By the looks of this thread, few have heard the Ascend Sierra 1 or 2. At the price point of 850, one would be hard pressed to find a bookshelf that equals the Sierra 1. The bass output for a stand mount is better than any other bookshelf I’ve heard. It’s that good, and beat out some tower speakers I’ve got as well. The secret to the Sierra is the Bamboo cabinet. Bamboo actually has a tensile strength superior to steel. They are so rigid there is no box resonance whatsoever.
Those of you who don’t really know what noise that adds to the signal probably have been putting up with crap sound and not knowing how bad you’ve had it. A speaker free of resonance is actually a pretty rare thing under $2500. They can reduce it somewhat, but it takes a lot of money in the budget to get rid of it completely. Brands that are in the retail model typically sell JUNK if you’re spending under $1500.
The other secret to the Sierra 1 is the 5 1/4 woofer. It has the throw of a subwoofer. You should see how far it extends without breaking a sweat. In room frequency response is around 39 Hz, unheard of in a bookshelf of any size. The Sierra 1 trashed both the Paradigm Monitor 7 and 11 that I had. The tweeter is really nice, about as good as you can get in a soft dome. The speakers handle an honest 200 watts. Try that with any other brand of bookshelf.
Then there is the Sierra 2. Same exact cabinet, but with a 6 inch driver and a Raal ribbon tweeter, from the best manufacturer of ribbons in the world. Throw away all of your previous knowledge of ribbons, the RAAL model here is jaw dropping. When I first got the Sierra 2 I put them up against Paradigm’s flagship Signature S6 with the beryllium tweeter. This speaker was over $5k new. The midrange of the Sierra 2 was superior, I could not believe it. The highs were basically a tie, and this from a sub $1500 speaker. Of course, the Paradigm tower had more bass, but in all other categories, the Sierra 2 either matched or beat the Paradigm Sigs.
Ascend Acoustics is the biggest secret in speakers. I am not affiliated with them, just a customer that’s finally found the best deal in speakers. Unless you’ve got $6k+ to spend on speakers, don’t waste your money. Or at least try out the Ascend Tower at $2-3000 first.
Those of you who don’t really know what noise that adds to the signal probably have been putting up with crap sound and not knowing how bad you’ve had it. A speaker free of resonance is actually a pretty rare thing under $2500. They can reduce it somewhat, but it takes a lot of money in the budget to get rid of it completely. Brands that are in the retail model typically sell JUNK if you’re spending under $1500.
The other secret to the Sierra 1 is the 5 1/4 woofer. It has the throw of a subwoofer. You should see how far it extends without breaking a sweat. In room frequency response is around 39 Hz, unheard of in a bookshelf of any size. The Sierra 1 trashed both the Paradigm Monitor 7 and 11 that I had. The tweeter is really nice, about as good as you can get in a soft dome. The speakers handle an honest 200 watts. Try that with any other brand of bookshelf.
Then there is the Sierra 2. Same exact cabinet, but with a 6 inch driver and a Raal ribbon tweeter, from the best manufacturer of ribbons in the world. Throw away all of your previous knowledge of ribbons, the RAAL model here is jaw dropping. When I first got the Sierra 2 I put them up against Paradigm’s flagship Signature S6 with the beryllium tweeter. This speaker was over $5k new. The midrange of the Sierra 2 was superior, I could not believe it. The highs were basically a tie, and this from a sub $1500 speaker. Of course, the Paradigm tower had more bass, but in all other categories, the Sierra 2 either matched or beat the Paradigm Sigs.
Ascend Acoustics is the biggest secret in speakers. I am not affiliated with them, just a customer that’s finally found the best deal in speakers. Unless you’ve got $6k+ to spend on speakers, don’t waste your money. Or at least try out the Ascend Tower at $2-3000 first.