First Impressions of the Ascend Sierra Towers/Horizon with RAAL Ribbons

[Rob from NJ]

The Sierra Towers/Horizon with RAAL ribbons (and CBM170s for surrounds) arrived at my home last week. Took 4 business days and a weekend to arrive. I was definitely nervous about the trip from California to New Jersey. All for nothing as the boxes arrived without a dent or scratch. Packaging was real good.

I installed the speakers this Monday, along with installation of a projection system. Blown away by the size of the Horizon. It’s definitely imposing in a good way. I ran Audyssey XT32 right after speakers placement and connections.

So far, I’ve listened to some music, Aaron Neville and Phantom of the Opera soundtracks (soft stuff), as well as, some battle scenes from the movie 300. Very early on, my expectation is way exceeded. I’m really happy with my decision to purchase these speakers. I find the vocals and instruments great. Being a novice, the vocals are smooth, clear and crisp, especially female vocals. Instruments are handled real well. At times, I can close my eyes and envision the musicians/singers in front of me. These speakers play music beautifully and for me it’s the top end that stands out. I had less time for a few battle scenes in 300, however, there’s one scene where the legion is holding its ground against the Persians and you hear the screeching sound of blades against Legion armor. Fantastic as you feel like you're transported to the middle of the battle. Also, the Horizon's ability to handle dialogue even at lower volumes is really good. Dialogue has such a smooth presentation to it. The speakers also have wider dispersion than I thought they would. They’re located in a large basement and have no problem filling the basement with sound. My basement is currently untreated, however, I placed an order yesterday for sound panels, front, side and back walls.

I demoed a lot of speakers over the past 4 months in the same, general price range or a little higher than the Sierra towers. The only speaker that I truly enjoyed as much as the Sierras was the Martin Logan Theos, except for the Theos very limited dispersion once outside of panels range. My initial impression is I will be listening to the Sierras for a long, long time.

[GranteedEV]

Aren't you the one who didn't like KEF speakers? Why was that again? I'd imagine these and those are more similar than not, aside from the RAAL, so I thought this was interesting.

[Rob from NJ]

Aren't you the one who didn't like KEF speakers? Why was that again? I'd imagine these and those are more similar than not, aside from the RAAL, so I thought this was interesting.

Yes that's correct. Demoed the Kef Q900 at 2 places, a high end audio place and Electronics Expo. I disliked the Q900's high end. The treble was too high pitched for me. Since I only listened to the Q900 twice it was hard to determine whether it was the room environments, the recordings or the speaker itself. To my ears, the Sierra towers have a completely different presentation at the high end. Very smooth and transparent. A beautiful sounding speaker.

[zieglj01]

I demoed a lot of speakers over the past 4 months in the same, general price range or a little higher than the Sierra towers. The only speaker that I truly enjoyed as much as the Sierras was the Martin Logan Theos, except for the Theos very limited dispersion once outside of panels range. My initial impression is I will be listening to the Sierras for a long, long time.

And, how did your room turn out?

[GranteedEV]

I disliked the Q900's high end. The treble was too high pitched for me. Since I only listened to the Q900 twice it was hard to determine whether it was the room environments, the recordings or the speaker itself.

Oh, the Q900 huh? That one has some aluminum cone breakup in the ~4khz-8khz region that they were too cheap to address in the crossover. Might be what you heard.

[FirstReflection]

Great to read your initial impressions, Rob!

Rob and I talked for a while in a previous thread and we've passed a few PM's back and forth. I'm extremely happy and a little relieved that the Ascend Sierra Tower and Horizon Center speakers with the RAAL ribbon tweeter upgrades have, at least initially, been impressive to Rob, and that he is happy with them!

I'll fully admit that I recommended these particular speakers pretty strongly to Rob, despite the fact that I hadn't actually heard the new Horizon Center for myself I really hate to do that: recommend something I've not heard in person, but I felt pretty confident that Dave over at Ascend wouldn't massively screw up the new Horizon Center

This is definitely a case where it was all about matching the right speakers in the right price range to the room and the listener's preferences. I think the Sierra Tower speakers are great speakers, pretty much regardless. But in this price range, there are certainly a lot of great choices!

