Introducing the Sierra-2EX!!!

[jmlight1]

Today should be the best hump day in quite a while. My pair of Sierra-2EX Espresso are on the UPS truck out for delivery to me as I type this. They will be replacing a pair of CBM-170SE's I purchased about a year ago that pull music duty in my family room. The 170's punch way above their weight class, and they will be moved downstairs to upgrade the man-cave. My son is in for a treat. I had actually been set on purchasing Sierra-2's last year, but life happened and so the 170's came instead. Perhaps good luck in the end as the 2EX's hold much promise.

The system they will become a part of is tube based with a Manley Labs Stingray II, with a Mag-Lev ML1 TT attached, as well as a Bluesound Node 2i to stream from my NAS and the web. The best of old-school meets digital....

[diesel79]

Today should be the best hump day in quite a while. My pair of Sierra-2EX Espresso are on the UPS truck out for delivery to me as I type this. They will be replacing a pair of CBM-170SE's I purchased about a year ago that pull music duty in my family room. The 170's punch way above their weight class, and they will be moved downstairs to upgrade the man-cave. My son is in for a treat. I had actually been set on purchasing Sierra-2's last year, but life happened and so the 170's came instead. Perhaps good luck in the end as the 2EX's hold much promise.

The system they will become a part of is tube based with a Manley Labs Stingray II, with a Mag-Lev ML1 TT attached, as well as a Bluesound Node 2i to stream from my NAS and the web. The best of old-school meets digital....

Awesome! Can’t wait to hear your impressions. Mine are due to me on Monday, but probably won’t be able get dialed in right away.

[racrawford65]

nice integrated amp - the Manley Stingray. I have their Chinook phono pre-amp. Great piece of equipment. Awesome service as well from EveAnna and team... just like Ascend.

[jmlight1]

nice integrated amp - the Manley Stingray. I have their Chinook phono pre-amp. Great piece of equipment. Awesome service as well from EveAnna and team... just like Ascend.

Thanks, and I agree, the Stingray is a great amp. My system at home stands in contrast to the all digital Devialet system at the office... and I enjoy the sound of both immensely.

Speaking of sound... I'm not able to get into any detail yet as I've not had the chance to really push the 2EX's. I've played a few good jazz albums, and some high-rez digital files from the NAS, Alan Parsons I Robot, Led Zep x, and some others. I'm more struck by the RAAL tweeter than the new woofer, but like I said, I've not been able to really sit back alone and turn it up. First impressions vs the 170's are of course very positive! Huge upgrade!

I'm really looking forward to getting some hours on these and seeing how they settle in.

[IMG]Hifi by Eric Mack, on Flickr[/IMG]

Pic of the system before swapping in the Sierras

Hifi2 by Eric Mack, on Flickr

[davef]

[IMG]Hifi by Eric Mack, on Flickr[/IMG]

Hifi2 by Eric Mack, on Flickr

Wow!

[ed_bob]

Wow I can’t believe I hadn’t heard this news until the Black Friday email! Sadly, I’ll probably have to wait several more months before I can spend for the upgrade kit for my Sierra 2s, but you better believe I’m doing it as soon as I can get my wife on board!

I’ve had my Sierra 2s for over a year and a half and am still amazed by them every day. I haven’t had the speaker upgrade itch since I bought these (well until the EX was announced anyway)!

I don’t use a sub, so seeing the bass extension go from 46Hz to 38Hz anechoic while only sacrificing 1dB in sensitivity is very exciting and downright impressive!

Many thanks to Dave and Dina for continuing to innovate and for offering upgrade kits at relatively affordable prices to your customers!

Can’t wait to hear these. Cheers!

[petmotel]

Haven't been on this forum for a while, last thing I was closely following was the Luna development. I just very recently caught up on the S2 Diamond development, which of course led to the S2-EX (or sex for short). The improvement of this speaker over the Sierra-2 is almost inconceivable to me, the performance of the regular 2 being stunning in it's own right.

I have a pair of nice gloss espresso cabinets with Sierra-1 NRT drivers, so wanting to experience what is in my mind one of the best two way bookshelf speakers available at any price, I ordered upgrade kits for this stereo pair to Sierra-2EX components. I'm still almost unable to grasp the idea that the Sierra-2 is able to be substantially improved upon, but that is the reality of Dave's passion for creating top tier performance in an affordable package. What a truly remarkable individual!

I think Ascend owners are a bit of a jaded lot, able to sample performance levels once relegated to the privileged few that could afford astronomically priced high end equipment. Even in that exclusive arena, there is no guarantee that the ridiculous costs of that gear results in sonic excellence, nowhere is the mantra "Buyer Beware" more appropriate.

Jay

[kmmccorm]

Does anyone have any experience or thoughts on pairing the Sierra 2-EX with the CMT-340 center?

[davef]

Does anyone have any experience or thoughts on pairing the Sierra 2-EX with the CMT-340 center?

While this isn't ideal, we have had a few customers do this and they have reported good results.

[kmmccorm]

Thanks! I actually spoke with one of your helpful associates on Friday and she provided the same guidance. I ordered the 2-EXs and the Luna Duo center on Saturday 🙂