Signing in from Houston

[JohnCarter17]

I just ended up Speaker Upgrade Adventure at Ascend's door.

Background is mostly HT and some CD. A couple years ago I rediscovered my vinyl after a friend had a vinyl party. I also made the mistake of spending time on the Steve Hoffman Forums (and a touch of AVS). I have been upgrading my system(s). In order to support 4K I upgraded the Yamaha RX-V995 with a TSR-7850 (Costco model - DO NOT GET IT). I also got some small Polk speakers to run Atmos. A friend gifted me his old system a few years ago, a Pioneer SX-1050 and a couple speakers.

I cleaned up the SX-1050 and set it up for my analog system, and moved the Cambridge Soundworks over there.


Otherwise:
Turntable:Rega RP-6 w/ GT subplatter and w. belt, Yamaha P-550
Cartridge:Rega Exact
Tuner:n/a
Digital Front End:Yamaha DV-S5860, Panasonic DP-UB9000
CD Recorder:PC
Analog Front End:Yamaha KX-380 Cassette deck
Pre Amplifier:Tavish Adagio, Musical Fidelity X-LPS
Amplification:Pioneer SX-1050, Yamaha TSR-7850
Speaker System:Cambridge Soundworks MC-500, Klipsch KSW-200


So I decided to get some towers for a better soundstage. I was budgeting 2K.

I started my journey look asking and looking on Crutchfield and was thinking of Polks again. I then started researching more and looking at KEF (R500) and then was looking at Martin-Logan Motion 60XTs. I had decided I wanted a ribbon tweeter. I was figuring best buy for the dollar were the last series of high end speakers on discount. Some really good prices on at a bunch of places. I had pretty much settled on those beautiful Motion 60XT, but was still researching. I had planned to head over to a Magnolia to do some listening. Current world events put the brakes on that.

Another issue is I am a little tight on space, I can't keep them positioned where them need to be, but figure I can move them in and out of the way. To that end I bought some Herbies sliders for spikes. Also, those Motion 60XTs are 48 x 14 x 11.5 @66bls.

I then stumbled over threads about Ascend Acoustic Sierras, and kept looking. There are some rave reviews for them over on the Steve Hoffman forums and also on AVS.

So I decided to get a pair of the Towers in Cherry with the RAAL Tweeter. I really liked what I was hearing about the construction, focus of the company and other things. So I said eff it and busted my budget!

[racrawford65]

Congrats on the Towers.
What part of Houston are you in?

[davef]

I just ended up Speaker Upgrade Adventure at Ascend's door.

Background is mostly HT and some CD. A couple years ago I rediscovered my vinyl after a friend had a vinyl party. I also made the mistake of spending time on the Steve Hoffman Forums (and a touch of AVS). I have been upgrading my system(s). In order to support 4K I upgraded the Yamaha RX-V995 with a TSR-7850 (Costco model - DO NOT GET IT). I also got some small Polk speakers to run Atmos. A friend gifted me his old system a few years ago, a Pioneer SX-1050 and a couple speakers.

I cleaned up the SX-1050 and set it up for my analog system, and moved the Cambridge Soundworks over there.


Otherwise:
Turntable:Rega RP-6 w/ GT subplatter and w. belt, Yamaha P-550
Cartridge:Rega Exact
Tuner:n/a
Digital Front End:Yamaha DV-S5860, Panasonic DP-UB9000
CD Recorder:PC
Analog Front End:Yamaha KX-380 Cassette deck
Pre Amplifier:Tavish Adagio, Musical Fidelity X-LPS
Amplification:Pioneer SX-1050, Yamaha TSR-7850
Speaker System:Cambridge Soundworks MC-500, Klipsch KSW-200


So I decided to get some towers for a better soundstage. I was budgeting 2K.

I started my journey look asking and looking on Crutchfield and was thinking of Polks again. I then started researching more and looking at KEF (R500) and then was looking at Martin-Logan Motion 60XTs. I had decided I wanted a ribbon tweeter. I was figuring best buy for the dollar were the last series of high end speakers on discount. Some really good prices on at a bunch of places. I had pretty much settled on those beautiful Motion 60XT, but was still researching. I had planned to head over to a Magnolia to do some listening. Current world events put the brakes on that.

Another issue is I am a little tight on space, I can't keep them positioned where them need to be, but figure I can move them in and out of the way. To that end I bought some Herbies sliders for spikes. Also, those Motion 60XTs are 48 x 14 x 11.5 @66bls.

I then stumbled over threads about Ascend Acoustic Sierras, and kept looking. There are some rave reviews for them over on the Steve Hoffman forums and also on AVS.

