New - Domestic Sierra-2EX w/ Magnetic Grilles

[davef]

Very happy to make this formal announcement. We finally received the production run of domestic Sierra-2EX cabinets with magnetic grilles. All domestic finishes are now available.

These cabinets are stunning. Due to the magnetic grilles, pricing on these has been increased by $100 for the pair. Our website reflects pricing on the non-magnetic grilles as we still have a few pairs we need sell off.

If anyone is interested in ordering these, please give us a call at the office.

Here is a bad iPhone pic but these just look so good!

1953

[mikesiskav]

Those look stunning!

[curtis]

Wow!

[racrawford65]

Those look great.

Don't forget the "TOP" sticker for the grilles :-)

[Mag_Neato]

Very nice! I was wondering when the magnetic grills would appear on the Sierra-2EX.

[Pogre]

Those look great.

Don't forget the "TOP" sticker for the grilles :-)

What?? Only an idiot would mess that up! :p

Those are beautiful. You make me wanna buy a pair and I don't need them... lol.

[racrawford65]

What?? Only an idiot would mess that up! :p

Those are beautiful. You make me wanna buy a pair and I don't need them... lol.

Set for surrounds? ;)

[davef]

Those look great.

Don't forget the "TOP" sticker for the grilles :-)

;) Grilles on these can be flipped without issue.

[kyzersoze98]

Those look like mine I picked up on Tuesday :).

[RandomName]

Damn… that looks so clean, it’s tempting, but then I’d be really torn between destroying my wallet again to get them in the satin white matching my sierra-2… or settle for a standard color again >_<

[Pogre]

Set for surrounds? ;)

For 5.1 yes. I moved my S2's to surround duty when I got the Sierra towers. Cup n peg for the grilles of course (magnetic for the towers), but that doesn't really bother me. I don't think they detract that much from the aesthetics. I leave grilles off on everything except my ugly ass subs, lol.

[racrawford65]

For 5.1 yes. I moved my S2's to surround duty when I got the Sierra towers. Cup n peg for the grilles of course (magnetic for the towers), but that doesn't really bother me. I don't think they detract that much from the aesthetics. I leave grilles off on everything except my ugly ass subs, lol.

I did the exact same thing - S2's to surrounds when I got my Towers. Both are cup & peg but fine with me as I leave the grills on.

[RandomName]

I did the exact same thing - S2's to surrounds when I got my Towers. Both are cup & peg but fine with me as I leave the grills on.

This is similar to me too. But I still, don’t have a center and my bookshelves started as NrTs, same as you guys tho, I moved them to rear when I added towers and upgraded them to sierra-2s. But I didn’t like how satin black mains looked with the glossy brown surrounds, so I got custom satin white cabinets made, moved the Sierra-2 bits back into those and then rebuilt the NrTs to gift to my friend :P.

I keep wanting to upgrade the -2s to 2EX (is it worth it for surrounds? I’ve also considered doing the full 1->2EX upgrade and split it with my friend who has the NrTs cause at least imo, the tweeter upgrade is by far the more significant one.) and add a center speaker, but in my current listening environment I can’t tell how much I’d be able to tell the difference.

More specifically the 2->2EX upgrade just cause they ARE just surrounds, I am pretty sold on a v2 Luna lcr or w.e the final name ended up being for a center cause I could actually fit it on my entertainment console or under the tv if mounted without craning my neck. The only reason I REALLY want a center is just to bump the gain on the center channel a ton for much better late night / quieter viewing cause I’m in an apartment and everything is full of explosions/‘dynamic range abuse” for extra shock value or w/e. And boosting the center is a much preferred solution to gross dynamic volume. I really wish that you could raise the level of the center being mixed into the L/R speakers when there is no center, but I’ve yet to see anyone actually implement it as such (though I’m sure like a trinnov probably can, I ain’t got that kinda money… at least not yet lol).

Anyway, these magnetic grills are just tempting because while I do have grills on all 4 ascends now, with white cabinets, the cloth is transparent enough that the face of the speaker is still quite visible. I know I could get them reupholstered but I’m lazy:

https://i.imgur.com/uRLjk3y.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/3Im2f75.jpg

I’m just also not 100% sold on the cups being there even if they are at least black. It’s not as if they look bad, I just imagine how sexy they could be without the extra marks on the faces:

https://i.imgur.com/d2w96uT.jpg

I think it’s the bottom and the lip that I don’t like, it makes total sense for the grill, but with cabinets where the contrast is sooooo extreme, the inconsistency in the 4 corners tickles my ocd lol.

If only white was a standard color lol. Instead of buying 2x 1->2EX upgrade kits, then it would be an easy sell for me to just buy another pair instead. Sadly from what I recall getting them done in a custom color was not cheap (understandably since they would do painting/finishing in batches), so then I’m torn between giving up the sexy white speakers to get more bang for my buck (since with upgrades you obviously have leftover parts) to end up with an extra pair of sierra-2 to either gift or use as wides cause #yolo. I could also just get domestic natural bamboo, remove the coating (or potentially wait for the next batch and get them straight unsealed/clear coated) and then stain em walnut to match my entertainment console and subwoofers (funk makes such gud stuff), but of course, that’s much more work.

