Yet another "...how do Ascends compare..." thread :-)

[RazorX]

Rich, having seen it firsthand, yes, that is Jeff's Vette. It is VERY nice!

BTW....if you want to do the demo at Jeff's with his Sierra's, that might work out better since he has a nice setup in his finished basement. I could stop by for visit as well if Jeff is open to all this. Last time I visited him, he had 340SE's across the front with 200's pulling surround duty. He had a nice Rotel receiver powering everything and a BIC 12" sub.

Oh, and a lovely wife to boot!

Works for me!

Sounds good.

Let's see if I am keeping up...

Ed, I know you have Sierra-1 mains. Do you also use a Sierra-1 center?

Jeff, Do you have Sierra-1's or CMT-340's for your mains and center? It sounds like you may have replaced the 340's with the Sierra's but I'm not sure if I followed that correctly. Do you have both 340's and Sierra's?

[Mag_Neato]

I have Sierra mains only. I am still using an older B&W center speaker. I am using Axiom QS8's for surrounds, and a kit built Rythmik DS12(Direct Servo 12") sub in a custom-built 2cu.ft. sealed enclosure.

I definitely want to add a Sierra center. Jeff is running 3 Sierra-1's up front, with the 200's for surround, I think.

[debo]

Rich

I have 3 Sierra-1's up front and 170SE's for surrounds. I replaced 340SE's in the front and 200's for surrounds.

[Mag_Neato]

Ah, 170SE's in place of the 200's. Is there a very noticeable difference? Did you sell off the 340's and 200's?

I am planning to upgrade my older B&W center to a Sierra-1 to match the fronts, but it may be a while.

[debo]

I thought there was enough of a difference to make the switch. I traded in the 200's and sold the 340's.

[RazorX]

Thanks for all of the input and help you guys have provided. I am now out of the market for a new set of speakers to replace my Monitor 7's, at least for a while.

My funds are going to be redirected to a new heat pump and perhaps a furnace upgrade. My current heat pump gave up on us Monday morning. We aren't sure the extent of the damage yet but the heat pump will definitely need replaced. We may also need to replace our furnace. The furnace status is unknown at this time. The furnace is pretty old and we may not be able to find the parts needed on that end which could lead to the need to replace it as well. Therefore my discretionary funds are going to be impacted for sometime (3 months/6 months/longer?). On the bright side; I can get a furnace with a quieter fan if it needs replaced and reduce the HVAC noise level in my theater room.

I will not need to audition the speakers any time soon now. I do not want to hear a difference in the sound quality and then not be able to afford them for 6 months or more. That would be too cruel.

Oh well, thanks again for everything and I'll hopefully be able to set up an audition time in the future.

[Mag_Neato]

You only have 35 days until Spring, just buy some extra blankets!

That sucks when well-laid plans are trashed like that, especially for something like a furnace or roof job.

well, by the time you are ready, I may have my system setup and sounding fantastic!