So I decided to get a pair of the Towers in Cherry with the RAAL Tweeter. I really liked what I was hearing about the construction, focus of the company and other things. So I said eff it and busted my budget!

Thanks for putting your confidence in us and I hope you absolutely love the towers. Stay healthy and listen to lots of music!

[SunByrne]

Same as what racrawford65 said: welcome to Ascend, and where in the greater Houston metroplex are ya?

[JohnCarter17]

SW Houston, near BW 8 and Westheimer

[racrawford65]

Close to my office (BW8 and Westpark). I'm in N Houston (Spring). Stay safe!

[JohnCarter17]

My system with the Towers hooked up, which was a minor adventure.

1889

[JohnCarter17]

I ordered some herbies spike/cone gliders to ease moving the speakers.

Questions:

So how long to break in the towers?

Also, what are the 8 foam pads for? Under the speakers if not using the spikes? I didn't see them mentioned in the tower assembly instruction sheets.

Oh, and the heartbeat in DSOTM rattles the magnetic grilles :D

[racrawford65]

Mine sounded great right out of the box and a bit better now (not sure how many hours I have on them -- maybe somewhere between 100-200). Got mine right before the move to magnetic grilles, so I don't have that problem with DSOTM :-)

I think that's what the foam pads are for - under the bases if not using spikes.

[davef]

I ordered some herbies spike/cone gliders to ease moving the speakers.

Questions:

So how long to break in the towers?

We don't state a formal break-in time. While drivers do break-in ever so slightly, there is no science to support that it is actually audible. I believe our own hearing takes time to get used to something new, especially when upgrading from one speaker to another as the previous speakers become the De facto standard of what we are used to listening to.

That stated, customers report on average of ~50 hours or so...


Also, what are the 8 foam pads for? Under the speakers if not using the spikes? I didn't see them mentioned in the tower assembly instruction sheets.


These can be used under the tower bases, 1 in each corner - if you don't plan on using the spiked feet.


Oh, and the heartbeat in DSOTM rattles the magnetic grilles :D

That's odd - unless you are listening at very loud volume levels. We have been shipping the towers with the new magnetic grilles for a while and this is the first report of this. Have you tried slightly shifting the grilles?

That said, the heartbeat on DSOTM has been known to destroy a few speakers here and there ;) I'll have a listen on Monday, one of my favorite albums so a very good excuse to get in some quality music time.

[SunByrne]

That said, the heartbeat on DSOTM has been known to destroy a few speakers here and there ;) I'll have a listen on Monday, one of my favorite albums so a very good excuse to get in some quality music time.

One of the greatest albums of all time, really. The real question is how many times have you bought it? I'm pretty sure for me it's four (vinyl, CD, MFSL CD, and SACD).

If you're listening two-channel, the MFSL version is the only way to hear it. So glorious. Though if you have a 5.1 setup and SACD, that version is truly sublime. I love when I have the house to myself (wonder when that'll ever happen again). Turn off all the lights and put that on...


Oh, and hey to all the other Houstonians. I'd suggest a meet, but now's really not the time...

[JohnCarter17]

yeah, this was the MFSL LP.

I have 4 copies
MFSL LP
my original LP
2012? Grundman remaster LP
A cd somewhere...

[JohnCarter17]

I replayed today, and no grill rattling. I don't know what it was, but nevermind..

[racrawford65]

I've got 5 copies - 1 CD, 1 SACD, 3 vinyl (original Harvest label, 30th anniversary, 2016 Bernie Grundman Remaster). Might have to try and find the MFSL edition as well ;-)

SunByrne - I'm up for a meet when things get back to normal.

[davef]

1 vinyl, 2 redbook CD's, and the Immersion Box Set (which includes a remastered version, a live version from 1974, a DVD Audio version with several SACD 5.1 mixes, Quad mixes and an LPCM stereo mix, and a Video DVD with live concert footage) The Immersion Box Set is really something special - especially the 5.1 mixes.

[davef]

I replayed today, and no grill rattling. I don't know what it was, but nevermind..

No worries - glad it went away...

[JohnCarter17]

Oops, forgot the immersion set. Tragically/Lamely I haven't yet paid it the attention it deserves..

[JohnCarter17]

I've got 5 copies - 1 CD, 1 SACD, 3 vinyl (original Harvest label, 30th anniversary, 2016 Bernie Grundman Remaster). Might have to try and find the MFSL edition as well ;-)

SunByrne - I'm up for a meet when things get back to normal.

agreed, when we can ...

[racrawford65]

great. hopefully sooner rather than later. Stay safe everyone.

[SunByrne]

Wow, I was not aware of the Immersion box set! Clearly, I need to own that. We'll just drop that one on to the old Amazon wish list...