Ascend Sierra-1's vs. RBH MC-6C's

I am torn between the Sierra-1's and RBH MC-6C's.
They are both around the same price, RBH being a little more expensive.

Per spec's, it looks like the Sierra's will go down to 40hz, whereas the MC-6C's will only go to 60mhz. Of which wont really matter if I xover at 80hz, but would possibly if I xover'd at 60hz.

Any thoughts?

Reorx

Reorx said:

I am torn between the Sierra-1's and RBH MC-6C's.
They are both around the same price, RBH being a little more expensive.

Per spec's, it looks like the Sierra's will go down to 40hz, whereas the MC-6C's will only go to 60mhz. Of which wont really matter if I xover at 80hz, but would possibly if I xover'd at 60hz.

Any thoughts?

Reorx

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How much music do you listen too? A couple of the guys that have the Sierras already are reporting that they like music better with their subs turned off and the Sierras run full range.

I watch movies more then listen to music. My wife listens to music more then she watches movies. So I'd have to say overall...50/50.

For the last month though, it's been 100% music, 0 movies. We put hardwood floors in, TV broke, and we threw out the entertainment center. We are essentially remodeling our living room. Floors, rug, sectional, paint, Samsung HLT-5087 or 5089, HD-DVD, TV and speaker stands.

My plan is to use the Ascends or RBH in a 5.1 maybe a 7.1 setup. Initially though, I won't have a sub. Mine is broken, and $1700-$2000 for speakers is stressing my wife out a little. If I threw in a $500 sub at this time, she'd cause my 6'9" 250 lb butt ALOT of physical pain. Beware the 5'1" latin women, who are personally trained to cage fight against men by the Gracie family. So I'll probably buy a sub around xmas.

Are the Ascends a bright speaker?

I am planning on listening to them in LA this weekend, so that will be exciting.
But I have a feeling that my hearing will be a little screwed up, since I am primarily going there for a Salsa dancing convention, and will be partying, dancing, and drinking for 2-3 20-24hr days in a row. btw, if you dont know how to dance, learn to salsa. Women dig it, it's a aphrodisiac, and they'll start throwing themselves at you.

Reorx said:

Are the Ascends a bright speaker?

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I don't think so, and remember the room can have a lot of influence on this. I am hoping to hear Sierras soon as well.

My understanding is symmetrical dispersion pattern that the Sierras have, helps most in reflective rooms. There has been one post that seems to affirm this.

I have a very detailed review of the RBH MC-6C's coming out shortly. These speaker rock! Although they are rated down to 60Hz, you cannot bottom them out by design. I ran them full range at ear bleeding levels and they were virtually bulletproof.

Asends is sending us their new speakers and I am planning a Mega bookshelf face off in June after all the speakers that will be in the face off are first formerly reviewed.

I have a pair of MC-6C's and they work great for me. I don’t ever play them very loud but there have been occasions where I can’t stand to just look at them sit there so I crank them up for a min and the louder I play them the better they sound.

Can't wait for that Gene!
Reorx, is your wife attending with you? JK

Excellent!

Well, Sunday the wife and I went and listened to the sierra-1's.

It's hard to put into words how they sounded.
We liked their sound over: $1700+ Martin Logans, Paradigm's, and Focal's that we've listened to in the past week.

We listened to: A Brazilian Jazz DVD-a, Steely Dan (FLAK), some Cello solo CD. Nothing was bloated. The bass, mid, and tweeters were extremely well balanced. They are clear, detailed, and have an excellent sound stage. The instruments and voices sounded the way they were supposed to! The whole time my wife thought the sub was on, but it was actually off. I knew better. Though, it was very easy forget about the sub being off, and to get lost in the music. With the Brazilian jazz and Cello cd, I could actually hear the musician's fingers on the pegboards of their instruments.

Today, I am hoping that we'll get a chance to listen to the RBH speakers.

My Sierras arrived this morning I've checked twice to make sure the sub was off so far.

Tex-amp said:

My Sierras arrived this morning I've checked twice to make sure the sub was off so far.

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What speakers did you have before?
What speakers have you compared to the Sierra's before you bought?
How do you feel they sound?

Reorx

They are replacing Ascend 170SE in my 2 channel rig and 340 Classics in my HT.
I've owned; Paradigm Atoms, Titans, Mini-monitors ; Maggies(that I had of my brothers for a few years while he was traveling), Yamaha NS1000s that someone gave me(I had no idea what I had or I wouldn't have passed them on when I no long had the space), and a few others. I've heard many other speakers.

To my ears the Sierras are a much bigger step up from the Ascend SE then the SEs were from the Classics. I've only had a couple of hours to listen so I'll wait awhile before posting more.

Mine will not ship until tomorrow thanks to Chase. I don't charge that much and the amount of the charge apparently threw up a red flag that I had to call (menus of course) to have the account cleared. Sheesh you'd think I was charging some Watt Puppies. Likely will not get here until next Monday now.

If I read one more best thing since canned beer comment by those that already have them I'm gonna scream.

It's not the amount of the charge that's in question...it's an out-of-the-blue electronics purchase from a relatively unknown company in California that probably caused the red flag. My bank did the same thing and called me the afternoon that my Sierras shipped (and I was charged) to make sure that there wasn't some tomfoolery goin' down. A little added protection is worth a day or two wait I think...

J.

MUDSHARK said:

If I read one more best thing since canned beer comment...

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We all know there's nothing better than canned beer... Mmmmmm....beer.....

J.

I just posted my review of the RBH MC-6C speakers if anyone is interested.

RBH Sound MC-6C Speaker Review

Read it and posted a comment.
It seems to me that the 2 speakers are going to be very very close.
I think people will be hard pressed to choose between the two of them.
Either way I suppose, the customer will be happy. They have 2 choices for great bookshelf speakers.

For most people the Sierras will be easier to demo and purchase though.

Reorx said:

It seems to me that the 2 speakers are going to be very very close.

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I don' think you can come to that conclusion by reading about one of them and hearing the other.

silversurfer said:

I don' think you can come to that conclusion by reading about one of them and hearing the other.

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True. It wasnt ment to be a definitive comment. I just think they are going to be close to each other. They both have an excellent soundstage, and can accurately produce instruments. They are both clear and detailed. That right there set's both these speakers apart from many many others.

I am planning on listening to the MC-6C's this weekend.
But desipite that, since I cannot A/B them, in the room, at the same SPL, same equipment, and within a short period of time...It would be very difficult to say which is better, unless there are night and day differences.

When Gene and crew do their bookshelf speaker showdown, I trust that they will be A/B'ing the equipment, make sure things are properly calibrated, and be objective. RBH has set a pretty high standard for itself, and is a favorite; so any competitor will have a uphill battle to face.

Gene, have you received or heard the Sierra's yet?