The Sierra's have moved east

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MUDSHARK

MUDSHARK

Audioholic Chief
The Sierra's arrived today. Attractive speakers that look in no manner like my pre-conception of bamboo.

We listened to an Elton John DVD for 30 minutes or so (to get the wife interested) This was much too short an audition. These speakers are very very good. I will post more in the next few days but will give some initial impressions.

1. The Sierra's image like crazy.
2. The speakers play deceptively loud. I thought the music was moderate in volume until I realized my wife has to shout at me from a few feet away (no comments Steven). My guess is the speakers were pushing 95db. Yet the music did not 'feel' loud and I was tempted to turn it up even more.
3. The speakers are quite neutral and do not beg for acoustical room treatments.
4. Piano and male vocal were very clear and realistic. The real test will come later when complex jazz and brass is played.
5. These speakers appear to be an absolute steal on first impressions. The family wants to watch movies tonight so further musical impressions will have to be delayed. However, right now the only speaker that left this kind of impression on me that cost less than $1,000 was the Mackie's

I hope Muzz got his today, as well.
 
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L

LHawes

Audioholic Intern
...and the sun shuddered...now I get it Mud - thanks for the review.
 
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MUDSHARK

MUDSHARK

Audioholic Chief
Jack Daniels, my friend. Fat fingers on a laptop do not always mix. I hit enter very prematurely.

One more thing. My son is over and watching a movie called robots on TV (not surround sound). He thought the sound was coming from the center channel when in fact the movie is stereo only with the only sound coming from the front left and right speakers. The Sierra's imaging is that strong.
 
MUDSHARK

MUDSHARK

Audioholic Chief




Pardon the mess but a few pictures to gauge the small size of the Sierra.

A full judgement of the musical capabilities will take a few days. The speaker delivers bass not to be believed for such a small speaker (5/1/2 inch woofer). Most listening would not require a sub. The midrange (piano, guitar, and male vocals) outclasses by a wide margin in terms of smoothness, detail, and clarity anything I heard at the GTG. The Usher gives it a good run in the treble frequencies (This may change after the break-in). The Sierra, like the Usher gives no indication of harshness in female vocals (unlike the Polk, Paradigm, and Klipsch we listened to last year). I recognize I was the only one who felt this way.

Tomorrow I hope to throw in some early Chicago and see how the Sierra handles some serious brass. While I thought the 170-SE was at it's best in home theatre, I think this speaker was designed for the music room.

I will give a more detailed two channel analysis in accordance with the request this weekend.
 
MUDSHARK

MUDSHARK

Audioholic Chief
One last note for tonight. The Sierra does require some power. The Marantz will tide me over until the HDMI 1.3 and new formats are supported, however this speaker needs a receiver with hair on it's chest.
 
mazersteven

mazersteven

Audioholic Warlord
MUDSHARK said:
The Sierra, like the Usher gives no indication of harshness in female vocals (unlike the Polk, Paradigm, and Klipsch we listened to last year). I recognize I was the only one who felt this way.
Click to expand...
Oooooooooooo Might have to have a Sierra, LSi9 showdown. LOL
 
S

silversurfer

Senior Audioholic
Do you two live near each other? I would like to read about that comparison.
 
MUDSHARK

MUDSHARK

Audioholic Chief
mazersteven said:
Might need another Bryston
Click to expand...
3000+ for a 5 channel Bryston and $858 for the main speakers? The S&V gurus would guillotine me in a public execution.:rolleyes:

Come to think of it not a bad idea.:D

Stop by and check them out when time pemits ( I know you're hard at it 6 days a week).
 
T

Tex-amp

Senior Audioholic
Please tell me you move the speakers forward of the entertainment center when listening.
 
MUDSHARK

MUDSHARK

Audioholic Chief
The picture is somewhat misleading. The speakers initial position is about an inch past the entertainment center. I was trying to keep the base of the stand out of the grout between the tiles. This is all subject to change and experimentation.
 
pzaur

pzaur

Audioholic Samurai
MUDSHARK said:
Tomorrow I hope to throw in some early Chicago and see how the Sierra handles some serious brass.
Click to expand...
Being an aivd classical fan and a big CSO junky (for their recordings at least since I don't live there), you really need to get this album if you like brass and don't have it:

CSO - Abbado - Scythian Suite et. al.

Scythian Suite and Lt. Kije are simply spectacular. The opening trumpet solo of Kije is incredible.

Unless of course you were meaning the rock group Chicago! That band still rules!
Any group that uses more than just electric guitars/bass/set deserves additional looking into.

-pat
 
emorphien

emorphien

Audioholic General
MUDSHARK said:
The speaker delivers bass not to be believed for such a small speaker (5/1/2 inch woofer). Most listening would not require a sub.
Click to expand...
I know what you mean. My speakers are similar. How do you find them to be with respect to room placement. I've found a lot of the smaller bookshelves that can really put out reasonable bass down to around 40Hz can be fairly position sensitive.

Also any comments on spacing from the back wall?
 
M

muzz

Audiophyte
MUDSHARK said:
The Sierra's arrived today. Attractive speakers that look in no manner like my pre-conception of bamboo.

We listened to an Elton John DVD for 30 minutes or so (to get the wife interested) This was much too short an audition. These speakers are very very good. I will post more in the next few days but will give some initial impressions.

1. The Sierra's image like crazy.
2. The speakers play deceptively loud. I thought the music was moderate in volume until I realized my wife has to shout at me from a few feet away (no comments Steven). My guess is the speakers were pushing 95db. Yet the music did not 'feel' loud and I was tempted to turn it up even more.
3. The speakers are quite neutral and do not beg for acoustical room treatments.
4. Piano and male vocal were very clear and realistic. The real test will come later when complex jazz and brass is played.
5. These speakers appear to be an absolute steal on first impressions. The family wants to watch movies tonight so further musical impressions will have to be delayed. However, right now the only speaker that left this kind of impression on me that cost less than $1,000 was the Mackie's

I hope Muzz got his today, as well.
Click to expand...


NOPE.........:(

I DID get them TODAY though!! heheheheheh
I just happened to be home when Big Brown pulled up!!

These things are sweet, as you stated, the bass these lil suckers put out is rather impressive, I listened in 2 channel mostly, and the soundstage sounds big and wide.
The 170 SE's sounded good, these are in another league totally IMO, and I think the Sierra Center sounds better on dialogue than my 340SE did.

The looks? Sweet.. I don't think Ascend is going to hear complaints about "the Ugly boxes" with regards to these things.

I'm impressed, and have ALOT of listening to do!!
 
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