Another need your opinion on Sierra-2 vs other speakers request

[GMaxx]

Hi, I just joined after finding out about the Sierra-2 from my speaker research. It definitely sounds like a contender for me but haven't heard anything from Ascend. So, I need to reach out to you guys.

I've been working into the wee hours at home lately and was looking for a smaller bookshelf speaker for late night/early morning listening while I work.

My primary criterias are accuracy, detail, clarity and a nice wide soundstage. I don't need a boomy or bass laden speaker.

The speakers will be driven either by a Peachtree Nova125 integrated amp or a Bryston 2b amp with AR tube preamp.

With that said before I stumbled across the Sierra-2s then I was heavily considering either the KEF-LS50 for $1300 or a store demo B&W PM1 for $2000. I liked both speakers.

Can you guys give me your views on the Sierra-2s and how they would be with my equipment and your opinions on the pros and cons vs. the KEFs and B&Ws.

Any thoughts and advice would be much appreciated.

I've just gotten so overwhelmed lately with researching and planning that I feel overloaded now with too much information and need some friendly advice from others.

Anyway, your help is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[SGCSG1]

The Sierra-2's are certainly in the same league as either the KEF and the B&W. I don't care for the B&W 'house sound', but the KEF's are nice.

I've heard the LS50's and Sierra-2's in the same room. Some people might prefer one over the other, they're actually quite close. I find the RAAL tweeter on the Sierra-2 VERY HARD TO BEAT anywhere near its price range.

It's a decision that could be made on aesthetic grounds.... do you love the 'science fiction' look of the KEF's or the nice wood 'classic' look of the Sierra's?

Since there's a 30 day trial on the Sierra-2's why don't you order a pair and hear them yourself?

I suspect you'll keep them.

[FirstReflect]

Hi there! Welcome to the forum

No surprise, you're going to find a lot of praise for the Ascend Sierra-2 on Ascend's own forum But this is one, rare instance where the praise has little to do with brand loyalty or blind faith. We're a pretty critical group around here, and there are a lot of folks who have become forum members only after a lot of research and trial and error, and ultimately finding Ascend to have been their best choice.

I can't comment directly on those particular B&W models. I have heard the KEF LS50, but only in a store. I have never done a direct A-B comparison for these contenders, so I can only be so useful, and I can only offer subjective impressions.

To begin, Ascend's Sierra Towers RAAL and Horizon RAAL are, quite simply, the best speakers I have ever heard. Their level of realism and resolution is just uncanny, thrilling, and can frankly be downright eerie sometimes. I have a memory of only one other speaker that I would say was possibly even more resolving, and those were the Focal SM11 professional monitors in a professional mastering studio. But those really were "workhorse" speakers. The goal with them was to simply convey the most minuscule changes being made to the mix, and that they did! But in terms of listening to the final product, they did not have the Sierra Towers RAAL's realism. Every tiny detail of the sound was audible with the SM11, but that didn't necessarily translate to realism. It was more like looking at the world through a microscope: certainly useful for mixing and editing, but not the natural, realistic sound of the Sierra Towers RAAL.

So I mention all of that in order to give you a starting point for understanding what the Sierra-2 offer. To start, they are not quite the equal of the Sierra Towers RAAL, but they are FAR more similar to Ascend's flagship towers than they are different.

The overall timbre and tone of the Sierra-2 are remarkably close to the Sierra Towers RAAL. If you were to hear them separately with some time in between, you would swear they sound identical. It is only via a direct A-B comparison with instantaneous switching that I spotted any difference. And it was a matter of "shades", not "colours". My subjective description is that the Sierra-2 can sound like a real live person is talking to you in your room from 6 feet away. The Sierra Towers RAAL move that same person to within 3 feet. It's the nth degree of clarity and resolution that the Sierra Towers RAAL bring to the table over the Sierra-2. But what you should take away from that is just how remarkable the Sierra-2 really are! They do not supplant or completely equal the Sierra Towers RAAL, but they sure do come as close as any bookshelf form factor could hope for.

In comparison to the KEF LS50, the clarity and detail offered by those KEFs sounded very, very good and pleasing to me. The tone and timbre are not the same as the Sierra-2. For that simple reason, it's entirely possible to simply prefer one over the other. Without the actual original sound that was being recorded being in your room for direct comparison, it's basically impossible to know which timbre and tone are closer to the original.

