Best upgrade path to 5.1 - currently have 2x170se and 1xLV12R

[Galaga]

Hey all,

I just got a pair of 170se and a Rythmik LV12R. After living with them for a few weeks, gotta say I love em! I am amazed at how well they sound. Terrific working with Ascend in the customer support department and the product speaks for itself (sorry couldn't help myself :) ).

Here's the reason I am posting:

I plan to use some of my tax refund to upgrade to a full 5.1 system. So that means migrate the 170se to surround, and pick up a new pair for the front L/R and center. So, I have a month or two to work out the details. I can confidently say that the return will be enough to cover all the options listed below, but there are some caveats with the wife as the price tag goes up.

I would also like to say eventually I want to have some sierra-2s. So that should factor into the decision as well (even if I don't get them now, I want an upgrade path that doesn't sacrifice any of my prior purchases).

I see a few options:

Option 1: Wife friendly option!


2 x CBM-340se + 1 x CBM-340se center
Pros: Cheapest option
Cons: No Sierra -2s right away
Future upgrade : 2x Sierra-2s, migrate the 2xCBM-340se to back (or surround and 170se get back).


Option 2: Unhappy wife option!


2 x Sierra-1's x CBM-340se center
Pros: Sierra-1s will be a better upgrade than the CBM-340 (I think)
Cons: More expensive than option 1, different speakers across the front.
Future upgrade: Sierra-2s and move the Sierra-1's to back/surround duty. I think these seems like a waste of Sierra-1s. I like this option the least because of it.


Option 3: Impending divorce option!


2 x Sierra 2's, Sierra-2 center (!? Not sure if I could get away with a CBM-340 center here, or even a Sierra-1 center?)
Pros: Got my Sierra-2s!
Cons: Most expensive option, Wife annnngry, will have to spend even more money to appease her :)


Anyway just curious what the more experienced people out there think, and maybe there are some options that would be even better that I have not considered!

These are being driven by a Denon E300. We watch some movies/tv and listen to music on the system, and some gaming. I'd say its about equal split between movies/tv and music.

[petmotel]

Option 4: Boot Wife, find girlfriend who rocks out to your brand new Towers/Horizon front stage!

Just kidding of course!

Jay

[FirstReflect]

Well, it's not the cheapest option, but if you know that you eventually want to end up with Sierra-2 speakers (which is a GREAT goal to have in mind!), then I think your best options are:

a) Get just a pair of Sierra-1 for now. The Sierra-1 can be easily upgraded to Sierra-2! So, it makes the most sense to at least get some form of Sierra bookshelf speaker. It's as simple as ordering an upgrade kit for each speaker. You just swap out the drivers and crossover, and voila, you've got yourself some Sierra-2! You also get a rebate for sending your original Sierra-1 parts back to Ascend.

So, I don't think buying SE Series speaker for your Fronts is the most cost effective solution in the long run. If you need the lowest price possible for right now, then just get a pair of Sierra-1, and then run a "phantom" Center.

b) if the money is available, add a Sierra-1 Center. Personally, I find it critical to have a seamless match across the Front 3 speakers. I'm no fan of a mismatched Center and Mains ;)

It's just as easy to upgrade the Sierra-1 Center to a Sierra-2 Center. Again, you can just order an upgrade kit, swap out all the parts, and then send back your original Sierra-1 parts and get a rebate!

c) If you want to max out your sound quality right now, but can't quite afford the Sierra-2 right away, then you can opt for Sierra-1 NrT speakers. Again, either just a Front Main pair with a phantom Center, or three Sierra-1 NrT across the front. Just like the standard Sierra-1, you can easily upgrade the Sierra-1 NrT speakers to Sierra-2 with the upgrade kits. And you get a bigger rebate for sending back the Sierra-1 NrT parts.

That's what I would recommend, anyway :) So long as you get some form of Sierra bookshelf speakers, you can always upgrade them later to Sierra-2 when funds allow.

[Galaga]

Option 4: Boot Wife, find girlfriend who rocks out to your brand new Towers/Horizon front stage!

Just kidding of course!

Jay

LOL...honestly tho my wife was lukewarm about getting the 170s, but once she heard the setup and figured out how to play stuff from her iphone on the Denon, she has been rocking out in there even more than me...So I don't think it will be a hard sell, it's still just a good chunk of change to spend on speakers when in her eyes there might be other things that we 'need' more (like furniture, new clothes, rent, etc.) :D

[Galaga]

Well, it's not the cheapest option, but if you know that you eventually want to end up with Sierra-2 speakers (which is a GREAT goal to have in mind!), then I think your best options are:

a) Get just a pair of Sierra-1 for now. The Sierra-1 can be easily upgraded to Sierra-2! So, it makes the most sense to at least get some form of Sierra bookshelf speaker. It's as simple as ordering an upgrade kit for each speaker. You just swap out the drivers and crossover, and voila, you've got yourself some Sierra-2! You also get a rebate for sending your original Sierra-1 parts back to Ascend.

