New: Sierra-2EX V2!!!

[rifmon]

As am I! .... but I might be sending my speakers in.

[davef]

Just got the new crossovers installed. It was a little involved, but nothing difficult with the right tools. One hiccup was one of the binding posts was cranked in so tight it semi stripped the threads on the post, but, and the lock washer was all deformed. Had to run to the hardware store for a new lock washer.

On to the good stuff. I’m noticing a lot more details in the mids/vocals. Seemed to bring a big step up in clarity. It’s not quite Horizon territory in the clarity department, but it’s definitely creeping up in it. Kind of a cliche thing to say, but feels like a sheet was lifted off of them and they sound clearer and bigger. Not strained at high volumes.

Overall, it is worth the price tag but if I were to do it again, I might just send the speakers in to ascend. The Horizon would likely be much more difficult due to the amount of drivers in it. If an upgrade is offered I might be packing that beast up for a vacation to sunny CA.

Thanks for the feedback. It does seem as if I underestimated how audible the upgrade was going to be, so far - the feedback we have received has been outstanding and I am most pleased about this

[Fantom]

Just embarking on installing this upgrade. Is anyone else struggling with all the "gently" steps? I have piano black cabinets and so am trying to be extremely careful. However, removing the wire connectors from the tweeter required a pliers and an extreme amount of force. I'm now trying to remove the woofer and cannot get it to budge. Trying the trick listed in the instructions is so far just scraping up the perimeter of the woofer around the screw holes.

[diesel79]

Just embarking on installing this upgrade. Is anyone else struggling with all the "gently" steps? I have piano black cabinets and so am trying to be extremely careful. However, removing the wire connectors from the tweeter required a pliers and an extreme amount of force. I'm now trying to remove the woofer and cannot get it to budge. Trying the trick listed in the instructions is so far just scraping up the perimeter of the woofer around the screw holes.

Yea, I had troubles with those connections too. I ended up cutting the lead wires off the crossover and then carefully got them off by squeezing the part of the connector that wraps around the spade on the speaker. They then dropped right off.

For future upgrades to my Horizon I will be sending it in for Ascend to perform the install.

[SunByrne]

Just embarking on installing this upgrade. Is anyone else struggling with all the "gently" steps? I have piano black cabinets and so am trying to be extremely careful.

I strongly suspect the only people who have swapped the internals of a Sierra bookshelf more than me work at Ascend. And I just got my V2 kit so I'll be doing it yet again soon.

So, first piece of advice: thin cotton gloves are super helpful for handling the glossy cabinets. (Back in the early days, these were included.)

However, removing the wire connectors from the tweeter required a pliers and an extreme amount of force.

Not super common, but yes, I've certainly had to use pliers to disconnect from the speaker terminals.

I'm now trying to remove the woofer and cannot get it to budge. Trying the trick listed in the instructions is so far just scraping up the perimeter of the woofer around the screw holes.

I've definitely had the woofer stick in this process—sometimes the gasket has made such a good seal that the woofer won't move easily even with the screws out.

Here's what I do when that happens:
[1] Make sure the screws are out of the woofer.
[2] Get something soft like a blanket or a couple towels or something like that, and lean the cabinet forward until the woofer is facing straight down.
[3] Lift the cabinet up just a tiny bit, and try jiggling/tapping the cabinet and see if you can get the woofer to move.
[4] If not, set the cabinet back down, then lift the top end of it (so the speaker is leaning forward) just enough so you can access the hole where the tweeter was, and get something like a ruler in there and use that to lever the woofer out. You might even be able to use your hand if you have longer fingers than I do. You might be tempted to use a long metal screwdriver for this, but don't do that. A wooden or plastic ruler has always done the job for me.

Dave may have other suggestions but this has always worked for me.

[theophile]

Just embarking on installing this upgrade. Is anyone else struggling with all the "gently" steps? I have piano black cabinets and so am trying to be extremely careful. However, removing the wire connectors from the tweeter required a pliers and an extreme amount of force. I'm now trying to remove the woofer and cannot get it to budge. Trying the trick listed in the instructions is so far just scraping up the perimeter of the woofer around the screw holes.

Fantom,

If you are speaking about removing the drivers from the cabinet, I simply removed all screws from the woofer, then gently brought the cabinet up from its laying position (while supporting the speaker rim) and tilting the front baffle forward...woofer came right out into my support hand. Repeated this process for the RAAL tweeters!

If you are referencing the slip on/off X-over terminal connections, 6 of the 8 connectors in my pair of 2EX were excessively tight! I inserted the tips of small Snap-Ring Pliers (outside snap ring set) and gently pried-open the connector curled sides, allowing easy removal of the stubborn terminals!

Hope this helps,

Ted

[Fantom]

Thanks for the tips! I was able to tilt the speaker forward and hit the side of the speaker a dozen times with the base of my palm and the woofer slid out. Rest of the first speaker went smoothly. 2nd speaker was a breeze though it still took me an hour being careful. 3rd speaker was also stubborn like the first but the prying trick mentioned above worked to easily disconnect the driver leads from the old crossover and the screw trick mentioned in the instructions actually worked to get the woofer out. Ultimately the 3rd went quickly because I had learned the tricks.

Got everything back together, cabinets cleaned up, confirmed all in working order and then headed out to dinner. So far have only listened to background music while playing a board game so cannot comment on any sonic difference.

[briand]

I finished the V2 upgrade about 2 weeks ago. If you take your time, its not hard at all. Only problem I had was detaching one of the connectors to the woofer. I should have reached out to Dave and he would have told me what to do to loosen. Instead, I was impatient and kept working at it with increasing force till I broke off the tab on the woofer. Fortunately, there was plenty of room to solder the wire from the new crossover even with my beginner skills. The lesson for those of you doing this, if you get stuck, reach out to Dave or here and most likely, its easily solved.

I will 2nd whats been said. More energy coming from the tweeter, more kick in the drums, more details in vocals. I think soundstage has more front/back separation but thats a hard quality to say for sure.

For my 2.1 music system, I don't think I could have found a better upgrade for under $500.

[ahender]

The 2-EX V2 is rated at 34 Hz. It it tuned to play 34Hz music?

[curtis]

The 2-EX V2 is rated at 34 Hz. It it tuned to play 34Hz music?

That is the typical in-room response.
Anechoic it is -3db at 51Hz, -6db at 42Hz

You can expect good response to 34Hz in-room, but remember, all rooms are different.

Does that help?