That's what I wanna hear! Patiently awaiting my RAAL Towers which will be my first ever hifi purchase.Quote:
Originally Posted by Galaga
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That's what I wanna hear! Patiently awaiting my RAAL Towers which will be my first ever hifi purchase.Quote:
Originally Posted by Galaga
im sold by lot of praise on the sierra-2 in this thread, but especially this comment loll!! this will def be my next set of speakers in the coming months when the time is right, hopefully before the years end, im fed up of doing research, ascend acoustics wins :D...Quote:
Originally Posted by JustABrah
can anyone talk more about the mid-bass/mid-range driver? any comparision (dynaudio, b&w). I have a fairly small room and planning on a new diy housing (enclosure) on my currently sealed pair of subs but id like to leave that for next summer and want to run full range without need of subwoofers...
OK I just wanted to chime in to give my impressions of my new Sierra 2's and Horizon center with RAAL. I have had these for only 3 days now. But I have spent a lot of time with them.
First let me start by saying that I ordered the Sierra 2's to be side surrounds and ordered the Towers with RAAL as my FL and FR. But since the Towers are on backorder I got a chance to replace my front stage with the Sierra 2's and Horizon with RAAL to compare to the speakers they are replacing. Once my Towers come in I will again compare the Sierra 2's as FL and FR to the Towers in the same setup.
The speakers that the Ascends are replacing are Paradigm Studio 100's V1 and a Studio CC570 V3 for the center.
My room is not treated and is fairly small (11' x 17.5' x 7.5'). The floors are wood laminate but there is a large area rug taking up 1/2 the room And lots of furniture too. So its not like an empty room. I use a Denon AVR-4311 and Emotiva XPA-5. Calibration via Audyssey MultiEQ XT32 Music is played either through a Sonos connect (FLAC files) or for SACD/DVD-A and Blu Ray Audio I use my Oppo. I am running a 5.2 system with Paradigm Studio 20's as my surrounds and 2 Rythmik F15 subs.
Problems with the current Studios that prompted the change:
1) Fatiguing to listen to at volume - I wear hearing aids to correct some hearing loss in the upper frequencies related to auto racing and heredity. I consider the Studios to be a bit harsh with their dome tweeter. I know that certain voices and notes on a guitar during rock songs make me cringe. I am extra sensitive to this because my hearing aids amplify upper frequencies. This fact got me to looking at ribbon tweeters.
2) The sound stage is all over the place. I am not good with descriptions, but it almost seems like at times the various instruments and drums and vocals in a song get stirred together in a way that sounds like I am listening to speakers that are inside of a box or something. In movies when something pans left to right and front to back, the movement does to translate right at all at times. I think this all may have something to do with the fact that the 100's are just too big for my room? And lack of room treatments? I have experimented a lot with toe-in and it never seems to do a lot of good. Best was with the speakers directly pointing at my nose.
3) The 100's are big black rectangular monsters. Not particularly nice to look at and too big in my small room. I think they are close to 5' tall.
4) The 100's are old and becoming higher maintenance. They are perfect right now, but had to replace a tweeter in one and a couple of rubber surrounds. Parts are becoming hard to get.
5) I have had these speakers for a few years now, and was itching to upgrade...
The positives about the Ascends:
1) The upper frequencies are "crisp" without being harsh, overly loud. I am not fatigued at all listening to these speakers at fairly close to reference levels. Acoustic guitar plucks are heard so clearly, as are piano keys, cymbals, etc.. But they are not overly "crunchy" or grating like my 100's. I told you I was not good at descriptions. I will not use the term "a veil has been lifted". I hear that too much. I prefer to think about it like this. You know what an LCD TV looks like in the store with the super bright settings that really pop but that look artificial and give you a headache. That was like my 100's with upper frequencies. The Ascends are more like a calibrated Plasma TV. They are not so far out there, and they are more pleasing and real to the ears.
2) They look so sexy. I love the cherry cabinets. You can still see the bamboo grain through them. They look high end. Where the 100's looked...well outdated.
3) The sound stage. After calibration I messed around with toe in a bit. The front speakers are 6' apart and I sit a little over 7' back. I found the best results with just a little bit of toe in. They are not pointed at my face, but about a foot or two outside of me. I was listening to the Doors, LA Woman on multi channel CD. There is one part of the song where Jim Morrison's voice repeats a lyric and it goes from one speaker to another from FL, FR, SL and SR. And it was very easy to track. With my 100's I never got a clear sense of the movement in his voice. The drums sounded like they were coming from behind my TV with the Ascends. With my 100's the drums were just everywhere and somewhere. I would say that the sound stage portrayed by the Ascends in most music is surprisingly large, but accurate or more pin point.
4) I really enjoy a couple of classical CD's I have with these speakers. The sound stage and the "high fidelity" and wow moments I get with various instruments as they are featured, I really cannot say that I enjoyed this type of music that much before. I guess I am saying that the Ascends make me appreciate various genre's and allowing me to broaden my music appreciation.
I am dying to get the Towers so I can replace my Paradigm Studio 20's with the Sierra 2's for my side surrounds. I love the Studio 20's (much more than my 100's), but I feel that having the Ascends all around will enhance the experience that much more.
So in the end I would have to say, if you are on the fence about ordering these, do it. Especially if you prefer less harsh and fatiguing speakers that manage to be less harsh but still super crisp. You will be impressed with the sound stage too especially for bookshelfs.
Great write-up, thanks Mike! And yes those Sierra 2's look sexy! I look forward to your next review when you get the Towers, especially how they sound compared to the 2's. Also I'll be interested in any comparison between the 2's and Studio 20's as surrounds.
Mark
Thanks Mark. I can't wait to be able to do that comparison with the Towers and S2's as surrounds. I should note that the lack of me mentioning the mid-bass with the S2's was not an omission. I just really do not feel that it is a fair comparison with my Studio 100's.Quote:
Originally Posted by markie
However, I will say this. I was listening to Pink Floyd, Black Eyed Peas, and Sara Bareillis and Norah Jones using pure direct mode this morning. And for their size, the mid-bass is truly impressive. It is tight and does not sound strained at all. That says a lot coming from me. I tend to like hot bass (not bloated, but strong clean tight bass - the Rythmik F15 is superb for that). When I run my subs, I run them 5db hot from what Audyssey sets them. and use Auralex Subdudes.
Ive read comments in this thread that say you really don't need a subwoofer with these. I would not go that far. Make no mistake, unless I was listening to these nearfield, I would definitely want a sub to round out or complete the sound picture. But I would definitely say that the mid bass is much tighter and clean (not sloppy in the least) and in terms of volume compares to some towers that I have heard. Amazing given the size.
Compared to my Studio 20's I would say that they both have impressive bass response but in different ways. The S2's are clean and composed with impressive upper to mid bass volume. The Studio 20s seem to go a little bit deeper, but the bass is a little less clean. For me (YMMV) if I did not run a subwoofer, I would pick the Studio 20's if bass were the only factor. But with a sub, I would definitely pick the S2's (again only considering the upper and mid bass characteristics).
Overall given everything, I think the S2's are a better speaker than the Studio 20's. But don't misunderstand I think the Studio 20's are terrific speakers too in their own right. My comparison is with Studio 20's V1 and V2. I have both.
That all said, I can't wait to get my towers which I feel will round out my system even more.
thx for sharing your thoughts ! very cool read