But I will tell you this much: the realism of the Sierra-2 remains superior in my opinion. I put faith in my instinctual reaction. We have all had the realization that we are able to recognize when sounds are being played through a speaker vs. when they are the genuine article. It can be awfully difficult to explain precisely why we are able to make that distinction. What measurements show it? What technical factors are involved? That's a heady discussion that still draws a lot of debate. But we can all agree that - somehow - we know when it's a speaker, and we know when it's real life.

Well, the Sierra-2 blur that line better than any other bookshelf speakers I have heard. Like I say, I've only heard slightly better from the Sierra Towers RAAL, and it was honestly a more of a sense of being physically closer to the original sound source vs. the Towers RAAL sounding real while the Sierra-2 sounded more like speakers. Both sound very realistic, the Towers RAAL just sound like the real person is physically closer to you so that you can practically hear their eyelids when they blink -- haha.

The LS50 simply didn't have that level of uncanny realism. Again, I only heard them in a store, and not in a direct A-B comparison to the Sierra-2. But real sounds real. The LS50, while very clear and detailed, still sounded like speakers.

In terms of the features you are after, the Sierra-2 should fit your desires perfectly. They excel at lower volumes, remaining utterly clear and intelligible. And yet they LOVE to sing out. You can't help but want to keep turning the volume higher and higher because there's just no distortion from them. Their bass response is wonderfully "tight" and accurate. This is occasionally unexpected for listeners who have grown accustomed to bloated, "slower" bass. It does not reverberate and sound like ridiculous car audio the way a lot of people seem to prefer. Instead, it's realistic, clean, and pops you in the chest rather than vibrating everything for minutes at a time. Simply put, it's how bass is supposed to sound, but that's not what everyone is used to or expecting

Your associated equipment should be completely fine. The Sierra-2 do not require copious power. Like I say, they excel at low volumes. But they can certainly handle and thrive on several hundred Watts if you ever want to have that on tap! Again, like I say, you can't help but want to turn them up

So that's my take. I completely agree that giving them a try is highly recommended. I really, really do not think you would be disappointed.

Hope that helps!

- Rob H.

[GMaxx]

Hi there! Welcome to the forum

No surprise, you're going to find a lot of praise for the Ascend Sierra-2 on Ascend's own forum But this is one, rare instance where the praise has little to do with brand loyalty or blind faith. We're a pretty critical group around here, and there are a lot of folks who have become forum members only after a lot of research and trial and error, and ultimately finding Ascend to have been their best choice.

I can't comment directly on those particular B&W models. I have heard the KEF LS50, but only in a store. I have never done a direct A-B comparison for these contenders, so I can only be so useful, and I can only offer subjective impressions.

To begin, Ascend's Sierra Towers RAAL and Horizon RAAL are, quite simply, the best speakers I have ever heard. Their level of realism and resolution is just uncanny, thrilling, and can frankly be downright eerie sometimes. I have a memory of only one other speaker that I would say was possibly even more resolving, and those were the Focal SM11 professional monitors in a professional mastering studio. But those really were "workhorse" speakers. The goal with them was to simply convey the most minuscule changes being made to the mix, and that they did! But in terms of listening to the final product, they did not have the Sierra Towers RAAL's realism. Every tiny detail of the sound was audible with the SM11, but that didn't necessarily translate to realism. It was more like looking at the world through a microscope: certainly useful for mixing and editing, but not the natural, realistic sound of the Sierra Towers RAAL.

So I mention all of that in order to give you a starting point for understanding what the Sierra-2 offer. To start, they are not quite the equal of the Sierra Towers RAAL, but they are FAR more similar to Ascend's flagship towers than they are different.

The overall timbre and tone of the Sierra-2 are remarkably close to the Sierra Towers RAAL. If you were to hear them separately with some time in between, you would swear they sound identical. It is only via a direct A-B comparison with instantaneous switching that I spotted any difference. And it was a matter of "shades", not "colours". My subjective description is that the Sierra-2 can sound like a real live person is talking to you in your room from 6 feet away. The Sierra Towers RAAL move that same person to within 3 feet. It's the nth degree of clarity and resolution that the Sierra Towers RAAL bring to the table over the Sierra-2. But what you should take away from that is just how remarkable the Sierra-2 really are! They do not supplant or completely equal the Sierra Towers RAAL, but they sure do come as close as any bookshelf form factor could hope for.

