Review of Sierra 1's

All,

Thanks again for a kind welcome to the Ascend forum. I'd like to share my experience as a relatively new Ascend owner (about a month). This review is a continuation of my initial review in the "Introduce Yourself" thread. I hope potential Sierra 1 owners find this useful, and look forward to more dialogue with other forum members.

Before I begin my review of the Sierras , let me share my setup: Sierra 1 (L/R), replacing Polk Monitor 50s; Polk CS1 (C) eventually to be replaced by a Sierra Center; Axiom QS-8s (SL/SR); Oppo 980HD; Onkyo 705 (pre-pro only); Emotiva LPA-1.

As I noted before, my initial impression right out of the box listening to one of my favorite jazz CD's, David Fathead Newman's "Life" was very good: the sound seemed to come from a completely noiseless point in space - there was no coloration at all, just the music. It was a very good beginning.
My next CD was one of the all-time great (some would argue) jazz albums, Miles Davis Quintet's Kind of Blue (1997 reissue). Initially this was my only (brief) disappointment. Flamenco Sketches is supremely relaxing for me to listen to, but the Ascends (and the rest of my system) initially were ruthlessly revealing of the shrill upper registers of Davis's trumpet. I tried everything from speaker placement, to adjusting the equalizer, but it was just too bright for my ears. :( Later on my experience would change for the better, however (below)
:o

However, as one who listens mostly to jazz and classical, I intended to listen to more symphonic music during my trial period to test the Sierras' ability to render layering of many instruments, i.e., to see whether it would result in the "congestion" I have read about, which floorstanders are supposedly better at avoiding. I began with Beethoven's Symphonies 3 and 8 - Paavo Jarvi (5.0 SACD). Jarvi's Beethoven performances on SACD are quite good (to my ears) with the Polk's, but I had wanted better imaging, soundstage and improved high frequency response. The Sierra 1's accomplished all of that superbly.

My greatest listening experience on the Sierra 1s to date has been with well recorded small ensemble jazz or folk music. Two discs stand out: Putumayo Records' compilation "Music From the Wine Lands" and above all, Ray Charles' Genius Loves Company, in which he performs with a variety of excellent musicians/vocalists including Norah Jones, Dianna Krall, Natalie Cole, Van Morrison, etc. I had never before experienced such elation when listening to music from speakers (and a great amp) that made me feel as if I was right in the recording studio with the performers. Female voices on these discs are simply gorgeous. And male voices are clear and firm, not at all chesty. As with other music I tried, imaging, soundstage, clarity, balance - it was all wonderful.

Probably the best measure for me of how wonderful these speakers are is to point out that I now prefer 2.1 to 5.1 for almost all of my music (not movies obviously). They are such good speakers that for jazz, classical (even some symphonic music) and folk music the differences between 2.1 and 5.1 are much less noticeable than when I was using my Polks.

I could write more, but I'd probably wear out my welcome (if I haven't already) :rolleyes: . I do have a few recommendations or observations about my experience which I would share with new or potential owners of Sierra 1s (and about which I'd like to read the observations from long-time Sierra owners).

(1) Make sure the waveguides that fell out during shipping are firmly in place. My Sierras were built in September 2008, before Ascend started using a safe glue to keep these in place. This helped with the treble response when listening to Miles Davis and other potentially bright music.

(2) I don't know whether "break in" is real, and if so, whether it's my ears breaking in, the speakers breaking in, or both. However, just in case I ran the speakers for several hours at about -20db, even when not in the room. Real or not, this also might have helped with the few instances where the music sounded a bit bright.

(3) Use Audyssey or some other means of equalizing the sound from your speakers. My Onkyo does this for me and it helps with the overall experience.

(4) The quality of the recording is critical. The Sierra 1s, particularly in combination with good amplification, will reveal the quality with which your CDs were mastered or remastered.

(5) Get separate amplification if you can. I highly recommend Emotiva. This made a big difference for me even with the Polk's.

(6) Remove the speaker grills to see if that improves your listening experience. The Sierra are also more aesthetically pleasing without the covers.

Thanks for reading.

novaduckfan1

Thanks for sharing! :)

I definitely agree with the lack of congestion comment. The Sierras have amazing clarity.

Hi Novaduckfan1,

Thanks for posting your wonderful review!!

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