Paradigm Premier 800F vs Monitor Audio Silver 300 vs Ascend Acoustics Sierra Tower w/ Raal Tweeter

[Cosmic_Error]

I'm looking to compare these three speakers or any others that are better in a similar price range. I'm looking for a more neutral sound and my listening room is about 150 sq. ft. The sierra towers are a bit out of my price range but I've heard that they are very good, so are they worth the extra money over the other two speakers?

 

[amper42]

I'm looking to compare these three speakers or any others that are better in a similar price range. I'm looking for a more neutral sound and my listening room is about 150 sq. ft. The sierra towers are a bit out of my price range but I've heard that they are very good, so are they worth the extra money over the other two speakers?

I have the Sierra Towers and the BMR's. Based on the size of the room I would select the BMR's. They have an extremely flat response and the deep bass is awesome. At $1700 they are an amazing value and it's the kind of speaker you'll want to keep for the next 20 years.

http://philharmonicaudio.com

If you need stands for the BMR I would recommend these. They are heavy duty and a great value. I love my pair.
https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=305&cp_id=30503&cs_id=3050302&p_id=31263&seq=1&format=2

 

[MZKM]

I’d cross out Paradigm if neutral sound came first, they look awesome though. Audioholics measured a horizontal heat-map:


Stereophile measured the M.A.: https://www.stereophile.com/content/monitor-audio-silver-300-loudspeaker-measurements
Pretty good.

Ascend has measurements of the Sierra tower. With the dome tweeter, the Monitor Audio is better (maybe even the Paradigm too). With the RAAL, it’s a toss-up. Too bad no Spins exist for either (Ascend only started doing them with the 2EX).

 

[rynberg]

Revel F206, KEF R3/R7

 

[goldark]

I’d cross out Paradigm if neutral sound came first, they look awesome though. Audio ok is measured a horizontal heat-map:
View attachment 108870

Stereophile measured the M.A.: https://www.stereophile.com/content/monitor-audio-silver-300-loudspeaker-measurements
Pretty good.

Ascend has measurements of the Sierra tower. With the dome tweeter, the Monitor Audio is better (maybe even the Paradigm). With the RAAL, it’s a toss-up. Too bad no Spins exist or either (Ascend only started doing them with the 2EX).

Amir has measured the Sierra Horizon with RAAL and it has good measurements: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...coustics-horizon-center-speaker-review.15199/

The tower has the same cabinet volume and drivers and doesn't have the same design constraints as a center. I would suspect the tower to measure at least as well as the Horizon.

 

[BillH]

I'm looking to compare these three speakers or any others that are better in a similar price range. I'm looking for a more neutral sound and my listening room is about 150 sq. ft. The sierra towers are a bit out of my price range but I've heard that they are very good, so are they worth the extra money over the other two speakers?

A few gross generalities:
A common view of Paradigm around ASR is that they were a very good company that lost their way quite a while ago.
The monitor audio's may be ok, but they aren't discussed heavily. I've auditioned them. I don't plan to buy them.
There are a few threads discussing blind testing of the Ascends - especially the towers or sierra 2-EX against Revels and similar that tend to support the position that they are quite good.
Having never heard them, I will probably next buy the BMR's because the measurements and testimonials are superb.
I also am interested in the KEF's because I think my ceiling bounce situation is especially troublesome and a co-axial would be beneficial.
I'd seriously consider the BMRs from philharmonica.
I own the Sierra 2-EX's. They are very nice
You should consider Revel and Kef.
Finally, in order to truly channel my ASR, why are you not considering active systems. The best of them typically crush passive speakers.

 

[Steve Dallas]

I have the Sierra Towers and the BMR's. Based on the size of the room I would select the BMR's. They have an extremely flat response and the deep bass is awesome. At $1700 they are an amazing value and it's the kind of speaker you'll want to keep for the next 20 years.

http://philharmonicaudio.com

If you need stands for the BMR I would recommend these. They are heavy duty and a great value. I love my pair.
https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=305&cp_id=30503&cs_id=3050302&p_id=31263&seq=1&format=2

If you are sitting on typical height furniture, such as a sofa, the 24" stands are preferable to the 28" stands.

 

[Cosmic_Error]

I’d cross out Paradigm if neutral sound came first, they look awesome though. Audio ok is measured a horizontal heat-map:
View attachment 108870

Stereophile measured the M.A.: https://www.stereophile.com/content/monitor-audio-silver-300-loudspeaker-measurements
Pretty good.

Ascend has measurements of the Sierra tower. With the dome tweeter, the Monitor Audio is better (maybe even the Paradigm). With the RAAL, it’s a toss-up. Too bad no Spins exist or either (Ascend only started doing them with the 2EX).

Thanks for the great info

 

[Cosmic_Error]

Revel F206, KEF R3/R7

Those kefs are $2000 a piece thats way out of my price range.

 

[Cosmic_Error]

A few gross generalities:
A common view of Paradigm around ASR is that they were a very good company that lost their way quite a while ago.
The monitor audio's may be ok, but they aren't discussed heavily. I've auditioned them. I don't plan to buy them.
There are a few threads discussing blind testing of the Ascends - especially the towers or sierra 2-EX against Revels and similar that tend to support the position that they are quite good.
Having never heard them, I will probably next buy the BMR's because the measurements and testimonials are superb.
I also am interested in the KEF's because I think my ceiling bounce situation is especially troublesome and a co-axial would be beneficial.
I'd seriously consider the BMRs from philharmonica.
I own the Sierra 2-EX's. They are very nice
You should consider Revel and Kef.
Finally, in order to truly channel my ASR, why are you not considering active systems. The best of them typically crush passive speakers.

