Hi from James

[James]

Hi to all,

I've been lurking on here for some years now, and finally registered.

My system:

Adcom GTP-400 preamp
Adcom GFA-535 amp
Cambridge Audio Azur 740C CD player (and DAC)
Qobuz through an I-pad to an Audioengine B-Fi to the CA Azur DAC
Ascend Sierra Towers with NrT tweeters

My wife and I met in a Celtic band, and performed together for a while also as a duo. We listen to classical music, jazz, Celtic, some new age (Liz Story, for example), some world music, and some softer rock stuff (Eagles, etc.).

We got the Adcom and Cambridge Audio equipment and have had it for quite a while, then went through a number of speakers, including PSB, Monitor Audio and KLH, and we also experimented with some active speakers - Mackie and Samson.

The Ascend towers are the first tower speakers we've ever had, and they're very satisfying speakers. Better in pretty much all aspects than our previous speakers - overall neutrality, bass extension and articulation are particularly noticeable.

I could see them being our "forever speakers", but I'm also curious about others, like Vandersteen, and the newest LX speakers from Ascend.

I'll be posting in other threads now - see you there :-)

[curtis]

Welcome to the forum!!

[James]

Thanks - it seems like a nice community.

[Pogre]

Hi James! I agree, the Sierra towers are very satisfying! I replaced SVS Ultra towers with mine and have been very happy. I'm very impressed with their dynamics. I was concerned they wouldn't sound as big and discovered that my concerns were unfounded.

[racrawford65]

Welcome, James.
Nice system.

I have the Towers with RAAL (along with S2, Horizon w/ RAAL, and 3 pair of HTM200's, plus a preorder in for the LX to check these out).

[James]

Thanks ra.

I'll be interested in your comparison of the LX and towers.

Also, if anybody has listened enough to both Vandersteen and Ascend speakers, I'd love to hear your thoughts on them. The towers are excellent, and I don't think I could do any better, even for twice the price, with conventional (high order crossovers, bass reflex port, multiple drivers) speakers. But the Vandersteens, with the time/phase coherence and transmission line bass, are a bit different.

The speakers that I'd get if it were feasible would be the Vandersteen 1Ci, to compare them with the dome Ascend towers.

Pogre, I looked at some SVS speakers, and they were pretty close to the Ascends, but I liked the soft dome tweeter better than the metal ones.

[racrawford65]

Hi James

Not sure if I'll open them. Wife and I are in process of buying some property in Brazil (she's Brazilian) for retirement (at least part time) and thinking of bringing them down there once we close and either build a house or renovate one of the ones on the property.

[James]

Ah - I see.

I looked into a bunch of other countries for possible expat retirement - Costa Rica scored very high on my list.

But for a number of reasons we're staying here.

[racrawford65]

I strongly considered Costa Rica, as well. Along with Panama (never been but my research indicates it is also a good place for ex-pats) and Thailand (one of my favorite places in the world). CR is a beautiful country and friendly people. Brazil, obviously for us, as her family is there.

[billy p]

I strongly considered Costa Rica, as well. Along with Panama (never been but my research indicates it is also a good place for ex-pats) and Thailand (one of my favorite places in the world). CR is a beautiful country and friendly people. Brazil, obviously for us, as her family is there.

Nice going for you guys....my sister in law moved to David area in Panama....we're strongly considering doing likewise....lots of ex pats (both US n Can) in select communities...had planned to see them this past January and stay for 3wks but that was changed....due to covid....returned the other day from LV....trying to get back into Canada...was a real PITA.

[racrawford65]

Thanks, billy p. Yes, we are buying about 12 acres, about an hour or so drive from central Rio, up the coast towards Buzios (which is about a 2 hour drive from Marica, the lake region, where we are buying. Also about 15 minute drive to the Atlantic). See you are north of Toronto. Pre-covid, made 2-4 trips/year there for business (Mississauga area).

[billy p]

Yea.... Mississauga is to the west of TO...we're in what's considered NE...my sister in law has given us the entire breakdown.... health care, cost of living and amenities of owning vs. renting...after going the latter. Even with her 400k+US budget...she felt when the time came to return....re-selling is challenging...for now she's in Coronado beach region called San Carlos...epic views of mountain and ocean...living on a golf course...sounds aweful... huh...now all I need is to get my wife down there to change her mind...lol;)

[racrawford65]

Yes, renting in a foreign country as an ex-pat may be better at first. Gives you time to see if it's really for you. Reason we are buying now is the dollar is strong against the real (although a bit weaker then when we first started looking) so I'm looking at it as a currency investment, as well. Plus, aside from her family, I have several friends down there, including a few Americans.

Good luck with getting your wife down there!