Sierra/Horizon RAAL, what did you audition or have before moving to them them?

I am in the process of upgrading my home theater and had a few posts and replies in some other threads and I appreciate the feedback there.

First and foremost I am a procrastinator and over analyze things before making a decision. So please bare with me. At times that works for or against me.

My other post has my room info and concerns in general so I am not looking to rehash that here. More I am curious as to what other speakers people auditioned in their journey and what are they coming from. I think myself and others may benefit from this as my entire 20 years in this hobby has been Denon/Klipsch. I have already auditioned Focal 826 and 936 as well as Monitor Audio Gold 300 and Silver 500 and Martin Logan 60XTi/50Xti

As the thread title says, what did you listen to before going with Sierra/Horizon RAAL and what did you replace and why? I have to assume if you still have them you are happy with your decision.

And Bonus question, what really stands out for you since having them?


Thanks in advance!

My journey started in 2006. I began with a L/R budget of $800. I did extensive auditioning, and ended up with the 340. I learned at that point that for the same price no traditional speaker could compete with the Ascend ID model. I upgraded to the Sierra 1 when that was introduced. Again, I was blown away, and many direct comparisons to other speakers confirmed the wisdom of my earlier discovery about Ascend. With the NrT tweeter upgrade, the Sierra could match the performance of the Salk Songtower, again at a much lower price. After this point I pretty much stopped doing direct comparisons of my Sierras to other brands. The upgrade to the Sierra 2 was significant. I recently upgraded to the Sierra LX, and I am extremely happy with that. Upgrade options are only one reason I stay with Ascend. It's a great company, with great customer support. From a technology standpoint, Ascend is one of the very few companies that owns a Klippel systems for evaluating speakers, which is revolutionary in its ability to measure speaker performance. Ascend's R&D capabilities, and continued adherence to ID pricing advantages, appeal to all of my quality/value sensibilities.

Prior to around 1999 I had nothing of mention really.

1999:
I wanted 5.1 for my room, but on a budget. Researched a ton, auditioned a ton with what was available where I lived. Settled in on 4 Infinity IL20's and an IL35C. Ran that setup in various residences until 2011-2012.

2011-2012:
Ok, I'm in a position to spend a bit now. I reflect on the sounds that I've experienced that I liked. Martin Logans are still too expensive and take up too much space. But B&W... I'd heard some 600 and 800 series rooms that were just stellar. Ok let's see what they have these days.. Nope, too expensive and the lower lines seemed overpriced too. More research and now KEF, Monitor Audio, PSB are in the mix. I had a trip planned to audition examples of all of them. Still had that B&W sound in my head though.

Late night google kung fu concerning B&W on a budget led me to a thread on the AVS forums where I saw someone say something to the effect of "Sierra 1's are basically B&W 600 series that can crank and not rip your ears off". If true, this would be perfection. B&W can be a bit sibilant, and let's face it... you put on rock, metal, industrial, EDM at volume and they will indeed rip your ears right off.

I poked around the site here, then I found this: https://www.highfidelityreview.com/i...acoustics.html

Wait, the designer's main setup for a while was a pair of Matrix 801's? Sure, what the hell.

Ordered L/C/R that night, fully expecting all of this to be internet hype ala AV123, Aperion Audio, etc...

They arrived, I hooked them up, I ran my gauntlet through them and was frankly in tears at one point. They never went back.

Last week, 2022:
Brother in law is doing a full setup soon; had been talking to him about what he might get. He's actually been running my old Infinity stuff for the last 10 years. He's heard this room many, many times and was settled in on Sierra 1 fronts. I poke around on the Ascend site for the first time in years and lo... there's a new Sierra. Oh dear, and they've got a Klippel now and boy howdy those scans look good and... Several emails of questions between me and David F, driving him nutty I'm sure (thanks, Dave!), and upgrade kits ordered. I put them in last week. Worth. Every. Penny.

Summation: I was brought here on the promise of an internet forum thread 10-11 years ago. I've not left the stable since then, and indeed just bought in for another decade (I don't buy speaks that often). Why do I stay with my Ascends and recommend them at every opportunity? The value proposition. It's just that strong. Normally the value proposition, the bang for the buck, is only brought up in on-a-budget discussions. There's a financial limit in the mix and people want to maximize performance under that amount. That CAN be the case here when I say value proposition, but it's not at all what I mean. Each product offered hits so, so hard above its price point that regardless... it's ALWAYS going to be the better value. I'm not stupid rich, but I have the means and patience to save up for whatever I want. I currently now own the superlative of the Ascend bookshelves. Right this second if I wanted something better, it could perhaps be had, but I've listened to more B&W, more KEF, more Revel... and I would take my original Sierra 1's over all of it all day every day. With the LX's? Where am I going? Upper tier Focal, B&W, Silk, for the price of a decent car? Screw that.

Actually it's really just the cabinets. The bamboo cabinets rule.