Re: The Tower Discussion Thread!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
norayr
Hi, I am a new and EXTREMELY happy owner of a pair of ascend ribbon towers. I have been driving around and auditioning several speakers, most notably B&W CM10s, Martin Logans, etc... I first found out about Ascends in 2012, have been reading and researching since then. I quite frankly was expecting something very good, but nothing prepared me for what I heard when I plugged them in. My 10 year old said her ears feel weird, as if they got unclogged.
I am not well equipped to put what I hear in words, but one word jumps out - resolution. I can hear Jane swaying to her own song and her mouth moving millimeters closer to the microphone. The 192kHz FLACs of Norah Jones sound hallucinogenic, when the screen turns off for pure audio, I subconsciously start looking for her, she must be right in front of me, little to the left, how is it I can not see her?
Accuracy and fantastic sound stage are of course the next attributes that one notices. In the ned, I have not heard a better sounding speakers.
I manually equalized using my Yamaha 3010's PEQ, measuring with REW and a umik microphone on a laptop. The original YPAO equalization was too conservative (as measured by REW) and the manual one was much more effective at flattening the curve, but involved.
I also loved the finish, workmanship and the looks of the speakers that I took some high resolution pictures. Please see the link to flickr below.
https://flic.kr/s/aHsm37Cbyz
Wow man. Your pictures make the wait for my towers (finally coming with the next batch of cabinets) even harder (No pressure, Dave!;))! Haha.
Thanks for posting!
Re: The Tower Discussion Thread!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
norayr
Hi, I am a new and EXTREMELY happy owner of a pair of ascend ribbon towers. I have been driving around and auditioning several speakers, most notably B&W CM10s, Martin Logans, etc... I first found out about Ascends in 2012, have been reading and researching since then. I quite frankly was expecting something very good, but nothing prepared me for what I heard when I plugged them in. My 10 year old said her ears feel weird, as if they got unclogged.
I am not well equipped to put what I hear in words, but one word jumps out - resolution. I can hear Jane swaying to her own song and her mouth moving millimeters closer to the microphone. The 192kHz FLACs of Norah Jones sound hallucinogenic, when the screen turns off for pure audio, I subconsciously start looking for her, she must be right in front of me, little to the left, how is it I can not see her?
Accuracy and fantastic sound stage are of course the next attributes that one notices. In the ned, I have not heard a better sounding speakers.
I manually equalized using my Yamaha 3010's PEQ, measuring with REW and a umik microphone on a laptop. The original YPAO equalization was too conservative (as measured by REW) and the manual one was much more effective at flattening the curve, but involved.
I also loved the finish, workmanship and the looks of the speakers that I took some high resolution pictures. Please see the link to flickr below.
https://flic.kr/s/aHsm37Cbyz
Thank you Norayr for the fantastic pictures - more importantly, I am very happy that you are enjoying the speakers. I am going to copy your post into our reviews section so that more people can get a chance to see your pictures.
Thanks again!!!
Re: The Tower Discussion Thread!
Yep, time to start saving up for some ribbon towers. I've been very happy with my Sierra-1s, but I've had them for about 7 years and would like to upgrade to some end-game speakers.
edit - The Sierra 1s make me smile every time I turn the stereo on, so I can't wait to see how the towers sound with the ribbons.
Re: The Tower Discussion Thread!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JR123
like to upgrade to some end-game speakers.
There is no end game. 😜
Re: The Tower Discussion Thread!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
curtis
There is no end game. 😜
Does this mean there's a new, even better version of the towers in the works??? What do you know? ;)
Re: The Tower Discussion Thread!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
mikesiskav
Does this mean there's a new, even better version of the towers in the works??? What do you know? ;)
Nope - no plans at this time to make any changes to the towers or introduce something that would be step up in performance. New Website and Luna LCR are keeping us plenty busy...
Re: The Tower Discussion Thread!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
davef
Nope - no plans at this time to make any changes to the towers or introduce something that would be step up in performance. New Website and Luna LCR are keeping us plenty busy...
No worries, I don't have any plans to upgrade any time soon. The Sierra-2s are just perfect for my living room. :cool:
Quick question, though, regarding the towers: What's the key differences between the tower's midrange and the woofers that make them suited to their task? Is the material different? I assume the woofers are heavier and have more excursion.
Re: The Tower Discussion Thread!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
mikesiskav
No worries, I don't have any plans to upgrade any time soon. The Sierra-2s are just perfect for my living room. :cool:
Quick question, though, regarding the towers: What's the key differences between the tower's midrange and the woofers that make them suited to their task? Is the material different? I assume the woofers are heavier and have more excursion.
Very significant differences -- the moving mass in the mid for the tower is about 1/3 of that compared to the bass woofers. Additionally, the mid woofer uses a fully underhung voice coil with a neodymium magnet system. The mid woofer, by design, has much less excursion but has a considerably stronger, more linear, and more focused magnetic field throughout the coil's travel (less flux leakage). The makeup of the cones themselves are a bit different (difference percentages of PP and minerals) allowing the mid woofer cone to be quite a bit thinner while maintaining stiffness. And finally, the surrounds are quite bit different as well.
These 2 woofers really have nothing in common at all - other than being woofers :)
Re: The Tower Discussion Thread!
So close to Tower time! Just have to get past the holidays and see how things look before placing my order. Off to read more reviews, even though my mind is made up thanks to years and years of amazing sound with my Sierra-1s.
Re: The Tower Discussion Thread!
Ugh, getting the upgrade bug, I’ve gone from the the Sierra-1 NrTs to the Sierra 2s. Added a RAAL Horizon, then added the Luna’s to my office setup. Now I’m thinking about replacing the Sierra 2s in my bedroom/2 channel listening room with the RAAL towers for the better midrange. Anyone want to speak to the incremental improvements of the RAAL towers over the Sierra 2s? Have a rythmik f12 to fill up the low end... or should I go with a second f12?