I'm the new owner of the Ascend Sierra 2EX V2 speakers. I'm currently in my third week of the trial period and I'm feeling underwhelmed.

I pretty much read everything I could find online about these speakers. People talked about hearing the full weight of bass notes and every nuance of drums coming alive. People used adjectives like "airy" and spoke of unparalleled high end extension. This hasn't been my experience.

Drums sound congested. Sometimes the Sierra's come across as punchy but in a fatiguing way. Horns can sound grating. Sometimes the overall tonality is darker than what I expected. Solo jazz guitar that sounded right in the room with my KEFs now sound less "real." Fatiguing is a good way of describing my experience with the Sierra's....which is strange ....as users consistently reported that they found the Sierra's to NOT be fatiguing. I often walk away with a headache.

My theory: my amp isn't a good match. Currently using a Marantz PM8006....which happens to be the only amp I've ever heard. Perhaps I'm not a fan of the Marantz "house sound." While many love this amp, I've heard others call it "shouty and fatiguing." I have full faith in the superior quality of the Sierra's, I wonder if I'm experiencing a problem with synergy or simply don't like the Marantz sound.

I've played around with placement. The Sierra's are on proper stands. Maybe it's my room.

I'm curious about what other Sierra owners are driving their speakers with. Have people found that Sierra's sound better on one amp than another?