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

[consequential]

Hi all,


I'm researching what speakers to get for my new soon to be theater room. The following assumptions are being made:

1. My receiver will be either the Onkyo 3030 or Denon 6200

2. My room is L-28ft x W-15ft x H-8ft and the listening position will be approx. at 12-13ft

3. I would be listening to 80% movies/tv, 10% video games, 10% music

4. I will have 24" on either side of my projector screen to place and toe-in the front L/R speakers

5. My speaker budget is 3k-4k for 5 f/c/l/rl/rr, I will be getting a PSA v1800 sub (outside of the speaker budget)

I've been reading up a lot on the Ascend Sierra Towers with and without the ribbon as well as the PSA 210t's.

I have the following questions and please do not take offense to any of these as I'm just trying to do my due diligence as a consumer before spending a lot of money (to me):


1. Because this forum is managed by Ascend, does anyone know if negative reviews of Ascend products are censored so that only positive reviews/information is allowed on here? I'm asking because I haven't seen anything negative or remotely critical about the Sierra towers in 3hrs of reading on this forum last night. That could be for several reasons such as the speakers being that amazing but again, I'm doing my due diligence.

2. What are your thoughts on placing towers (in general) in the corners? There will be 24" of space between the side walls and either side of the projector screen which means towers would be toe-in starting a few inches from the side wall and angled towards the listening position and end up at where the front of the speaker is about 15" away from the side wall. The speakers will be 1-2 ft (or more if needed) away from the front wall (where the projector screen will be).

3. Has anyone here tried the Power Sound Audio (PSA) speakers such as the 210's/110's? If so how do they (in your opinion) sound compared to the Sierra towers with or without the ribbon?

4. Since I will be listening to only 10% music, would getting the ribbon on the center and sierra towers be worth while considering that's 1000 almost that I could put into the surround speakers etc..?

5. Would getting the sierra towers without the ribbon and the center with the ribbon be a good match or would the sound stage be a bid off due to the center having a different tweeter than the FL/FR?

6. Should I get Sierra towers or bookshelves considering I will have the PSA v1800 sub?

7. I realize the Sierra towers have dedicated mid driver but if I set the crossover to 80hz for the fronts doesn't that mean the sub will handle everything lower and therefore I wouldn't be utilizing anything on the Sierra towers below 80hz?

8. If I got bookshelves I could in theory place them under the projector screen where there would be a total of 30" of clearance between the bottom of the screen and the floor, should I consider this due to the more ideal placement or is this no more ideal than putting the towers in the corners?


Thanks very much all!

[curtis]

My first question would be how did you land on these two different sets of speakers? They are extremely different in design and goals.

[consequential]

My first question would be how did you land on these two different sets of speakers? They are extremely different in design and goals.

Hi Curtis,

Word of mouth really... AVS Forums with many threads discussing PSA and Ascend and many other speaker manufacturers. I've seen many positives on both for my application of home theater.

Thanks

[curtis]

What are your goals? What kind of systems have you heard before?

[consequential]

What are your goals? What kind of systems have you heard before?

Hey, thanks for the reply,

My goal is to have a very good home theater sound system for the budget I laid out but of course cheaper is always better (but not if quality is compromised).

My current system in my living room has the following configuration but in the new home theater room I would get all new equipment. I want the new system to be a night and day difference (better) than this one:

Receiver = Denon x4000, AMP = Crown 1500 XLS, Fronts = Polk Audio RTi12, Center = Polk Audio CSi5, Front Wides = Polk Audio RTi6, Surround = Polk Audio RTi4, Surround Back = Polk Audio FXi30, Sub = Polk Audio PSW404

Too date, besides my current system I listened to the following speakers at stores during this past weekend:

-At one store I heard the B&W CM5 s2 (and listened to samples of my own music picks) and did an A/B comparison to the B&W 683 towers. I concluded that I could hear more separation of the instruments including actual sounds I couldn't hear with the towers.

-At the other store I did an A/B comparison between the B&W CM6 s2 and the B&W 685 towers and concluded the same.

Thanks!

[sludgeogre]

I honestly think that anything you buy from Ascend will beat the pants off of everything that B&W and Polk sell. Ascend speakers are true to the source material whereas the big box brands are all going for euphonic, colored sound, and they do it with cheap, chinese made junk, while they spend all of their earnings on marketing and bonuses. Ascend, meanwhile, sells you incredible speakers at nearly insane value.

Try to find a speaker with a RAAL tweeter under $3k. The only one is the new Salk Song3, and it's more expensive and has a smaller tweeter. Next, try to find a speaker with a bamboo cabinet, SEAS drivers, and honest measurements with very little smoothing. I'm still looking and Ascend is literally the only company to offer these things at this price point. If you go with the CBM or CMT series I really think you'll still be impressed and happy.

[sludgeogre]

I'm just going to respond to your second numbered list:

1. I don't think negative Ascend reviews exist because they are so customer focused. They don't hide behind a big corporation. They want to make every customer happy and with how their products sound I just can't see anyone having a problem. Their QC is second to none so there is an almost zero chance of you getting a defective product. It's not like ordering from companies that outsource all of their manufacturing to China.

2. I think you'll be fine with that corner placement. The towers don't need a ton of breathing room, and I think that will be enough. As long as you're at least 8 inches from all boundaries you should be fine. I have about 16 inches of clearance from the wall and a few feet on either side and they sound amazing.

