dirac target curve and running them both crossed to a pair of Rythmik subs at 80 Hz. But that was only in stereo - the towers came out on top in mono, which was surprising since mono preference is usually a strong predictor of stereo preference when comparing speakers. In any case I don't listen in mono so I've been enjoying the LX while the towers sit in storage (until their inevitable upgrade is available).
It would put it up against the LS50 Metas imo, not sure if it would be a bargain quite yet, but to me it would appear it would stack fairly close both in price and performance, the differences would be in technicalities. They still havent published any of the distortion related graphs and very few subjective reviews. From the aesthetic standpoint I would still take the KEF's over them, but if it can outdo the LS50 Metas then I think they are truly a class leader in the category.
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Any more word on these? Sort of interested in a high end passive small speaker not made by Samsung or in China, so these are pretty appealing.
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I think they look great as well at their price point. The directivity widening above the crossover isn't my favorite (is that the baffle effect?) and causes a bit of a hump in the polar response. A lot of speakers have that though.
They sounded really good to me from a technical standpoint. The highs and lows were incredible. I returned them because I found that the mids a little uneven in my space. I found an upper mid lower treble emphasis that made some instruments and vocals sound "in the room" real, but it made some vocals sound treble heavy (Phil Collins "in the air tonight").
I switched up to the wharfedale Linton's, which is probably the most "right" sounding speaker I have very heard. Seem more.linear and balanced top to bottom.
Interesting. The 3 way has huge advantages which no conventional 2 way can touch. Maybe I should get BMRs
Do you have them?
robh
Member
A year later, do we have any other independent measurements of these LX bookshelfs?
Nope,but in all seriousness what do we hope to gain from having someone else measure them using the same Klippel nfs? I owned a pair for 5 months and I asked Erin if I should wait for he or Amir to measure them before I bought them,and he said it wasn't necessary ,however he is,or was supposed to be getting a pair for review due to demand. The only thing I would be interested in is the distortion and compression data that he provides. I can say that they are great speakers and Dave's customer service is top notch,if anyone wanted to try them he offers a 30 day trial.
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