So it's tough to pick one brand, and one model and recommend it strongly. But in this particular case, I just thought all of the circumstances came together to make the Sierra Tower and Horizon the very best choice.

In the previous thread and our PM convos, Rob was saying how low volume listening is important to him, but that movies were a priority. Rob's done a lot of listening on his own - but there are usually the limitations of hearing the speakers in a show room, which doesn't always translate to how they will sound in your home! That said, as Rob mentioned, he was really taken with the particular characteristics of the Martin Logan electrostatic speakers. But it can be rather tough to find a center speaker in this price range that is a truly seemless sonic match to the electrostatic towers! And I had certain concerns about Rob's room and some limitations that he has in terms of placement that made me a little uneasy about how well the Martin Logans would work in his basement theater.

I know the "magic" of that planar or electrostatic speaker sound though. I've also heard the RAAL tweeter - which has been modified a little bit by Ascend - but just the overall quality of that tweeter, I didn't expect to be massively different in the Horizon Center. I thought that tweeter, in particular, would really be to Rob's taste based on some of the things he mentioned really liking in his listening demos.

So when the Horizon became available just at the right time, it seemed like a perfect match! While any manufacturer tends to hype their own gear a bit, I've grown to trust Dave over at Ascend pretty well. His measurements at least tend to be consistent among themselves, and I've never found him to be overly hyperbolic about his speakers, or really make any claims that I didn't agree with in terms of their sound quality or capabilities. So when Dave was really excited about the new Horizon and said that it had exceeded his expectations in terms of creating a very good sonic match to the Sierra Towers, I'll admit to putting a little faith into his claims and willingly going with that. Like I say, I hate to recommend anything sound-unheard. But I'd say this wasn't completely blind faith. I was basing it on history and what I've personally found to be pretty darn honest measurements over there at Ascend.

Anywho, this is all to say that I'm just really pleased that Rob is happy with his new Ascend speakers! I would've hated to feel responsible in any way if they had turned out to be a real disappointment to him. But I put a little trust out there with my recommendation, and it was thankfully an ok move It helped that I wasn't the only person recommending these speakers. But I would've felt bad if they sucked, since I did recommend them pretty strongly to Rob here

So congrats to Rob! And congrats on the acoustic treatments purchase too! I know a fair bit of planning has gone into that decision, so that's great news!

If you're liking the MultEQ XT32 results, do be sure to run the setup program again once you have your acoustic treatments installed! There can be a mighty big difference, so for sure, don't just leave the XT32 settings the way they are right now!

Congrats again! And I don't mind saying I'm envious! I really, really like those Sierra Towers, and with the Horizon having turned out to be such a great match, I'm starting to think I maybe oughta move so I can have a room to match the Sierra speakers, rather than buying speakers that'll work for me in the room I have right now

[billy p]

Dave's transparency & honesty was the sole reason why I decided to go with the Ascends in the end. He'll lay it out for you in black and white all you have to do is trust your instincts....

Congrats on the new speakers Rob from NJ....I don't have the RAALs but I love my Towers and STC.....

[PENG]

The speakers surely have very nice looking graphs but the tower weighs 44 lbs, about the same as the P363. I wonder if they have structural engineers on staff who has the know how to design/build highly rigid and vibration free cabinets without using thick plates all round. I wonder how they compare to the Philharmonic 3.

[Warpdrv]

Nice.... Hows about some pics....

The Sierra Towers are pretty darn nice... In our recent shootouts...

[Rob from NJ]

And, how did your room turn out?

Jim Z
Room is a work in progress. I put in a new drop down ceiling with acoustical tiles (high NRC and CAC ratings for sound dampening). I installed new projection and audio systems, and moved A/V equipment to the back room. I just ordered sound panels for the front, side and back walls. I'm also installing new carpet and have ordered new furniture. I'll start a thread in general a/v discussion and post pictures of the video and audio systems this weekend/early next week.