In comparison to the KEF LS50, the clarity and detail offered by those KEFs sounded very, very good and pleasing to me. The tone and timbre are not the same as the Sierra-2. For that simple reason, it's entirely possible to simply prefer one over the other. Without the actual original sound that was being recorded being in your room for direct comparison, it's basically impossible to know which timbre and tone are closer to the original.

But I will tell you this much: the realism of the Sierra-2 remains superior in my opinion. I put faith in my instinctual reaction. We have all had the realization that we are able to recognize when sounds are being played through a speaker vs. when they are the genuine article. It can be awfully difficult to explain precisely why we are able to make that distinction. What measurements show it? What technical factors are involved? That's a heady discussion that still draws a lot of debate. But we can all agree that - somehow - we know when it's a speaker, and we know when it's real life.

Well, the Sierra-2 blur that line better than any other bookshelf speakers I have heard. Like I say, I've only heard slightly better from the Sierra Towers RAAL, and it was honestly a more of a sense of being physically closer to the original sound source vs. the Towers RAAL sounding real while the Sierra-2 sounded more like speakers. Both sound very realistic, the Towers RAAL just sound like the real person is physically closer to you so that you can practically hear their eyelids when they blink -- haha.

The LS50 simply didn't have that level of uncanny realism. Again, I only heard them in a store, and not in a direct A-B comparison to the Sierra-2. But real sounds real. The LS50, while very clear and detailed, still sounded like speakers.

In terms of the features you are after, the Sierra-2 should fit your desires perfectly. They excel at lower volumes, remaining utterly clear and intelligible. And yet they LOVE to sing out. You can't help but want to keep turning the volume higher and higher because there's just no distortion from them. Their bass response is wonderfully "tight" and accurate. This is occasionally unexpected for listeners who have grown accustomed to bloated, "slower" bass. It does not reverberate and sound like ridiculous car audio the way a lot of people seem to prefer. Instead, it's realistic, clean, and pops you in the chest rather than vibrating everything for minutes at a time. Simply put, it's how bass is supposed to sound, but that's not what everyone is used to or expecting

Your associated equipment should be completely fine. The Sierra-2 do not require copious power. Like I say, they excel at low volumes. But they can certainly handle and thrive on several hundred Watts if you ever want to have that on tap! Again, like I say, you can't help but want to turn them up

So that's my take. I completely agree that giving them a try is highly recommended. I really, really do not think you would be disappointed.

Hope that helps!

- Rob H.

Rob, Wow, first off let me say thanks for the thoughtful and detailed breakdown of the Sierra-2s. You really helped give me an understanding of its capabilities and sound. It's funny that you mention Focals because their Be line of speakers are what I originally wanted but decided to hold off till we moved to another house where I have a bigger office/man cave.=) Focal speakers are the type of sound I favor and found that the KEF LS50s were very close despite given their big price differential.

I definitely want an accurate and detailed speaker with a good soundstage. It's funny how you described the bass because I definitely don't want the boomy sound some people just seem to love. Sort of reminds me of kids putting a big a-- spoiler on their Hondas thinking it would do something. lol.

With that said I'm curious if the Sierra-2s can be used almost as near field speakers. I want to hook up my Peachtree Nova125 to my PC and was thinking about setting the speakers about 4 to 5 feet away. I'm working late at home and would like to control things from my pc and desk. Will the Sierra-2s work ok in this type of setup?

I searched Youtube to see if it had anything just to give me an actual example of Ascend's sound. One video by nonagon1 had his Sierra-1s playing music. I must say I liked what I heard even though it was Youtube quality.

Anyway, you've got me leaning towards maybe giving these guys a try. I just need to read up a little more.

Thanks again!

[drbump471]

While I can't comment on the Sierra-2 I can comment on the Sierra-1 in the setup you are looking for.

I currently have the Sierra-1's setup just under 3 feet apart flanking my computer monitor. I sit about 3 feet away at my computer and absolutely love them. In home I compared Monitor Audio RX2, Focal 807v with the Sierra's. I then took the Sierra's to a local hi-fi shop to compare to B&W CM5 and Sonus Faber Venere 1.5 & 2.0. Still loved the Sierra's with no looking back.

From the reviews on here about the Sierra 2's.....I can't imagine you'd be disappointed.

