Sierra-1 match to my inwall surrounds?

[gln2]

I am considering purchasing Sierra-1's for LR + Sierra-1 center for my fronts. This is for a new media room I had built, 13'W X 15'D. I had Paradigm CS-60SQ-SM in-walls installed in the rear side walls (wife insisted on rear in-walls, I think I should not have caved in on this one!). In-wall Speaker details: http://www.paradigm.com/index.php?option=com_mtree&task=viewlink&link_id=54&Itemid=2

Would the Ascend-1's be a good match to these surrounds? I would hate to have a disconnect with the sound. Room is 95% movies. Would the standard tweeter match better or the NrT upgrade? Or, would I really need to replace these in-walls (down the road) to get good surround sound?

I am pretty particular with SQ, having had very good 2 channel stereo for music for many years prior to this room. (Conrad Johnson preamp, Classe amp, Magnaplanar Tympanis, then Eminent Tech LFT-VI's.) Though, since this room is not for music listening, and because I cannot afford to go higher end, I need to do this at a reasonable price. Three standard Sierra-1's is really my limit pricewise, but if the NrT would blend better then I would consider it.

Thanks,
Glenn

[natetg57]

It won't be a perfect match. You might consider sticking with Paradigm all around. The metal dome will have a different sound than a soft dome. I had Paradigm ADP-170's as surrounds with Sierra-1's LCR and I wasn't happy with the difference in sound. If you do decide to go with Ascend, I think the NRT would match better.

[gln2]

Natetg57, I had thought I would eventually get Paradigms for the fronts which is why I had put those inwalls in 2 years ago. But I demo'd the new Mini Monitors a few months ago and just was not impressed. Felt the SQ just was not worth the price. And moving up to the Studio line brings finishes that just would not look very good in my room. The Ascend expresso finish looks like it would work nicely. Thanks a lot for your response.

[davef]

Hi gln2,

If you like the crispness of the Paradigm tweeter and are also concerned about timbre between your fronts and rears, I too would recommend considering the Sierra-1 NrT upgrade. Of course, this is something you can always do at a later time.

Thanks!

[gln2]

Looks like Focal's Inwall is very similiar to my Paradigm inwall; metal tweeters in their line. I'm going to go listen to their bookshelf, Focal Chorus 807V, and see how that sounds. My purchase will then probably be between that or the Sierra-1 NrT. Has anyone heard both of these speakers?

I'm very surprised to see that the Sierra's cost the same as the Focals. Being an Internet company, I had expected Ascend to have lower prices. (Focal's overhead costs would be much larger.) Maybe a nice sale price on the 1's in the near future, with the Sierra-2 coming out? :)

GLN2

[curtis]

I'm very surprised to see that the Sierra's cost the same as the Focals. Being an Internet company, I had expected Ascend to have lower prices. (Focal's overhead costs would be much larger.) Maybe a nice sale price on the 1's in the near future, with the Sierra-2 coming out? :)

You could also look at the cost difference the other way around. With Focal's overhead costs, you are getting less speaker from them.

[davef]

I'm very surprised to see that the Sierra's cost the same as the Focals. Being an Internet company, I had expected Ascend to have lower prices. (Focal's overhead costs would be much larger.) Maybe a nice sale price on the 1's in the near future, with the Sierra-2 coming out? :)

GLN2

Hi GLN2,

Focal makes a good product and without you having all of the details, I can certainly see the reasoning for you questioning the pricing of the Sierra-1. However, please understand that it is precisely because we are fully factory direct that we can offer a speaker like the Sierra-1 for such a low retail price point. Our retail prices are fully based on how much the material costs of the products are plus an added margin (which unfortunately shrinks every year). We do not actually add in the cost of our overhead or even labor when determining the pricing of our products. I should also stress that we purchase our components direct from our vendors in the same quantities (sometimes even more) as the mainstream brands do – and we receive the same volume discounting, which honestly is not much these days.

Due to the extremely high quality components of the Sierra-1, these are extremely expensive speakers to manufacture. Even 6 years later, the Sierra-1 is still the most affordable 2-way 19mm bamboo enclosure on the market, at least as far as I know. I have seen quite a few knockoffs of the Sierra-1 recently that are selling for 2-3 times what we are asking for the product.

There is a reason you don't see bamboo enclosures offered from the mainstream retail loudspeaker manufacturers -- this feature alone would add $500 - $600 to the retail price of one of these pairs of bookshelf speakers. The enclosure of the loudspeaker is just as important as any other component of the loudspeaker; some would even consider it the most important...

That said, if the price is discouraging you -- I know we have a few B-stock pairs available and these offer the same exact performance and guarantees that our A-stock goods are known for.

Hope this reassures you and feel free to contact us anytime :)

[gln2]

Dave, thank you very much for your detailed response. I'm still considering your product! (I created a new post questioning whether the Towers or bookshelves would be better suited to my room.)