We Saved The Best For Last!

[davef]

Hi
First time poster and fan of Ascend.

I've heard the ELX and was very impressed. I wonder if anyone has tried to "stack" a Sierra 2 EX V2 on top of a Sierra ELX Tower and run them concurrently as one speaker.

I ask because I'm currently doing that with my Aerial Acoustics 8. To get more of the midrange and highs at less than reference volume, I stack my M&K S1-C on top of the Aerial Acoustic 8.
Plenty of power on both - 600+wpc from bridged Mcintosh MC7270 on the Aerial Acoustics 8, and 500+wpc on the M&K S1-C.

Seems to deliver that extra ooomph in the mid-range and tweeter and lower volumes.
I can do this because Krell Pre-amp has dual pre-outs. I stack them to minimize phase or any other delays.

I get the effect of many types of post-200ish 2 part speakers - with additional tweeters and midrange above the main body.

Thoughts?

From an objective standpoint, this is definitely not recommended as it will introduce comb filtering as well as destroy the highly optimized directivity of the speaker, which leads to the ELX's near textbook perfect estimated in-room response.

From a subjective standpoint, hey - if you like the way it sounds, that is all the matters.

wish it was that easy. It is not. It is about the # of drivers, the # of wpc, and lots of other things that DIRAC, MEN, Room Perfect, Lyngdorf do not solve. I can adjust EQ all day and not solve that.

Can you?

Solve what? What are you trying to solve?

[luvchampagne]

Many higher end speakers have that detached "look" or actual "detached" upper body upper mid range plus tweeter design. Wilson. Focal. Revel, etc. I was experimenting and came across this combo.

I could look at a minidsp 8 channel solution to tell me what I'm experiencing. All that will tell me is what I'm hearing which is very positive. Having the upgrade itch, was looking to see if Ascend has something like that.

[davef]

Many higher end speakers have that detached "look" or actual "detached" upper body upper mid range plus tweeter design. Wilson. Focal. Revel, etc. I was experimenting and came across this combo.

I could look at a minidsp 8 channel solution to tell me what I'm experiencing. All that will tell me is what I'm hearing which is very positive. Having the upgrade itch, was looking to see if Ascend has something like that.

From the standpoint of science, there is no advantage to that "detached" look. None whatsoever.... But, I do understand if you prefer that aesthetic. That stated, there is an advantage to having the drivers closer together, and there is plenty of science to back that up.

What you seem to be confusing is a speaker that has multiple tweeters, multiple mids with simply stacking another speaker on top of an existing speaker. That is completely different as the speaker on top of the tower is going to playing the same frequencies as the speaker beneath it. As I mentioned, doing so will create a host of audible problems - now these issues might sound different to you, and you might even prefer it, but we are after accurate sound reproduction, and this fully goes against accurate sound reproduction.

The only advantage multiple tweeters gives you in the same speaker is the potential for greater dynamic range, higher power handling and lower distortion at extreme volumes, at the expense of directivity and comb filtering issues.

I have worked on and been involved with many designs with multiple tweeters. Typically, when this design is chosen by a company that knows what it is doing, it is to create narrow dispersion or a specific type of pattern control.

What you heard when placing another speaker on top of your Ariel 8's is a boosted frequency response in the range that the speaker you placed on top is capable of reproducing. This can easily be simulated by EQ without destroying the directivity of the main speaker or creating comb filtering, and this is the proper method.

Revel no longer manufactures even a single speaker with that detached aesthetic. Why? Because of the reasons I stated. There is science behind what you hear and what sounds good...

To disregard our ELX because you prefer a different aesthetic is absolutely understandable, but from the standpoint of performance, you would be making a rather large mistake.

Hope this makes sense!

[NEDan]

I’m fortunate enough to have the opportunity to hear the ELX Titans in my theater room after owning the ELX RAALs for quite some time. I just got them setup last night, ran REW, integrated the dual rythmiks using my EQ, and all is well! More impressions to come. For now some picsAttachment 2719Attachment 2720

I am waiting for my ELX in black, I have already have the GAIA II in hand. Why did you switch from the RAALs to the Titan? What is your opinion of each?

[merrymaid520]

I am waiting for my ELX in black, I have already have the GAIA II in hand. Why did you switch from the RAALs to the Titan? What is your opinion of each?

I probably should have worded that differently. I still own both pairs of ELXs, one raal, one Titan.
Sadly my life didn’t allow me the time to AB them next to each other in the same room/setup. Differences are tough to discern when factoring in the room and equipment variables. Given that, the raals have that little extra detail on top with certain material. Nothing new from what others have shared. Cymbals, guitar plucking, etc tend to come through more naturally with the RAALs. Beyond that, both are AMAZING speakers!

[piaresquared]

At various points in this discussion, Dave has mentioned that the ELX speakers use only the highest-quality parts. This morning, I was reading up on RAAL ribbon tweeters and realized, not surprisingly, that not all RAAL ribbons are created equal.

Below is a table of some of the differences between the RAAL used in the ELX speakers and the RAAL used in other well-made and well-regarded speakers. Among the many differences is the use of a ferrite core in the lower-level RAAL. This explains why Dave notes in the ELX specifications the use of an amorphous core transformer in the RAAL he uses.

RAAL comparison.jpg

[piaresquared]

I have also compiled the forum member reviews of the ELX Towers posted or linked in this thread, together with technical and design information posted here by Dave. It was something to do while watching the wildcard games yesterday and made it a lot easier to read through the ELX information in one, compact place.

The PDF is here in case it helps anyone else. It can be downloaded using the "File" menu on Dropbox. I did not see a way to make it directly downloadable from this site.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/3gbst...=3ptl1oe7&dl=1

Also, please note that there are a couple of reviews in the PDF that were written by forum members here for which the forum member provided a link to a different forum where they posted the review text. I have no idea if those other forums claim copyright on that writing now. If this post and the PDF need to be removed for that reason, then I fully understand.

[Alex_Pants]

I have also compiled the forum member reviews of the ELX Towers posted or linked in this thread, together with technical and design information posted here by Dave. It was something to do while watching the wildcard games yesterday and made it a lot easier to read through the ELX information in one, compact place.

The PDF is here in case it helps anyone else. It can be downloaded using the "File" menu on Dropbox. I did not see a way to make it directly downloadable from this site.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/3gbst...=3ptl1oe7&dl=0

Also, please note that there are a couple of reviews in the PDF that were written by forum members here for which the forum member provided a link to a different forum where they posted the review text. I have no idea if those other forums claim copyright on that writing now. If this post and the PDF need to be removed for that reason, then I fully understand.

Thanks for putting this together! To make the link a direct download, change the end of the URL to read dl=1 instead of dl=0.

[piaresquared]

Done. Thanks for that. Clicking the link now initiates the download when it opens the Dropbox page.

[racrawford65]

Ditto. Thanks for putting that together