I will suggest you get some sort of isolation pad for the speakers if you are going to place them on the desk (like I did). I found the addition to detail and higher freq clarity to be well worth the few bucks for the isolation pads.

Good luck on your quest!!

[bobola]

While I can't comment on the Sierra-2 I can comment on the Sierra-1 in the setup you are looking for.

I currently have the Sierra-1's setup just under 3 feet apart flanking my computer monitor. I sit about 3 feet away at my computer and absolutely love them. In home I compared Monitor Audio RX2, Focal 807v with the Sierra's. I then took the Sierra's to a local hi-fi shop to compare to B&W CM5 and Sonus Faber Venere 1.5 & 2.0. Still loved the Sierra's with no looking back.

From the reviews on here about the Sierra 2's.....I can't imagine you'd be disappointed.

I will suggest you get some sort of isolation pad for the speakers if you are going to place them on the desk (like I did). I found the addition to detail and higher freq clarity to be well worth the few bucks for the isolation pads.

Good luck on your quest!!

Can you compare & contrast the Sierra-1 with the Venere 1.5? The Sonus Fabers caught my ear, along with the PSB Imagine B. Ironically, reviews of the Sierra-1 made me explore whether an upgrade to my current speakers might be worthwhile, but unless someone comes through with an audition opportunity locally (Maryland/DC area) I may be buying some speakers without hearing the Ascends.

[Mag_Neato]

While I can understand your need for a live audition, I think a leap of faith would payoff in this case. In the grand scheme of the cost the return shipping to Ascend if you don't keep the Sierras is a small price to pay for peace of mind!

[drbump471]

Can you compare & contrast the Sierra-1 with the Venere 1.5? The Sonus Fabers caught my ear, along with the PSB Imagine B. Ironically, reviews of the Sierra-1 made me explore whether an upgrade to my current speakers might be worthwhile, but unless someone comes through with an audition opportunity locally (Maryland/DC area) I may be buying some speakers without hearing the Ascends.

OK so first, my music taste. I’m a heavy electronic music listener. A lot of my music preference does have vocals to it so it's not just beats and drums. I'm a detail guy but I still need some bass. My genre of music has a lot of it so I can't neglect that.

I went to a few stores locally to get a taste of bookshelf speakers I might like in their respective rooms. I listened to the following:

Sonus Faber Venere 1.5 & 2.0
B&W CM1, CM5, 685, 686
Paradigm Studio 20 & Studio 10
Martin Logan Motion 15
Klipsch RB61 & RB81

I went back a few times to all stores to get another listen after listening to other speakers.

After listening to all of those speakers a few times the Sonus Faber Venere line was my favorite by far. Warm, inviting, accurate, excellent sound stage and imaging and not overly bright. It was as if I had never listened to music the right way until I listened to them. Just a speaker I could listen to for hours and not get bored.

So, after all that, there was still a laundry list of speakers I didn't get to listen that weren't available in my local area. So I picked speakers that reached low in the frequency range, in my price range, highly regarded on the interwebs and had a low risk return policy. In which, I ordered a pair of Monitor Audio RX2, Focal 807v and the Sierra 1. I setup my near field listening area exactly how I wanted and demo'd in house all 3 speakers for 3 weeks.

I only owned the Sierra's after the 3 weeks, all others returned.

I then took my Sierra's back to the store to do a direct comparison to the Sonus Fabers. I brought my amp, speaker wire, power cord, interconnects and musical content. Only thing different were the speakers. In comparison, the Sonus Fabers just sounded "empty" up against the Sierra's. It was as if all of the adjectives I used above; warm, inviting, accurate, excellent sound stage and imaging and not overly bright just shifted completely to the Sierras and none of which existed in the Sonus Fabers. To get even remotely close to the low end extension of the Sierra's I had to get into the 2.0's at 1700 dollars but even then they didn't dig like the Sierra's did.

It’s not like they were bad. The Veneres do have excellent highs. There were just a little too forward for me when doing an A/B comparison to the Sierras but that might not be bad for some people. The Venere sounded much better when further apart and away from the walls while the Sierra’s seemed like that were so picky about where they sat in the store room. If I never compared the Sierra's to the Sonus Fabers I would have told you the Sonus Fabers were superior.......just not the case though.

