Hello all. First off, I would like to thank Dave F. for his graciousness in allowing me to A/B compare the Sierra-1s and Sierra-1 NrTs as I was picking up my new set of Sierra-1s last Friday. At the end of the listening session, he suggested that I post my impressions in the Ascend Acoustics forum, so here goes.

Dave had kindly set up both stereo speaker sets with an analog switch such that I could easily swap speaker sets with no transition delay. This allowed a really great comparison. I had never heard either speaker, but I was immediately impressed with the clarity of both sets. With both, I could hear details and textures in my music that I never knew existed. However, after a minute of listening, I could tell that I liked the NrTs better. They were more forward, or had a bit more presence, in the mids and highs. Maybe "less laid back" is the appropriate phrase. Also, the highs with the NrTs were more crisp and had more "air." It was like the tweeters had more room to breathe. Dave described the NrTs as "more open," and after listening for a bit, I agree. Overall, I loved the way that the NrTs sounded so much that it was hard to switch back to the Sierra-1s after a few flips. ...not at all because the originals sounded bad, but the NrTs just sounded that extra bit better

So, needless to say, I am on the NrT pre-order list Actually, I just paid to upgrade my 5 Sierra-1s yesterday and can't wait for the results. I also purchased a Rythmik F15 sub that I haven't had time to hook up yet (I just moved, and boxes are everywhere). Dave mentioned that many people don't bother to use a sub with the Sierras for stereo listening, and I can understand why. At reasonable volumes, I was immediately struck by how much bass the Sierra woofers put out. However, at higher listening levels (about at my threshold for pleasurable listening), I felt that the Sierras could have been aided by a little more bass authority. I got the impression that the lower frequency output wasn't quite keeping up with the higher frequency output (which didn't feel at all strained), although my ears could have been desensitized by that point as it was pretty loud Anyway, I think that I will at least try hooking up the Rythmik for listening in stereo mode.

Overall, it was a wonderfully pleasurable listening experience, and thanks again to Dave for hooking me up. I actually left having worked up a slight sweat from the pure enjoyment of hearing a few of my favorite tracks in this wonderful new light. My wife didn't seem to understand, but I hope that some of you will

Cheers,

Scott