So, I don't think buying SE Series speaker for your Fronts is the most cost effective solution in the long run. If you need the lowest price possible for right now, then just get a pair of Sierra-1, and then run a "phantom" Center.

b) if the money is available, add a Sierra-1 Center. Personally, I find it critical to have a seamless match across the Front 3 speakers. I'm no fan of a mismatched Center and Mains ;)

It's just as easy to upgrade the Sierra-1 Center to a Sierra-2 Center. Again, you can just order an upgrade kit, swap out all the parts, and then send back your original Sierra-1 parts and get a rebate!

c) If you want to max out your sound quality right now, but can't quite afford the Sierra-2 right away, then you can opt for Sierra-1 NrT speakers. Again, either just a Front Main pair with a phantom Center, or three Sierra-1 NrT across the front. Just like the standard Sierra-1, you can easily upgrade the Sierra-1 NrT speakers to Sierra-2 with the upgrade kits. And you get a bigger rebate for sending back the Sierra-1 NrT parts.

That's what I would recommend, anyway :) So long as you get some form of Sierra bookshelf speakers, you can always upgrade them later to Sierra-2 when funds allow.

Aha! See this is why I am posting here :) I completely forgot that there is an upgrade route from the Sierra-1s to Sierra-2s. That is also something to consider.

Does anyone know offhand the cost difference between upgrading Sierra-1s and just buying Sierra-2s flat out? Just trying to figure out if I plan to upgrade to Sierra-2s eventually, how much money I would be 'losing' by not just buying them from the get go.

[natetg57]

The cheapest pair of Sierra's are about $800. The '2' upgrade for a pair is $776. Minus $31/speaker refund for returning old Woofer, tweeter and crossover. Total: $1514 not including extra shipping for the upgrade parts. About $81 (3 shipping charges, original speakers, upgrades and then returning old parts). Grand total: $1595.

Sierra 2 pair ordered complete: $1448-1558 depending on finish plus $36 shipping.

[FirstReflect]

Sure. If we just consider the standard finish options with no additional charge for a gloss finish:

The regular Sierra-1 pair will cost $848 + $36 shipping. And the regular Sierra-1 Center will cost $438 + $20 shipping. If you buy all three speakers at once, there's a discount, bringing the total to $1258 + $56 shipping.

If you buy the Sierra-2 right off the bat, a pair costs $1448 + $36 shipping, and a Sierra-2 Center costs $738 + $20 shipping. All three purchased together come to $2158 + $56 shipping.

So, if you're buying all three speakers at once, you're looking at a difference of $900 between the regular Sierra-1 and the Sierra-2.

Each Sierra-2 upgrade kit costs $388. I'm not sure how much is being charged for shipping. It's a tweeter, a woofer, and a crossover in each kit, but no cabinet. So it should be a substantially smaller and lighter package to ship, but I'm not sure on the exact price. But, let's just assume it's around $12 for each kit to make the math really easy :p At this point, you'd be paying about $100 extra per speaker. So, just purchasing the regular Sierra-1, and then upgrading three Sierra-1 to three Sierra-2 later, you're looking at approximately $300 more, total, vs. just buying the three Sierra-2 right away.

BUT, you can get back $31 for each speaker by returning the regular Sierra-1 parts back to Ascend. So, you could get $93 back. But, there's some shipping charge for sending those regular Sierra-1 parts back, as well. So...maybe more like $20/speaker that you actually put back in your pocket? Again, I'm not certain at all what the shipping costs will be.

But, you should be looking at roughly $225-$240. Something in that ballpark in terms of how much extra you'd end up paying in the long run.

So, including shipping, for all three speakers at once, you're looking at:

$1314 for the regular Sierra-1

$2214 for the Sierra-2 purchased right off the bat, and

~$2450 in total to get the Sierra-1 now, and then upgrade them with the kits to Sierra-2 later, again, depending on what the shipping actually comes out to.

If you go with the Sierra-1 NrT right away, the three pack of those will be $1764 with the shipping included. To upgrade those to Sierra-2 costs the same up front; about $400 per speaker (depending on shipping). But, you'd get back $63 for each Sierra-1 NrT speaker's parts. Again, I'm guessing you'd actually pocket something closer to $52 for each speaker after accounting for shipping all those Sierra-1 NrT parts back. So, the total price to go from three Sierra-1 NrT to three Sierra-2 would look to be about $2800 in the end.

So, clearly, getting the Sierra-1 NrT right away and upgrading them to Sierra-2 later ends up being the most costly option in the long run. Something close to $590 more than just buying the Sierra-2 right away. But, the difference between the regular Sierra-1 to Sierra-2 upgrade vs. buying the Sierra-2 right away isn't so bad. And it could be even less if you decide to just start with a pair and run a phantom Center for the time being ;)

[Galaga]

Thanks all for breaking that down for me :) Not a huge difference, but if my tax refund is enough and the reviews are stellar, I think Sierra-2s outright would be the best bet. Also saves me the hassle of having to ship them back, etc.

So, I have settled on either Sierra-1s across the front or Sierra-2s. I think there will be two factors: how much total the refund is (if we get back ~5k or more, then I think the sierra-2s flat out would be fine, if its 3-4k, well we will have to see...part of the refund is also earmarked for a wedding we have to attend on the other side of the country). Refund total will just have to wait until we get our W-2s.

The other factor is how the Sierra-2s compare to the Sierra-1s. I noticed someone was setting up an AB test with their Sierra-1s, so looking forward to reading that and other similar comparisons that come in as more Sierra-2's get out there.