The Tower Discussion Thread!

[Djoel]

Wow awesome mini review makutaku and that's with MP3 music imagine with music less compress or Hi Rez What do you think about the bass now with Towers is better than the Rockets?

Great pics, I love the Made in the USA sticker

It's been bitter sweet for me as I've been packing up my speakers that I just recently sold for the arrival of my Towers I thought the rears would hang around for a death match between them

Again thanks for sharing


Dan

[davef]

LOVE this pic! Thanks!

By the way, I see the number 233 in the second image. My first thought was that it indicates either a specific production unit or (more likely) a matched pair. Or maybe it means how many hairs Dave lost while assembling that specific Tower. ENJOY!!

LOL -- actually, when I think about it -- Sal, our main assembler, has only a few hairs left on his head

Yes, all pairs are matched -- even the RAAL tweeters come to us in matched pairs.

[Djoel]

Having the Raal tweeter in the same pair of Towers is some attention to detail, very niceee Stuff like makes me feel good about my product, it might not mean anything to some but it does for me..Love to see my mono's with close enough serial number, it must be the OCD in me Beside Marriage is a loosing tradition, lets try to keep those RAAL together as long as possible, or until homebraker HTC come in the middle


DJoel

[dittomusik]

3 big boxes arrived yesterday (the UPS driver said she was miserable all morning - the boxes jammed up her whole truck).

so far only time for 1 little late night audition with some mono music. i wanted to get an idea of the "voice" of the Sierra Tower and Sierra Tower Center (aka Horizon) with ribbon, and compare to what is on hand currently: Sierra-1 with NrT, Paradigm 7SE III, Paradigm CC-290 v.6.



listened to Stan Getz and the Oscar Peterson Trio (Verve - Silver Collection) CD. as the whole house was asleep, the listening took place at a modest volume.

i'm in love with the ribbon-equipped Tower Center. track 3 on the CD, a ballad medley, was like an audio tractor beam on the STC. i found myself sitting a foot and a half away. the sound was still totally coherent even at this ridiculously close distance. i could not tell where the ribbon ended and the mid began, nor where the mid ended and the woofers began. was there a way to somehow crawl into the speaker cabinet? sounds weird, i know, but (especially the guitar solo of "I Don't Know Why I Just Do") the sound was so inviting, so real, it was almost spooky. and this is on a mono recording from 1957.

unscientific quick impressions (from basically switching back and forth from the Tower to other speakers and the STC):
Paradigm 7SE III - bass somewhat boomy, top-end was clear but weak, midrange relatively AWOL
Sierra Tower Center (Horizon) - a real beauty!
Sierra-1 with NrT - clean, balanced but lacking the mid presence found in the Tower and STC. no surprise given their dedicated mid drivers
Paradigm CC-290 v.6 - same number of drivers and similar layout to the STC. top-end gets brittle during peaks, bass lacks clarity of Sierras
Sierra Tower - engaging, sweet balance. i think i have a slight preference for the STC at this very early point in our relationship.

more as i have time.

thanks Dave and Dina and the entire Ascend crew! they really are wonderful speakers.

[Active Puck]

unscientific quick impressions (from basically switching back and forth from the Tower to other speakers and the STC):

Awesome write-up and love the look of the Sierra Center/Sierra Tower. Those are sexy looking speakers. Great photo!

[logicology]

I wish I had more time to post a comprehensive review, but I don't. So I'll be posting short observations as they occur to me.

I have a pair of dark espresso towers with ribbon tweeters. They replaced my Sierra-1 NrT loudspeakers. The towers are truly amazing. Besides the clarity in sound and the impeccable tweeter, the first thing I noticed is the effortless dynamics. It really sounds as though the dynamics are limitless. Even with music at the loudest listening volumes the towers just seemed to smugly glare at me with a "bring it on" attitude. And they never sounded like they were working very hard. With the Sierra's, you could notice them begin to struggle at extreme volumes.

[Djoel]

I wish I had more time to post a comprehensive review, but I don't. So I'll be posting short observations as they occur to me.

I have a pair of dark espresso towers with ribbon tweeters. They replaced my Sierra-1 NrT loudspeakers. The towers are truly amazing. Besides the clarity in sound and the impeccable tweeter, the first thing I noticed is the effortless dynamics. It really sounds as though the dynamics are limitless. Even with music at the loudest listening volumes the towers just seemed to smugly glare at me with a "bring it on" attitude. And they never sounded like they were working very hard. With the Sierra's, you could notice them begin to struggle at extreme volumes.

Great review, do you have an amp paired with your Towers, or just an AVR?

Thanks for sharing

DJoel

[logicology]

I'm just using an Onkyo TX-SR805 AVR.

[Djoel]

Well that 805 was made like no other, quite the amp section pretty much legendary.

Thanks


DJoel

[logicology]

Well that 805 was made like no other, quite the amp section pretty much legendary.

Thanks


DJoel

So I hear! I'm lucky to have gotten one at a ridiculous liquidation discount just hours before Circuit City officially shut their doors. It's been serving me well for about 5 years. I'm hoping it lasts me many more!