Buenos nachos from Edmonds, WA
Good nachos to you.
I finally did it! After maybe... 6 years of pondering? I finally purchased a home theater system. It all started when my older brother created his theater room and populated it with Rockets from av123 and a Definitive sub. As a college student I immediately began researching my dream system (within economic reason of course :D). Of course I was directed AVSforum which was a terrible, wonderful thing. After exhausting myself with the possibilities (Aperion, Ascend, Axiom, av123, subwoofers, receivers, etc.) things died down. Maybe once a year I would come back and exhaust myself again.
Now: six years, a wife, a job, a house, and two kids (girls) later I find myself in the position actually to make a purchase... *gasp*!!! Somewhere over the years I had consciously settled on Ascend Acoustics. I like the community, reviews, mission, and limited number of products... and oh how I coveted the Sierras :o. All I had to do was select a receiver and subwoofer. Long story short: DaveF had already done most of the subwoofer research for me (D15SE), and I found a refurbished Marantz SR5003 that I couldn't pass up. Of course there was lots of nasty anxiety :confused: in finally having to settle on the individual components, but I decided that in the end I would be happy with whatever decision I made.
I settled on Sierras for stereo and HTMs for center and surrounds. The Sierras were pushing my budget a little, but the holiday sales and b-stock made the decision (to push my budget) easy.
And hot mama! Everything finished arriving on Monday, so I haven't had a lot of listening time, but I christened the Sierras with Amériques by Edgar Varèse (no subwoofer) and I was blown away :cool:. I'm finally beginning to understand all the things (terms and whatnot) that I have spent the last six years reading about. Same experience with Stravinski's Petrushka. Then I popped in Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony No. 3 ... ha ha ha... subwoofers make me smile :) big :D. The Rythmik blends very well with the Sierras. And it gets LOUD in my 2800 cubic foot room (when it's cranked).
As for movies, I watched The Iron Giant with my daughters. I definitely recommend the movie if you haven't seen it. It's one of my favorite animated films... and it has some deeeep bass. I sampled a few movies: Polar Express (the train arriving scene is crazy), Finding Nemo (of course), Matrix, LotR, Twister... I can't wait to actually watch them all the way through! I don't have any complaints about the HTM as a center so far... everything is so clear that I'm having trouble comprehending it!
I guess the most telling thing about the quality of the speakers is that my daughters didn't complain about listening at a slightly higher volume... they were completely engrossed with Iron Giant. Usually they start getting bored midway through a movie.
Also, my parents are in town. For them I demoed the Darla scene from Finding Nemo at almost reference levels :eek: (or whatever Audyssey set as reference). It was waaay too loud, but it sounded goooood! My dad had a huge grin on his face... and my mom even commented that it sounded good (even though she had her ears plugged).
OK. I'll stop typing now. I love the speakers. Now I need to listen (and start fine-tuning the system).
Re: Buenos nachos from Edmonds, WA
Awesome milkfat, a little something for everybody. I like your choice of music too. Oh, and Welcome, glad to have you on board.
Re: Buenos nachos from Edmonds, WA
Quote:
Originally Posted by
milkfat
Good nachos to you.
I finally did it! After maybe... 6 years of pondering? I finally purchased a home theater system. It all started when my older brother created his theater room and populated it with Rockets from av123 and a Definitive sub. As a college student I immediately began researching my dream system (within economic reason of course :D). Of course I was directed AVSforum which was a terrible, wonderful thing. After exhausting myself with the possibilities (Aperion, Ascend, Axiom, av123, subwoofers, receivers, etc.) things died down. Maybe once a year I would come back and exhaust myself again.
Now: six years, a wife, a job, a house, and two kids (girls) later I find myself in the position actually to make a purchase... *gasp*!!! Somewhere over the years I had consciously settled on Ascend Acoustics. I like the community, reviews, mission, and limited number of products... and oh how I coveted the Sierras :o. All I had to do was select a receiver and subwoofer. Long story short: DaveF had already done most of the subwoofer research for me (D15SE), and I found a refurbished Marantz SR5003 that I couldn't pass up. Of course there was lots of nasty anxiety :confused: in finally having to settle on the individual components, but I decided that in the end I would be happy with whatever decision I made.
I settled on Sierras for stereo and HTMs for center and surrounds. The Sierras were pushing my budget a little, but the holiday sales and b-stock made the decision (to push my budget) easy.
And hot mama! Everything finished arriving on Monday, so I haven't had a lot of listening time, but I christened the Sierras with Amériques by Edgar Varèse (no subwoofer) and I was blown away :cool:. I'm finally beginning to understand all the things (terms and whatnot) that I have spent the last six years reading about. Same experience with Stravinski's Petrushka. Then I popped in Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony No. 3 ... ha ha ha... subwoofers make me smile :) big :D. The Rythmik blends very well with the Sierras. And it gets LOUD in my 2800 cubic foot room (when it's cranked).
As for movies, I watched The Iron Giant with my daughters. I definitely recommend the movie if you haven't seen it. It's one of my favorite animated films... and it has some deeeep bass. I sampled a few movies: Polar Express (the train arriving scene is crazy), Finding Nemo (of course), Matrix, LotR, Twister... I can't wait to actually watch them all the way through! I don't have any complaints about the HTM as a center so far... everything is so clear that I'm having trouble comprehending it!
I guess the most telling thing about the quality of the speakers is that my daughters didn't complain about listening at a slightly higher volume... they were completely engrossed with Iron Giant. Usually they start getting bored midway through a movie.
Also, my parents are in town. For them I demoed the Darla scene from Finding Nemo at almost reference levels :eek: (or whatever Audyssey set as reference). It was waaay too loud, but it sounded goooood! My dad had a huge grin on his face... and my mom even commented that it sounded good (even though she had her ears plugged).
OK. I'll stop typing now. I love the speakers. Now I need to listen (and start fine-tuning the system).
Greetings Milkfat. Thanks for your review. Nice to see another Sierra owner who ran them through their paces using symphonic music. Movies are also quite good, generally confirming the adage that speakers which are good for music are also good for movies, although not necessarily the reverse. My daughter and I watched Wall-E together and the Sierras sounded sweet!
Re: Buenos nachos from Edmonds, WA
Great review! Now, for some reason I want Mexican food.
Re: Buenos nachos from Edmonds, WA
Thanks for the great review! Iron Giant is one of our favorites too. Glad that you are enjoying the speakers :)
-thread moved to the "reviews" section.
