am I misjudging what I hear?

[powerdog]

Gradually I'm finding ways to improve the sound from my Ascend speakers. Moving the center forward and tilting it up helped with movie soundtracks.

Now I've listened to unprocessed stereo CDs, as Dave suggested, and my concern is, once again, hard to explain. When I listen to a singer, I think I'm hearing their voice as it's modified by their microphone. So it's not the pure voice, but the voice with electronics getting in the way and making it a bit....what should I call it....reedy, papery, something like that.

I don't have a problem with the treble or bass, but the mid-tones seem to be the issue.

My theory now is that, maybe my old speakers muffled the voices enough that, in retrospect, I remember them as "richer" than they are through the Sierras. The old ones were floor-standing speakers but not high-end at all, so I can't believe they actually did a better job.

Any thoughts? I really want to love these speakers as much as other owners do, and I'm starting to wonder if I'm just imagining things!

[curtis]

Can you show us a picture of your setup?

[powerdog]

You mean the front speakers and TV? I don't think I could show the entire surround system.

[ImagePree]

I would guess he wants to see the front stage relative to TV, listening position, etc.

[powerdog]

I think a diagram might work better than a photo?

[curtis]

Actually a photo would be better. Then we can see how the speakers are placed in relation to other objects in the room. The front stage is fine.

Also, have you made sure the speakers are connected correctly and are in phase?

And your comment on your older speakers, and what you may be used to, is another huge possibility.

[DougMac]

I see you also have a thread "Vague feeling that something's wrong" and in it you discuss running your receiver's auto-calibration.

Is the problem with the voices with the auto-calibration engaged or bypassed?

How long have you had the Sierra's? What is the power rating of your receiver? How long did you have the speakers you were using? What were they? Are you using a subwoofer? Is this true for all vocalists, sopranos and basses alike? What is your room size and shape? How the speakers identified in your receiver? Large? Small?

From what I know so far, here's my list of most likely suspects in the order of likelihood:

If you've auto-calibrated, it got hosed up somehow.

The Sierra's sound significantly different from your old speakers and you're accustomed to the sound of the old. From all the reviews I've read, Ascend's are neutral speakers. They were designed not to have any artificial peaks at certain frequencies. This is a matter of taste. Some people love an uncolored sound and some don't. I hesitate to bring up this comparison since HTM-200's and Sierra's are in different leagues (but still in the same family), but I noticed they have a distinctly different sound from the speakers to which I compared. I compared them to RA Labs speakers, which are two way sealed with a 6 1/2" woofer. It's a Roy Allison design with the signature low midrange hump. They are not flat speakers by design. I prefer the 200's sound, which comes closer to my Grado headphones sound, but I could see some preferring a less accurate sound.

You say you want to love these speakers. It could be that there are elements to your setup that are keeping the Sierras from soundng their best. I hope you can work those out. It also could be simply their sound is not to your taste. Thank goodness Ascend and other Internet Direct companies have factored that in to their marketing plan by providing a liberal return policy. This may end up being your solution. They could end up in "B" stock and find a happy home at a good price for someone like me.

Doug

[powerdog]

I can post photos, but here's what concerns me:

The problem I described here originally (voices sounding papery) would probably be the same if I were only listening to one unprocessed channel through one speaker and sitting directly in front of it. So it's not the blend or the direction of the sound, but what comes out of the individual speaker.

Knowing how much owners and reviewers love the Sierras, I have to wonder if it's a problem with my expectations or my ears instead of the externals.

Another way to explain what I'm hearing: the sound is more like a table radio than I would have expected. Yet other factors for judging the whole system that I've read about are fine....things like pinpointing a sound in the listening space, ability to handle loud passages, etc.

[clarke68]

What recordings are you listening to?

[davef]

Hi PowerDog,

Have you disabled the auto-EQ / auto-Calibration?