Stereophile

[Johnny_Mac_III]

I'm not trying to stir up anything, but this is something I have pondered for a while now. None of our speakers made the recommended component list on Stereophile? Maybe, I'm biased, but why aren't all of the speakers from Ascend on the Stereophile recommended component list? Have they not listened to any of the Ascend line?

[Mag_Neato]

For one, Ascend does not pay to advertise in their magazine.....

[curtis]

For one, Ascend does not pay to advertise in their magazine.....
This is the biggest reason.

[S20]

I can't speak for Stereophile, I'm not really familiar with them, but I have wondered why there were not more professional (quote unquote) reviews of Ascend products. There are a few reviews of the original Sierra-1 but none I can find for the Sierra-2.

I see a lot of people in forums, Reddit, etc recommending the Sierra-2 so it's not exactly "obscure" or "unknown", but if you click on the "professional reviews" button at the top of this website, the last review posted was in 2012? Even most of the "user reviews" are 2+ years old.

It seems to me that getting some professional reviews done by a reputable magazine or website would be a positive thing for Ascend?

[Beave]

Stereophile's "official" position is that they only review speakers that are available at US dealerships, with a minimum of something like 20 distinct dealerships (ie, not just one chain but 20 individual stores around the country).

They have made occasional exceptions to this rule, such as when they reviewed Aperion's Verus bookshelf. I don't know why they occassionally make such exceptions, but it probably has to do with advertising money, or how friendly one of their writers is with an employee or owner of an internet direct company, or who knows what other possible reasons.

[Johnny_Mac_III]

Ah, gotcha. Thanks for clearing it up.

[davef]

Magazine reviews, the magazines of which are nearly fully supported by paid advertisers, rarely have interest in products like ours as we don't advertise -- anywhere. We haven't placed an ad in a magazine or even a simple banner ad in I believe over ten years now.

We simply do not need to market our products (and please don't take this statement the wrong way) we have all the sales volume we can handle. Many have responded to that by asking me why we don't expand more and the reason is simple... We have consciously expanded our business several times (more employees for ex) and what happens is that I end up spending my time here being a manager, and I absolutely hate that. I much prefer being hands-on as much as I am able with every single speaker that leaves our facility. I still test every single loudspeaker that we ship and that, by itself, limits our sales volume. -- And I am perfectly comfortable with that :)

In addition, many magazines have policies stating they will only review products if carried at a certain number of retailers... We have zero retailers.

Look at all the trouble Elon Musk has been getting himself into with Tesla -- having various states actually ban sales simply because they are not sold through a traditional car dealership. Companies in all industries fear the growth of direct sales....

[Johnny_Mac_III]

Magazine reviews, the magazines of which are nearly fully supported by paid advertisers, rarely have interest in products like ours as we don't advertise -- anywhere. We haven't placed an ad in a magazine or even a simple banner ad in I believe over ten years now.

We simply do not need to market our products (and please don't take this statement the wrong way) we have all the sales volume we can handle. Many have responded to that by asking me why we don't expand more and the reason is simple... We have consciously expanded our business several times (more employees for ex) and what happens is that I end up spending my time here being a manager, and I absolutely hate that. I much prefer being hands-on as much as I am able with every single speaker that leaves our facility. I still test every single loudspeaker that we ship and that, by itself, limits our sales volume. -- And I am perfectly comfortable with that :)

In addition, many magazines have policies stating they will only review products if carried at a certain number of retailers... We have zero retailers.

Look at all the trouble Elon Musk has been getting himself into with Tesla -- having various states actually ban sales simply because they are not sold through a traditional car dealership. Companies in all industries fear the growth of direct sales....

Dave, you are truly one of the good guys in the industry. After a year of research and saving up, I bought the 340 fronts and center with HTM 200s for surounds for my living room home theater.

Although, I bought these speakers primarily for movies I find myself staying up late listening to music all night. At least a lot later than I should :) I've had this system for 3 months and it still amazes me every time I listen to it.

I want to truly thank you for the hard work you put into making amazing speakers available for all people, not just the extremely wealthy. The amazing sound I hear through my 340s I thought would be way out of reach at my price point! You are truly a revolutionary in this regard. Keep up the great work :)

[davef]

Dave, you are truly one of the good guys in the industry. After a year of research and saving up, I bought the 340 fronts and center with HTM 200s for surounds for my living room home theater.

Although, I bought these speakers primarily for movies I find myself staying up late listening to music all night. At least a lot later than I should :) I've had this system for 3 months and it still amazes me every time I listen to it.

I want to truly thank you for the hard work you put into making amazing speakers available for all people, not just the extremely wealthy. The amazing sound I hear through my 340s I thought would be way out of reach at my price point! You are truly a revolutionary in this regard. Keep up the great work :)

thank you so much for the nice comments -- this is truly what motivates us :)