Mistake in buying Sierra 1's???

[Blake1214]

After being accustomed to the sound of my Sierras for the past year, I've finally decided I can no longer stand the factory "****" speakers in my car. I spent the last few weeks in search of a new setup for my car system. Ultimately, the salesman were aggressively pushing for me to go with Focals speakers (@ $1100/pr). They keep telling me how great they were and that they were top of the line. (only second to the Utopia line from Focal @ approx $5000/pr). However, I just really wasn't impressed.

Last night, I once again stopped by a few local shops again testing out their "top of the line" speakers they carry. But NONE really met my expectations. Frustrated, I drove back home, laid back in my sofa and played a bit of Diana Krall through my Sierras. Only to catch myself smiling and thinking what real speakers should sound like.

Honestly, I don't even know much about the technicalities like most of the members on here. But I do know my car audio shopping has been quite frustrating as I have yet been able to find car speakers that will put a smile on my face like the Sierras. Did I make a mistake in buying the Sierras only to ruin my driving experience?

Hypothetically speaking, if Dave is able to sell just the woofer, tweeter, and crossover of the Sierras, is it possible to adapt them for car use? Will this have a negative impact by not using the Sierra cabinets? I'm just curious on how far fetched this idea may be so I can decide on whether I should continue my quest in finding car speakers that will meet my expectations.


Blake

[curtis]

You would be better off by just putting a pair of Sierras in the car. :)

Seriously though, the cabinets internal volume, baffle size/shape, proximity of the drivers, etc., all come into play.

There are just too many variables in a car. Listening to car speakers at a shop doesn't even really give you a good example on how they will sound. It is best to find something that sounds reasonable, and then use a good parametric equalizer with measurements to get a good in-car response. It won't be Sierras, but it should sound good.

[Blake1214]

**Sighs** the search continues...Maybe one day, Ascend will even get into car audio to end my suffering.

[Ad-Rok]

I have Focals in my car. I have Ascends in my home. Sadly, you're never going to get "there" in the car :-).

Honestly? Buy some inexpensive Pioneer 2 or 3-way door speakers and any midline head unit, realize you will really never get the epic SQ your Ascends deliver in a car setting, and call it a day. Better yet, take the money you saved in the car, and buy a sweet sub to go with those Sierras. :-)

-Adam

[davef]

Hi Blake,

Curtis is right...

There are too many uncontrollable variables. If you were to install the tweeters, woofers and crossovers -- it would not sound like your Sierra-1 speakers. I would have to know the following

* precise spacing between the woofer and tweeter
* the difference in mounting depth between the woofer and tweeter
* the exact volume of the enclosure
* is the enclosure perfectly sealed, leaky or will it be ported
* approximate distance to the nearest 1st and 2nd reflection points
* how much damping in the enclosure (if any)
* height and width of the front mounting baffle used to house the tweeter and woofer
* will the tweeter and woofer be flush mounted

With this data, the crossover would then need considerable modifications and once completed, I would still doubt it would sound as good.

Car audio is tricky. Rather than precisely optimize a loudspeaker, thus accounting for nearly every design variable, in car audio you must compromise the design in such a way to make it sound decent amongst a variety of different installations. In other words, if you fully optimize it to deliver ideal performance for a specific automobile, performance will be greatly compromised when installed in a different auto (where enclosure sizes, mounting depths, installation locations etc. will be different).

What makes the Sierra-1 perform so well is the balance and optimization steps taken for each component of the speaker. This balance and control of optimization is completely lost in car audio.

Besides the fact that to do this right, I would have to purchase and then tear apart the insides of a heck of a lot of cars :eek: I have done my fair share of car audio and working on these newer cars is infinitely more complex than the cars back in my day (Mustangs, Chevelles, Firebirds, Camaros, GTOs -- yep, I was once that guy on the block)

[Blake1214]

Thx Dave. Looks like I shouldn't hold my breath on any announcements for car speakers by Ascend:(. Are there any current car audio speakers available that you know of that sounds "comparable" as the way the Sierras sound. Obviously, everyone has a different taste on what sounds good or not but I do know we both love the way the Sierras sound. So I'm interested what car speakers you would choose so I can atleast "mimmick" that Ascend sound in my car.:)

Blake

[Blake1214]

I have Focals in my car. I have Ascends in my home. Sadly, you're never going to get "there" in the car :-).

Honestly? Buy some inexpensive Pioneer 2 or 3-way door speakers and any midline head unit, realize you will really never get the epic SQ your Ascends deliver in a car setting, and call it a day. Better yet, take the money you saved in the car, and buy a sweet sub to go with those Sierras. :-)

-Adam

Are you using the Focals K2P?

I'm pairing my Sierras up to a SVS PC+. HT is quite decent but doesn't match well for music. Waiting on Dave to make the F15 in piano gloss so I can pick up a pair.

[Ad-Rok]

Are you using the Focals K2P?

I'm pairing my Sierras up to a SVS PC+. HT is quite decent but doesn't match well for music. Waiting on Dave to make the F15 in piano gloss so I can pick up a pair.

Mine are Focal Polykevlar series from quite a few years back, I can't remember the exact model number. Maybe 165k2 or something? Honestly, I need to take them out of the car and sell them soon to finance 2 more channels of Ascend speakers or a better Pre/Pro. Keeping my eye on the forthcoming Outlaw Audio 997, we'll see.

Good luck!

-Adam

[scape]

lol, at first I thought the discussion was going elsewhere, but glad to see you're spoiled with sierra's now!

dave's right, car audio is tricky, to say the least-- and gutting a car is not only tiresome and dirty, it's also a bit depressing when it's your own car, it'll never be the same again. with that said, i personally chose to skip spending money on my car audio as I don't want to be in my car very often to be begin with. if you do long car rides, i can see your enthusiasm for a nice speaker set.
i'll be honest though, nice speakers in a car usually sound terrible without good placement, enclosure and sound damping, and well-to-do gear. often an oversight is someone placing expensive speakers in a car's factory enclosures and expecting great things, it just doesn't work like that; some of the most important factors is a good receiver with timing delay, and great amps and capacitors. to get a solid sounding stereo, it usually requires overhauling many aspects of the audio system, especially rewiring; as many manufacturers skimp on that stuff.
if you're still interested, i suggest alpine, as they are a solid brand and not too terribly expensive for good results. perhaps head over to crutchfield.com, as they have loads of car audio stuff with many diy kits-- however they are a bit bloated these days with all their other offerings.

though if i were you, i'd kick back on that couch more :D