Originally Posted by
Sivar
I don't think your question is really answerable, especially not by myself since I just placed my Ascend order, but I'll tell you this:
I've researched speakers for 19 years. I work as a software analyst and am really good at (and really enjoy) researching the hell out of new purchases, but I found speakers to be a singularly difficult topic to study.
Professional reviews are nearly useless: Most products receiving glowing reviews and contain vague, overused phrases such as "sounds better than speakers costing thousands more" and "really opens up the sound stage," along with other oenophile terminology ("texture", "layers", "terroir") awkwardly and pretentiously applied to music.
The audiophile community muddies the waters further, providing a convincing argument that wealth is inversely proportional to rationality. It amazes me that to this day, audio enthusiasts often claim with a straight face that they hear audible improvements between speaker cables, power outlets, and even different lossless encoding formats.
Few seem to have much knowledge of the science behind audio, and that's fine because it's an enormously complex topic, but claims of expertise are common. I myself have little knowledge of the science, but I worked hard to familiarize myself with the more objective concepts such as comb filtering, line arrays, J arrays, the Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem, crossover design, et al.
Through my own research, which comes with all the authority of a random person you read on the internet, I ended up choosing an Ascend system. Their open, detailed, unexpurgated charts and measurements along with their no-nonsense engineering, great community, consistently excellent reviews both anecdotal and professional [though see above], and excellent specs left little reason to doubt my purchase.
My budget might have included 804Ds (though I didn't consider them), though I was also looking at Axiom, Paradigm's Signature and Tribute line, Aperion, Salk, Martin Logan Theos (maybe Ethos if I went wild), and others, but based on the available data I could find no evidence that they were any better or even as good. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that the B&W's must be better because the name is famous and they cost several times more -- that same logic leads many to buy **** or B&O systems.
Ascend is not a famous company so won't impress friends with the name plate. The speakers aren't as stylized as, say, B&W Nautilus or Magicos (though I really like the bamboo) but if you do get some Sierra towers and get a chance to do an in-home audition with those vaunted 804D's, let us know how it goes. I think you'll be surprised.