Should I demo the Sierra LX/EX?

[jambarino]

I have a smaller dedicated listening room,13'Wx14'Lx8'H,1500 cubic feet or so,and I am currently in the process of demoing different speakers. I built a pair of CSS Criton 1TDX's last year and absolutely loved them,then I built the 2TD-X towers but I found that towers are a little much for my room and I didn't need the lower bass output since I run dual subwoofers,and the obvious physical size of the towers made it difficult to place so I am sticking to bookshelves from here on out.

I am currently using the 1TDX as my mains and recently purchased a pair of Philharmonic BMR's ad well as Kef R3's to see how I like them .I am tempted to try the Sierra LX or EX V2 but will they be much different than what I currently have on hand,I feel like the 1TDX and LX are very similar.Both have strong bass output, low sensitivity,and impedance doesn't dip below 5 ohms on either it appears.Both have similar dispersion characteristics except for the LX is much more linear off axis and the tweeter material is different. I also feel like the BMR's and EX V2 will match up fairly similar,same tweeter design,dispersion,with the biggest difference being the 3 way BMR and it's midrange.I know this is a hard question to answer but if anyone has experiences with these particular speakers and has the LX or EX V2 I'd love some advice and feedback. Thanks

[davef]

I have a smaller dedicated listening room,13'Wx14'Lx8'H,1500 cubic feet or so,and I am currently in the process of demoing different speakers. I built a pair of CSS Criton 1TDX's last year and absolutely loved them,then I built the 2TD-X towers but I found that towers are a little much for my room and I didn't need the lower bass output since I run dual subwoofers,and the obvious physical size of the towers made it difficult to place so I am sticking to bookshelves from here on out.

I am currently using the 1TDX as my mains and recently purchased a pair of Philharmonic BMR's ad well as Kef R3's to see how I like them .I am tempted to try the Sierra LX or EX V2 but will they be much different than what I currently have on hand,I feel like the 1TDX and LX are very similar.Both have strong bass output, low sensitivity,and impedance doesn't dip below 5 ohms on either it appears.Both have similar dispersion characteristics except for the LX is much more linear off axis and the tweeter material is different. I also feel like the BMR's and EX V2 will match up fairly similar,same tweeter design,dispersion,with the biggest difference being the 3 way BMR and it's midrange.I know this is a hard question to answer but if anyone has experiences with these particular speakers and has the LX or EX V2 I'd love some advice and feedback. Thanks

Welcome to our community!

I am happy to offer some advice / recommendations.

First off, of the 3 speakers you are comparing, which are you enjoying the most? Also, while I know it can be difficult to describe what you hear, please let me know the reasons why you are enjoying speaker "X" over the others. While the Criton 1TDX may seem similar to our LX, our LX actually has considerably better directivity - so it will most likely sound much more spacious than the Criton.

However, it is helpful for me to know which speaker you are enjoying the most and why.

Thanks in advance!

[jambarino]

Welcome to our community!

I am happy to offer some advice / recommendations.

First off, of the 3 speakers you are comparing, which are you enjoying the most? Also, while I know it can be difficult to describe what you hear, please let me know the reasons why you are enjoying speaker "X" over the others. While the Criton 1TDX may seem similar to our LX, our LX actually has considerably better directivity - so it will most likely sound much more spacious than the Criton.

However, it is helpful for me to know which speaker you are enjoying the most and why.

Thanks in advance!

Thank you,so far it seems to be mostly recording specific as to which I like more,the Kef's are arriving today so I haven't listened to them yet but between the Critons and BMR's I lean more towards the Criton's due to them having slightly stronger/more focused imaging and the vocals are more forward in their presentation which I enjoy. The soundstage presentation seems sharper with the Criton's while the BMR's soundstage sounds diffused,but the instruments sound smoother and a little more lifelike with the BMR. Tracks with string instruments,acoustical and classical music seem to favor the BMR's,but rock music and edm I prefer the Criton's.

[davef]

Thank you,so far it seems to be mostly recording specific as to which I like more,the Kef's are arriving today so I haven't listened to them yet but between the Critons and BMR's I lean more towards the Criton's due to them having slightly stronger/more focused imaging and the vocals are more forward in their presentation which I enjoy. The soundstage presentation seems sharper with the Criton's while the BMR's soundstage sounds diffused,but the instruments sound smoother and a little more lifelike with the BMR. Tracks with string instruments,acoustical and classical music seem to favor the BMR's,but rock music and edm I prefer the Criton's.

I would say that our Sierra-2EX V2 is more similar to the BMR, although it does present a more focused center image and sounds a bit punchier. However, my thoughts are leaning towards giving our LX a try, I think they give you the best of both worlds.

[jambarino]

I would say that our Sierra-2EX V2 is more similar to the BMR, although it does present a more focused center image and sounds a bit punchier. However, my thoughts are leaning towards giving our LX a try, I think they give you the best of both worlds.

Okay thanks I'll look into them and check out the different finishes available,are they all in stock currently?

[jambarino]

I ordered a pair in satin espresso to demo!Can't wait to give them a listen!

[davef]

I ordered a pair in satin espresso to demo!Can't wait to give them a listen!

Thank you for the order! Should be an interesting comparison between all of the different speakers. I look forward to your feedback.

[logscool]

What were the results of your evaluations? I am currently considering many of the same options and in a similarly sized space. What did you end up going with? What differences did you notice?

[billy p]

What were the results of your evaluations? I am currently considering many of the same options and in a similarly sized space. What did you end up going with? What differences did you notice?


Very close indeed...here is a summary of his evaluation >

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/the-official-ascend-acoustics-sierra-thread.849859/page-358#post-62445120

[hometheater]

Thanks for the link. I was checking this thread everyday for an update from him.

Even though they are in the same category, I think there are surprisingly few comparisons between the Sierra LX/Sierra 2EXv2 vs BMR.
Granted, the Sierra models are pretty new though.

[jambarino]

Thanks for the link. I was checking this thread everyday for an update from him.

Even though they are in the same category, I think there are surprisingly few comparisons between the Sierra LX/Sierra 2EXv2 vs BMR.
Granted, the Sierra models are pretty new though.

Apologies for not updating my results over here,let me know if you have any questions.

[hometheater]

No questions but I thought your review was great. Subjective and honest and with ratings for the key criterias. I got more from that review and comparison than most other reviews I've read.

Thanks for sharing it.