Sierra Tower versus Other towers (help!)

[AbuDilan]

I am trying to determine what my next towers should be. How does the the Sierra tower compare to the following speakers:

Polk Lsim 705
Teckton Double Impact
Paradigm Prestige 95F

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[kirky27]

I am trying to determine what my next towers should be. How does the the Sierra tower compare to the following speakers:

Polk Lsim 705
Teckton Double Impact
Paradigm Prestige 95F

Any help would be greatly appreciated!


LOL. I am biased but the towers are certainly better (and a better value) in my opinion and that's why I have them.

:).

[SunByrne]

Having never heard any of those other than the Polks--including the Sierra Towers (yet)--I'm going to guess with high confidence that the Sierras are better than the Polks. I own a bunch of Ascends and have heard a bunch of Polks, including the Polk Lsim 705, so that's where the confidence comes from. The Polks are OK speakers but I'd take my bookshelf Sierra-1 NrTs over the Polks any day.

I'm going to guess with somewhat less confidence that the Sierras are pretty even with than the Paradigms, though they cost less. A lot less; the Paradigms are $5000/pair. This guess is based on the fact that I actually like Paradigms, but find in general that Ascends are better at similar price points. By spending more on the Paradigms, you're probably at about parity. The Paradigms probably dig deeper, but for almost double the price, they'd better. I'm always a little put off by manufacturers that don't put some graphs up there. FR is good, but FR + spectral decay is even better.

No idea about the Tecktons. Based on the fact that they don't carry much of a following on AVS, I'm going to guess (with minimal confidence) that they're not as good. They look gimmicky, but then that's what a lot of people think about ribbon tweeters, so maybe there's something there. Like I said, low confidence.

What I'd really like to hear is the Sierra Towers head-to-head with the Salk SongTower, which are very close in price, and also both have the option for RAAL ribbons, again at about the same price. I think of Dennis Murphy (of Philharmonic, and the designer of the SongTower) as a spiritual cousin of our own DaveF. The Sierra is a traditional 3-way bass reflex whereas the SongTower is a 2-way, but the Salk is a transmission line rather than bass reflex. Would just love to hear them both in A/B someday.

[mikesiskav]

Look for posts by Enrico. He went from Polk LSI towers to Ascend RAAL towers and is very happy.

[Beave]

Some random comments from the peanut gallery:

1. Tekton makes absolutely ridiculous claims about how their speakers work, and how speakers work in general, and they exaggerate their specs like crazy. For those reasons alone I wouldn't consider them.

2. Paradigm, in my opinion, lost their way with the new Prestige series. I've seen measurements of several models from several sources (Stereophile, NRC, Euro mags, etc), and none of them have been good. Paradigm supposedly has a new anechoic chamber. Either it's not calibrated right, or they don't know how to use it, or they don't care to make neutral speakers any more.

3. The Polks, from what I've seen, measure fairly well and are well-engineered. What's more, I've read rumors they're about to be closed out and can be had at 50% off or more. At those prices they become a good buy. Whether they're as good as the Sierra towers, I can't say. I think in some ways they are about as good and in some ways they are not as good. They're the only one on this list I would even consider against the Sierras, and only at the closeout pricing.

[davef]

I am trying to determine what my next towers should be. How does the the Sierra tower compare to the following speakers:

Polk Lsim 705
Teckton Double Impact
Paradigm Prestige 95F

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Welcome to our forum!

Please feel free to contact me directly if I can be of any assistance.

[SunByrne]

1. Tekton makes absolutely ridiculous claims about how their speakers work, and how speakers work in general, and they exaggerate their specs like crazy. For those reasons alone I wouldn't consider them.

I didn't know this but somehow I'm not surprised.


2. Paradigm, in my opinion, lost their way with the new Prestige series. I've seen measurements of several models from several sources (Stereophile, NRC, Euro mags, etc), and none of them have been good. Paradigm supposedly has a new anechoic chamber. Either it's not calibrated right, or they don't know how to use it, or they don't care to make neutral speakers any more.

That's a shame. I've always kind of liked Paradigm.

[AbuDilan]

Great feedback. I will keep researching

[MarkGraz]

I have owned a lot of different speakers and I find the Sierra RAAL towers to be a tremendous bargain. I have heard the Polks and the Tektons and while there is nothing really wrong with them, the Sierra's outclass them pretty much all around. I haven't heard the Paradigms, but I'd be surprised if the Sierra's didn't compete with them well.

If you're using a sub, I don't think you can go wrong with the Ascends, the base is good and the midrange and treble are even better.

[AbuDilan]

Anyone else?

[moovtune]

I sold my pair of PSB T2 towers to a friend and bought the Sierra's with ribbon tweeter and have never regretted that decision. I enjoy them every day - with the horizon for center (with ribbon) and Sierra 2's for back speakers. Now if they would just make ribbon surrounds I'd be set for an amazing home theater system (using Martin Logan's presently for surrounds and heights)

[natetg57]

I sold my pair of PSB T2 towers to a friend and bought the Sierra's with ribbon tweeter and have never regretted that decision. I enjoy them every day - with the horizon for center (with ribbon) and Sierra 2's for back speakers. Now if they would just make ribbon surrounds I'd be set for an amazing home theater system (using Martin Logan's presently for surrounds and heights)

The Sierra Luna's work well as surrounds. http://www.ascendacoustics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=9SRLPP&Category_Code=LSPK-2CH

[Brady]

I use Lunas as surround and am ecstatic with them! Complete seamless integration. They never draw attention to themselves.

[Asliang]

Some random comments from the peanut gallery:

1. Tekton makes absolutely ridiculous claims about how their speakers work, and how speakers work in general, and they exaggerate their specs like crazy. For those reasons alone I wouldn't consider them.

2. Paradigm, in my opinion, lost their way with the new Prestige series. I've seen measurements of several models from several sources (Stereophile, NRC, Euro mags, etc), and none of them have been good. Paradigm supposedly has a new anechoic chamber. Either it's not calibrated right, or they don't know how to use it, or they don't care to make neutral speakers any more.

3. The Polks, from what I've seen, measure fairly well and are well-engineered. What's more, I've read rumors they're about to be closed out and can be had at 50% off or more. At those prices they become a good buy. Whether they're as good as the Sierra towers, I can't say. I think in some ways they are about as good and in some ways they are not as good. They're the only one on this list I would even consider against the Sierras, and only at the closeout pricing.

The thing I like about the Paradigms for home theater, is you don't have to worry about kids pushing in the drivers. The woofers are inverted and the tweeters have a hard dome waveguide. Also they look quite sharp. On the flip side, yeah they need serious room correction to fix the weird frequency response.