For the satin black towers, I don’t really care cause you hardly notice them, and the placement around the mid-woofer is nice looking. I just tend to leave those grills in all the time because the faces are noticeable and sometimes the ribbons catch reflections when doing dark room viewing on the OLED. No such problems exist with the surrounds since they are behind my head.

[Mag_Neato]

This is similar to me too. But I still, don’t have a center and my bookshelves started as NrTs, same as you guys tho, I moved them to rear when I added towers and upgraded them to sierra-2s. But I didn’t like how satin black mains looked with the glossy brown surrounds, so I got custom satin white cabinets made, moved the Sierra-2 bits back into those and then rebuilt the NrTs to gift to my friend :P.

I keep wanting to upgrade the -2s to 2EX (is it worth it for surrounds? I’ve also considered doing the full 1->2EX upgrade and split it with my friend who has the NrTs cause at least imo, the tweeter upgrade is by far the more significant one.) and add a center speaker, but in my current listening environment I can’t tell how much I’d be able to tell the difference.

More specifically the 2->2EX upgrade just cause they ARE just surrounds, I am pretty sold on a v2 Luna lcr or w.e the final name ended up being for a center cause I could actually fit it on my entertainment console or under the tv if mounted without craning my neck. The only reason I REALLY want a center is just to bump the gain on the center channel a ton for much better late night / quieter viewing cause I’m in an apartment and everything is full of explosions/‘dynamic range abuse” for extra shock value or w/e. And boosting the center is a much preferred solution to gross dynamic volume. I really wish that you could raise the level of the center being mixed into the L/R speakers when there is no center, but I’ve yet to see anyone actually implement it as such (though I’m sure like a trinnov probably can, I ain’t got that kinda money… at least not yet lol).

Anyway, these magnetic grills are just tempting because while I do have grills on all 4 ascends now, with white cabinets, the cloth is transparent enough that the face of the speaker is still quite visible. I know I could get them reupholstered but I’m lazy:

https://i.imgur.com/uRLjk3y.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/3Im2f75.jpg

I’m just also not 100% sold on the cups being there even if they are at least black. It’s not as if they look bad, I just imagine how sexy they could be without the extra marks on the faces:

https://i.imgur.com/d2w96uT.jpg

I think it’s the bottom and the lip that I don’t like, it makes total sense for the grill, but with cabinets where the contrast is sooooo extreme, the inconsistency in the 4 corners tickles my ocd lol.

If only white was a standard color lol. Instead of buying 2x 1->2EX upgrade kits, then it would be an easy sell for me to just buy another pair instead. Sadly from what I recall getting them done in a custom color was not cheap (understandably since they would do painting/finishing in batches), so then I’m torn between giving up the sexy white speakers to get more bang for my buck (since with upgrades you obviously have leftover parts) to end up with an extra pair of sierra-2 to either gift or use as wides cause #yolo. I could also just get domestic natural bamboo, remove the coating (or potentially wait for the next batch and get them straight unsealed/clear coated) and then stain em walnut to match my entertainment console and subwoofers (funk makes such gud stuff), but of course, that’s much more work.

For the satin black towers, I don’t really care cause you hardly notice them, and the placement around the mid-woofer is nice looking. I just tend to leave those grills in all the time because the faces are noticeable and sometimes the ribbons catch reflections when doing dark room viewing on the OLED. No such problems exist with the surrounds since they are behind my head.

I'm the pics with the grills on, you have them upside down. Top of the grill should be flush with the top of the speaker and not have any white showing. The pegs are not equally spaced to each end of the grill.

[bkdc]

Those naturals look so stunning it makes me want to buy another pair.

Dave, could you post a side by side photo of the domestics next to the imported bamboo cases just to point out the subtle color differences?

To the white sierra owner, depending on how much a custom paint job costs, I’d consider the option of vinyl-wrapping your Sierra speaker in white. The ultimate would be automotive vinyl wrap, and any scuffs comes out easily with a mild pass of hair-dryer heat.

I also wish white was a standard Ascend color…. But custom costs… the cost of business. To try to retool an assemblyline or factory to do something that is not being done costs the loss of production time and output. It’s the reason why 65 inch TVs are now so cost-effective as are 77 inch TV’s. They have finally produced factories that mass produce 77 inch TV’s (they used to have to reconfigure the 65 inch producing factories requiring large mark-ups on the 70+ To recoup losses). 83inch TV’s do not have their own dedicated factory production lines… yet.

Are those Pioneer Atmos reflective speakers effective?

[petmotel]

I've thought about white Lunas for surrounds on white walls. As long as I was spending the money on a white finish, pretty sure white grilles would also be required. So that has me wondering if that can be optioned along with the white cabinet?

Jay

[racrawford65]

I recall asking same question about white grills a few years ago but for htm’s on ceiling. It was doable but much more then I wanted to spend

[natetg57]

I recall asking same question about white grills a few years ago but for htm’s on ceiling. It was doable but much more then I wanted to spend

I recovered the grills on my HTM-200s with little trouble. Just need a white speaker grill fabric and spray adhesive.

[davef]

I recovered the grills on my HTM-200s with little trouble. Just need a white speaker grill fabric and spray adhesive.

Yes, it is really not difficult to put new grille cloth on yourself. This is the adhesive I recommend using:

https://www.amazon.com/Twin-Pack-Beacon-Fabri-Tac-Permanent-Adhesive/dp/B074T8TZRG

Lots of vids on youtube on how to do it.