3. Nope, never heard them, but it's hard to imagine that they would sound an better than the Sierras.

4. My system is 95% movies or more and I have the Ribbon tweeters and I would not have it any other way. The smooth yet incredibly detailed sound is exactly how a speaker should sound.

5. You always want all of your drivers to match. Don't go with mismatching tweeters. It'll sound weird.

6. I love the dedicated midrange on the towers as I think it sounds perfect and absolutely nails instrument tone. I haven't heard the Sierra 2 though so I can't say how it compares.

7. Yes if you cross over at 80 hz then you're passing 80 Hz and up to the towers, but it's not the midrange that you're taking that info from, it's the woofers, which play up to 120 or 200 Hz, I can't remember which, but you'll want to cross the towers over at 60 Hz most likely (I think it sounds the best). Still, with the woofers playing 60 Hz and up to their crossover, it still adds a ton of impact and slam to the sound, trust me, they are still doing a lot of work. The midrange isn't touched.

8. This isn't more ideal, in fact I think it would be worse as you'll get a lot more floor reflections that way, and the tweeter won't be at ear level, which is more important. I think having the towers in the corners is the better way to go, and then angle your center up so that the tweeter is pointing at ear level at the MLP.

I don't think it makes sense to skimp on the front stage for surrounds. Sure, I'm getting Sierra Sats as soon as they come out, but the front stage is really doing 90% of the work. If you get a set of HTM 200 SE's to use as surrounds, you'll be extremely happy with them and your front stage of Sierra Towers and Horizon Center. You can always get better surrounds later and use the HTM 200 SE for something else like desktop computer speakers, which is what I'm doing.

[consequential]

I'm just going to respond to your second numbered list:

1. I don't think negative Ascend reviews exist because they are so customer focused. They don't hide behind a big corporation. They want to make every customer happy and with how their products sound I just can't see anyone having a problem. Their QC is second to none so there is an almost zero chance of you getting a defective product. It's not like ordering from companies that outsource all of their manufacturing to China.

2. I think you'll be fine with that corner placement. The towers don't need a ton of breathing room, and I think that will be enough. As long as you're at least 8 inches from all boundaries you should be fine. I have about 16 inches of clearance from the wall and a few feet on either side and they sound amazing.

3. Nope, never heard them, but it's hard to imagine that they would sound an better than the Sierras.

4. My system is 95% movies or more and I have the Ribbon tweeters and I would not have it any other way. The smooth yet incredibly detailed sound is exactly how a speaker should sound.

5. You always want all of your drivers to match. Don't go with mismatching tweeters. It'll sound weird.

6. I love the dedicated midrange on the towers as I think it sounds perfect and absolutely nails instrument tone. I haven't heard the Sierra 2 though so I can't say how it compares.

7. Yes if you cross over at 80 hz then you're passing 80 Hz and up to the towers, but it's not the midrange that you're taking that info from, it's the woofers, which play up to 120 or 200 Hz, I can't remember which, but you'll want to cross the towers over at 60 Hz most likely (I think it sounds the best). Still, with the woofers playing 60 Hz and up to their crossover, it still adds a ton of impact and slam to the sound, trust me, they are still doing a lot of work. The midrange isn't touched.

8. This isn't more ideal, in fact I think it would be worse as you'll get a lot more floor reflections that way, and the tweeter won't be at ear level, which is more important. I think having the towers in the corners is the better way to go, and then angle your center up so that the tweeter is pointing at ear level at the MLP.

I don't think it makes sense to skimp on the front stage for surrounds. Sure, I'm getting Sierra Sats as soon as they come out, but the front stage is really doing 90% of the work. If you get a set of HTM 200 SE's to use as surrounds, you'll be extremely happy with them and your front stage of Sierra Towers and Horizon Center. You can always get better surrounds later and use the HTM 200 SE for something else like desktop computer speakers, which is what I'm doing.

Wow, thank you so much for the detailed question by question response. It's greatly appreciated.

I have a follow up to item 7:

So are you saying the dedicated midrange will be working on the tower even if I crossover at 80 or 60?

[davef]

1. Because this forum is managed by Ascend, does anyone know if negative reviews of Ascend products are censored so that only positive reviews/information is allowed on here? I'm asking because I haven't seen anything negative or remotely critical about the Sierra towers in 3hrs of reading on this forum last night. That could be for several reasons such as the speakers being that amazing but again, I'm doing my due diligence.

Hi consequential, Just a quick comment - the only things we have ever censored from this forum is spam... We are not a retail manufacturer, our towers are built here in the states and cost a fortune. - our profit margins are very small. As such, customer returns on towers really hurt us - therefore we really try our best to make honest recommendations. for your system, Curtis is right - you are considering two very very different types of speakers, with completely different goals.

Are you looking for massive dynamics and extreme volume levels, or are you looking for precise imaging combined with accurate timbre and about as much resolution (detail) as is technically possible with a speaker?

[sludgeogre]

Are you looking for massive dynamics and extreme volume levels, or are you looking for precise imaging combined with accurate timbre and about as much resolution (detail) as is technically possible with a speaker?

This is really what it's all about. I've heard a bunch of high sensitivity speakers that make all sorts of wild claims, but all of them sound like they're yelling at you to some degree, and none of them reproduce all of the detail that is there. I don't know why the trend in speakers seems to be toward these awful designs. Probably because of the loudness wars in music people just equate high SPL and tons of muddy bass with quality for no good reason.