I have an active system and I have auditioned some dynaudio core 7s and I'm waiting till I have a good reason to replace my adam audio t5v's with the core 7's. I'm looking to make a system that is different, it's not really the most logical thing but I just want passive towers for this. Also what kefs and revels would you suggest I look at? Right now with where I live and the pandemic its not feasible for me to audition many speakers.

 

[amper42]

If you are sitting on typical height furniture, such as a sofa, the 24" stands are preferable to the 28" stands.

It probably depends on your height and the height of the chair? I have my BMR's mounted on 28" stands and that's ear level with the tweeter for me. Your measurements may be different. The stands are also available at 24" for a few dollars less.

https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=305&cp_id=30503&cs_id=3050302&p_id=31263&seq=1&format=2

 

[amper42]

I'm playing track 4 "My Treasure" from the Sinne Eeg "Waiting for Dawn" CD on the BMR's without a sub and the bass is full, rich and amazingly satisfying while the cymbals and vocal are crisp and crystal clear. I love the BMR speakers. Can't go wrong with them.

http://philharmonicaudio.com

 

[warthor]

Those kefs are $2000 a piece thats way out of my price range.

The kef r3 are $2000 a pair new, and you can find them cheaper than that.

 

[Cosmic_Error]

The kef r3 are $2000 a pair new, and you can find them cheaper than that.

I'm looking for floor standing speakers though and the r7s which are floor standing are too expensive. Is the q series worth looking at or no?

 

[swampbrain]

I just finished up my research (several months) and selected my next speakers.

My budget started out $600-800, grew to $1500 and finally wound up at 2k - lol

I seriously considered the following:

Revel Concerta 2 F35 and F36
Focal Chora 816 and 826
Monitor Audio Silver 300 and 500
Wharfdale evo 4.3 and 4.4
BMR kit from Meniscus
KEF Q750 and 950

Took a look at models by:
Paradigm
Goldenear
SVS
Sierra
and pretty much all I could find info on that were in my price range.

Based on reviews by owners & professional reviewers, measurements, and feedback/input from forum members here and on several other audio sites I narrowed it down to the Revel F36, Monitor Audio Silver 300, and the Focal Chora 826.

Picked the Revel F36 ! Hope to have them in my house in a week or 2

The Revels were universally acclaimed by pretty much everybody.........at the very least listeners were happy and many expressed holy cow moments listening to them.

The Monitors and Focals certainly have their fans and I was close to picking both of them as well as the Silver 500 (could have gotten a deal on them = 2k shipped), and as you've no doubt noticed the BMR's by Dennis Murphy have a large fan club here (and elsewhere) and I'm sure any one of these could/would have been excellent upgrades to my old Athena's BUT I think I made the right decision, at least for me.

Best of luck

 

[Cosmic_Error]

I just finished up my research (several months) and selected my next speakers.

I considered the following:

Revel Concerta 2 F35 and F36
Focal Chora 816 and 826
Monitor Audio Silver 300 and 500
Wharfdale evo 4.3 and 4.4
Goldenear Triton Five
SVS Prime Pinnacle
BMR kit from Meniscus
KEF Q750 and 950
Paradigm Premier 800F
among others.

Based on reviews by owners & professional reviewers, measurements, and feedback/input from forum members here and on several other audio sites I narrowed it down to the Revel F36, Monitor Audio Silver 300, and the Focal Chora 826.

Picked the Revel F36 ! Hope to have them in my house in a week or 2

The Revels were universally acclaimed by pretty much everybody.........at the very least listeners were happy and many expressed holy cow moments listening to them.

The Monitors and Focals certainly have their fans and I was close to picking both of them as well as the Silver 500 (could have gotten a deal on them = 2k shipped), and as you've no doubt noticed the BMR's by Dennis Murphy have a large fan club here (and elsewhere) and I'm sure any one of these could/would have been excellent upgrades to my old Athena's BUT I think I made the right decision, at least for me.

Best of luck

I feel like we've gone through a very similar search. Hopefully you got the right speakers.
Also why did you eliminate the kef q series?

 

[jonfitch]

A few gross generalities:
A common view of Paradigm around ASR is that they were a very good company that lost their way quite a while ago.
The monitor audio's may be ok, but they aren't discussed heavily. I've auditioned them. I don't plan to buy them.
There are a few threads discussing blind testing of the Ascends - especially the towers or sierra 2-EX against Revels and similar that tend to support the position that they are quite good.
Having never heard them, I will probably next buy the BMR's because the measurements and testimonials are superb.
I also am interested in the KEF's because I think my ceiling bounce situation is especially troublesome and a co-axial would be beneficial.
I'd seriously consider the BMRs from philharmonica.
I own the Sierra 2-EX's. They are very nice
You should consider Revel and Kef.
Finally, in order to truly channel my ASR, why are you not considering active systems. The best of them typically crush passive speakers.

Yeah their Signature series measured extremely well. For some reason their current generation looks like they are copying B&W 700 series sound signature. Which is not very neutral to say the least.

 

[swampbrain]

I feel like we've gone through a very similar search. Hopefully you got the right speakers.
Also why did you eliminate the kef q series?

I just couldn't find as many people who raved over them. A couple of stellar reviews but not a lot of buyers reviews. Wasn't completely sold on the coaxial drivers or the use of passive radiators. I also don't think they're "finished" as nice as the Revels, Monitors, Focals etc..

 

[Kal Rubinson]

The Q's are a lower tier product and fair value for that. Finish was obviously inferior but the passive drivers were fine. Bass alignment was strange but effective.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/kef-q900-loudspeaker-measurements

 

[Head_Unit]

Hopefully you got the right speakers.

And you? What did you finally do?