Needs lots of advice on Sierra tower speaker purchase - please help

[consequential]

Reading your post I thought you were me, since I also was considering the PSA MTM210 towers and center earlier this year before I purchased Ascend RAAL Sierra Towers and Horizon.

As one who had never heard of Ascend Acoustics prior to reading various audio forums late last year, I wanted to post my comments for anyone that might be on the fence because (like me) they've never listened to an Ascend product.

A little bit about me...
Let me start out by saying that I don't consider myself an audiophile, I just enjoy listening to music. For me, the better the sound, the better the experience. I retired 2 years ago, so I have lots of time to enjoy music. I tend to keep my purchases a long time, e.g. my front speakers were Polk Audio RT3000p that I purchased in 1999, consisting of left and right full-range speakers sitting atop dual 8" powered sub woofers. I really enjoyed these speakers, but every few years one of the subs would have an electrical problem (usually bad capacitors) and would need to be serviced (something I couldn't do myself). This time, rather than invest more money in these speakers, I decided to search for new speakers. Since these speakers are part of my HT, I decided to replace the Polk CSi-A6 center speaker as well. My budget was $2700.

After much reading, I stumbled across an AVSForum thread started by GunmetalR56, which got me interested in the Sierra Towers and Horizon center, so I added them to my list of possibilities.
I started reading everything I could about Ascend and had a few email questions for Dave. He must be a very busy man, because some of his responses were sent at 1:00am.

I eventually widdled my list down to the PSA MTM210 and the Ascend Sierras. In a perfect situation I would have liked to demo both in my home to compare them, but I had back surgery 2 years ago and didn't want to be lugging speakers up from my basement for returns. Since I mostly listen to music I wanted detailed accuracy, so I decided to try the Ascends and if I wasn't happy with them, I'd return them and try the PSAs.

I had to up my budget, but by how much? Do I go with the NrT dome to keep the cost down (WAF), or do I go with the RAAL to get the best sound (to keep me from saying "what if")? Maybe just RAAL in the Horizon and NrT in the fronts? After much back and forth in my head and changing my mind many many times, my wife said "just get what you want and be done with it". OK, say no more, on March 1 I ordered the Black Matte Sierra Towers and a Horizon center all with RAAL tweeters!

I've had the Sierras since March 15 I must say I'm very pleased. As others have said, the soundstage is wide, deep and crystal clear. My towers are on either side of my entertainment center, so they are in the corners of the room, about 20" between the wall and the entertainment center. I have them crossed over at 60hz and they blend beautifully with my SVS SB13 Ultra. I've tried crossing over at 80, 100 and 120, but 60 with the corner loading is best in my room for both music and movies.

Like you, my other speakers are also Polks. RT2000p for surrounds and RT35 front height speakers. I found the Polks blend well with the Ascends, however I plan to replace the RT2000p next year with another set of Sierra Towers.

Sorry for the long post, but I just wanted to let you know I went through some of the same decisions you are making and I'm very happy with my purchase. From everything I read on PSA, I don't think you could go wrong with them either if you decide to go that route.

Good luck with your decision.

Jack

Jack! Thank you for that!

I didn't want your post to end actually as it was very enlightening and obviously I can identify so
Much with what you wrote.

Thanks so much for that.

Since it sounds like you listen to music a great deal do you still use the ascends for movies and if so are they just as good for movies/ht use as music?

Thanks again!

[Jack1949]

You're welcome. I usually just read these forums (and AVS Forum) but do very little posting, since I don't consider myself an audio expert. But you had a lot of the same questions that I did, so I could relate to your situation.

I don't have a separate music room, rather I use my HT mostly for music (probably 99% music, 1% movies), so I may not be the best person to ask about movies. However, I have watched a few movies with the Sierras and I think they sound great, much better than my Polks. Depending on the movie, it sounds like a live performance in my room, same goes for music. The Horizon center produces extremely clear dialogue, so there's no need to bump the center channel while watching a movie. And the center blends perfectly with the towers, so that side to side action flows across the front stage without a noticeable sound difference.

Keep in mind that I never listened to the MTM210s, so I don't know how they compare, but I'm very happy with the Sierras for both music and movies.

I should mention that when I first unboxed the Sierras and visually compared them to the RT3000p, I thought maybe I might be disappointed due to the driver size differences, especially the woofers. I like bass and I thought the Sierras' bass might not match up with what I was replacing. Wrong, the Sierra bass is tighter and sounds more controlled.

As for music, the better the recording/mastering, the better the Sierras sound. At first I listened to a lot of my rock favorites from the 1970s, which sounded really good, but I didn't get wowed. Then I played a high definition song, Concerto No. 1 in E major, Op. 8, RV 269, "La primavera" (Spring): I. Allegro, which I downloaded as a sampler track 2 years ago from HDTracks.com. It's not my normal cup of tea, but HOLY MOLLY!!! Now I now what everyone was raving about with the RAAL tweeters! I listened to that song once on my RT3000p when I first downloaded it and then ignored it. I've probably listened to it 15 times since getting the Sierras, they just sound that good. Since then I've downloaded several other high def albums from HDTracks (eg Santana IV, Alabama Shakes Sound & Color) and have been WOWED again and again.

So the moral of the story is make sure I listen to a variety of music/movies before making my judgement.

[sludgeogre]

Jack is spot in, I totally agree. I'm actually about 95% movies and 5% music and I still have the same impression. Movies that were done well sound absolutely thrilling on the Sierra Towers and Horizon Center. The Horizon is a feat of engineering. Dave really just did what you need to do to make a great matching center speaker. The volume is very close to the towers and the drivers are the same. So many center channels are an after thought that are just made tiny to fit in people's furniture. I bought furniture to fit my Horizon.

Deadpool, The Blues Brothers, The Revenant, and so many more movies are spellbinding on the Sierras. I think people say that the NrT is better for HT just to make themselves feel better about the purchase, because I don't regret anything about my RAAL tweeters. Ultra clear detail, so much so that you can hear poorly mastered movies with soft clipping that drove me mad and made me think something was wrong, but the more movies you re-watch on them, the more you realize that some movies sound incredible and others are just alright and sometimes bad.