This isn’t easy to describe over the web. However….if price were the same across the both Sonus Fabers and the Sierra 1…I think I still would have chosen the Sierras. I can only imagine what the Sierra 2 sounds like…..nobody tempt me…..I’ve only had the 1’s for 29 days

[eliwankenobi]

Can you compare & contrast the Sierra-1 with the Venere 1.5? The Sonus Fabers caught my ear, along with the PSB Imagine B. Ironically, reviews of the Sierra-1 made me explore whether an upgrade to my current speakers might be worthwhile, but unless someone comes through with an audition opportunity locally (Maryland/DC area) I may be buying some speakers without hearing the Ascends.

Hello,

I have also heard the Venere 1.5 and the 2.0.

For the Price of the Venere 1.5 you can get the Sierra-1 with the NrT tweeter..

But, to the point of the Venere, I did like them overall! And they are very good in soundstage and imaging. Just a little more laid back (warm sounding) than I would like, but still very good.

In contrast, the Sierra-1 NrT which are the only ones I owned before upgrading them to Sierra-2, are not warm, but neutral...and overall a more pleasing sound... nothing is exaggerated or accentuated. I would have been very happy with the NrT if it wasn't because I fell in love with good ribbon tweeter (not just Ascends) and know that is what I wanted... back to the point.. the NrT are more at home with others like the Revel Performa M106, which are better than the Venere 1.5 and 2.0... The Veneres just have that Sonus Faber warm sound to them, that if that is what you like...great.. The Veneres do have a cool look to them though.

The Sierra-2 are just better than those period. They are less than $1500, but if they followed the typical business model of other companies, they would be way above $2000. Don't even ask about how much the Towers with RAAL would be

[bobola]

OK so first, my music taste. I’m a heavy electronic music listener. A lot of my music preference does have vocals to it so it's not just beats and drums. I'm a detail guy but I still need some bass. My genre of music has a lot of it so I can't neglect that.

I went to a few stores locally to get a taste of bookshelf speakers I might like in their respective rooms. I listened to the following:

Sonus Faber Venere 1.5 & 2.0
B&W CM1, CM5, 685, 686
Paradigm Studio 20 & Studio 10
Martin Logan Motion 15
Klipsch RB61 & RB81

I went back a few times to all stores to get another listen after listening to other speakers.

After listening to all of those speakers a few times the Sonus Faber Venere line was my favorite by far. Warm, inviting, accurate, excellent sound stage and imaging and not overly bright. It was as if I had never listened to music the right way until I listened to them. Just a speaker I could listen to for hours and not get bored.

So, after all that, there was still a laundry list of speakers I didn't get to listen that weren't available in my local area. So I picked speakers that reached low in the frequency range, in my price range, highly regarded on the interwebs and had a low risk return policy. In which, I ordered a pair of Monitor Audio RX2, Focal 807v and the Sierra 1. I setup my near field listening area exactly how I wanted and demo'd in house all 3 speakers for 3 weeks.

I only owned the Sierra's after the 3 weeks, all others returned.

I then took my Sierra's back to the store to do a direct comparison to the Sonus Fabers. I brought my amp, speaker wire, power cord, interconnects and musical content. Only thing different were the speakers. In comparison, the Sonus Fabers just sounded "empty" up against the Sierra's. It was as if all of the adjectives I used above; warm, inviting, accurate, excellent sound stage and imaging and not overly bright just shifted completely to the Sierras and none of which existed in the Sonus Fabers. To get even remotely close to the low end extension of the Sierra's I had to get into the 2.0's at 1700 dollars but even then they didn't dig like the Sierra's did.

It’s not like they were bad. The Veneres do have excellent highs. There were just a little too forward for me when doing an A/B comparison to the Sierras but that might not be bad for some people. The Venere sounded much better when further apart and away from the walls while the Sierra’s seemed like that were so picky about where they sat in the store room. If I never compared the Sierra's to the Sonus Fabers I would have told you the Sonus Fabers were superior.......just not the case though.

This isn’t easy to describe over the web. However….if price were the same across the both Sonus Fabers and the Sierra 1…I think I still would have chosen the Sierras. I can only imagine what the Sierra 2 sounds like…..nobody tempt me…..I’ve only had the 1’s for 29 days

Thanks very much for the comparison. It's interesting that you found the Venere too forward. I take it you have the stock Sierra-1 (not the NRT)?