Ascend Sierra 2 and KEF LS50 comparisons?

[glitch65]

Has anyone heard both and can provide a comparison of these 2 speakers? Thank you!

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

you could, Ascend offers 30 day in home trial

 

[ImcLoud]

Are you looking for a mini monitor or a bookshelf speaker? I have heard them both and they both do different things... If I was looking for a studio monitor to power with pro equipment the kef ls50's would be on a very short list, if I were looking for a nice bookshelf to maybe couple with a sub or two and put in my home the sierra 2's would be at the very top of that list...

I think the ascends stand alone much better and feel like they will fill a room, the kefs low end was not impressive to me but it was for the size of the unit... Its a tough choice, I think if I had the choice of something like the kef50s for $1500 or say a pair of philharmonitors and a sb12 nsd {less than $1500} or sb2000 I would go with the 2.1 every time...

 

[Swerd]

As far as bass reach, these 4 speakers seem to be pretty similar. They all use quality 5¼" woofers in small ported cabinets.

KEF LS50 – is tuned to 52 Hz.

CAOW1 – is tuned to about 50 Hz.

Sierra-1 & -2 – are both tuned to the upper 40s, maybe 47-48 Hz.

 

[Swerd]

As far as bass reach, these 4 speakers seem to be pretty similar. They all use quality 5¼" woofers in small ported cabinets.

KEF LS50 – is tuned to 52 Hz.

CAOW1 – is tuned to about 50 Hz.

Sierra-1 & -2 – are both tuned to the upper 40s, maybe 47-48 Hz.

There will always be differences of opinion of how a speaker's bass sounded to a listener, and they will involve differences in room response as well as differences in a listener's expectations.

The best way to compare different speakers' bass depth is to look at the impedance curve and see where the saddle between the twin impedance peaks is located. That avoids variable responses coming from different rooms.

 

[billy p]

KEF LS50 vs Ascend Sierra-1 - AVS Forum

Scroll on down to post #17...I believe at the time he had some Rocket 850s which the S2 replaced.

I would hasten to guess...it all boils down to preference or ones taste.

Ha...I see you stopped by there yesterday. Feel free to sent them a PM...I follow several threads but don't subscribe to most of them. Chances are he may miss your post if that is the case...with a PM he'll get it immediately...JMO.

 

[Hlam]

Has anyone heard both and can provide a comparison of these 2 speakers? Thank you!

I don't think that my, or anyone else's, impressions of how a speaker sounds will be a benefit to you. You really need to give both speakers a listen. It would be best to have them in your own room at the same time.
After a lot of research I was sure that the LS50 was the speaker for me. I wanted to down size from my large Rocket system to five identical bookshelf speakers. The KEF's had many great reviews and was billed to be something special.
When I auditioned the LS50 I was far from impressed. I thought that the bass, which according my research was amazing for a speaker of this size, was anemic at best. I also found them to be very sharp and fatiguing. After 15 minutes, at a moderate volume, my ears were ringing and I had heard enough. I wrote the LS50 off my list of speakers.
I ordered the Sierra 2 the next day. I was totally blown away with the sound quality of the S2.
I bought a pair of LS50 a couple of months after I got the sierra 2. I was thinking that the LS50 could not have been as bad as I thought. I kept them for 6 weeks and sold them.
For me these speakers are not comparable. The sierra 2 is in a different class of sound quality.
Give both speakers a try. You may come to the opposite conclusion.

 

[Hlam]

As far as bass reach, these 4 speakers seem to be pretty similar. They all use quality 5¼" woofers in small ported cabinets.

KEF LS50 – is tuned to 52 Hz.

CAOW1 – is tuned to about 50 Hz.

Sierra-1 & -2 – are both tuned to the upper 40s, maybe 47-48 Hz.

According to my owners manual the LS50 is 79Hz - 28KHz +/- 3 dB. I found that they had to have a sub in the system.

 

[glitch65]

I don't think that my, or anyone else's, impressions of how a speaker sounds will be a benefit to you. You really need to give both speakers a listen. It would be best to have them in your own room at the same time.
After a lot of research I was sure that the LS50 was the speaker for me. I wanted to down size from my large Rocket system to five identical bookshelf speakers. The KEF's had many great reviews and was billed to be something special.
When I auditioned the LS50 I was far from impressed. I thought that the bass, which according my research was amazing for a speaker of this size, was anemic at best. I also found them to be very sharp and fatiguing. After 15 minutes, at a moderate volume, my ears were ringing and I had heard enough. I wrote the LS50 off my list of speakers.
I ordered the Sierra 2 the next day. I was totally blown away with the sound quality of the S2.
I bought a pair of LS50 a couple of months after I got the sierra 2. I was thinking that the LS50 could not have been as bad as I thought. I kept them for 6 weeks and sold them.
For me these speakers are not comparable. The sierra 2 is in a different class of sound quality.
Give both speakers a try. You may come to the opposite conclusion.

I'm just gathering as much info right now before I go ahead and order speakers to demo at home. I have some time to research before I make a decision. Thank you so much for sharing your experience, this is very good info!

I think the best bookshelf speaker I've heard was at a co-worker's house. He was using Dynaudio C1s with an Anthem amp and I'm not sure what the rest consisted of and where the music was playing through, but it was a 2.0 setup. Although, I don't think I would ever spend that much on a floorstander (but who knows with this hobby), but this sounded so good to me. I just want to get close to the sound of the Dynaudio C1s without spending that much! Those Dynaudio's were so agile, detailed, and the vocals of the male singer's had weight and sounded so smooth and real! I felt instruments were somehow separated from the voices and the highs were crisp, but not fatiguing. I have never heard anything come close, although I haven't heard that many speakers (Dali Zensors and Ikons, Polk RTIs, Vienna Acoustic Haydn) and those don't cost as much as the Dynaudios. I guess my preferred sound is like yours, I'm not a fan of too sharp of highs, I prefer a more "natural" and "smooth" detailed treble and voices have to have "weight" and not sound "hollow" like I've heard on Polks. I want some agility, don't want it to sound sloppy. So far from what I've read and researched, the Sierra's are the more natural sounding (which I prefer) and the LS50s are more "colored" and can be described as having too much treble. But yeah all these findings are subjective and I will eventually demo them. I just want to make sure I'm demoing the right speakers.

Hlam, what do you think of the midrange for both speakers (especially male and female vocals/voices) and how they sound? I don't know if my descriptions of how I described the Dynaudio C1s make much sense, but do you think the Sierra 2s sound clean and agile, detailed and smooth? Did the LS50s sound "hollow" at all or was there anything you didn't like abou the midrange? Thanks so much for sharing your impressions!

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I'm just gathering as much info right now before I go ahead and order speakers to demo at home. I have some time to research before I make a decision. Thank you so much for sharing your experience, this is very good info!

I think the best bookshelf speaker I've heard was at a co-worker's house. He was using Dynaudio C1s with an Anthem amp and I'm not sure what the rest consisted of and where the music was playing through, but it was a 2.0 setup. Although, I don't think I would ever spend that much on a floorstander (but who knows with this hobby), but this sounded so good to me. I just want to get close to the sound of the Dynaudio C1s without spending that much! Those Dynaudio's were so agile, detailed, and the vocals of the male singer's had weight and sounded so smooth and real! I felt instruments were somehow separated from the voices and the highs were crisp, but not fatiguing. I have never heard anything come close, although I haven't heard that many speakers (Dali Zensors and Ikons, Polk RTIs, Vienna Acoustic Haydn) and those don't cost as much as the Dynaudios. I guess my preferred sound is like yours, I'm not a fan of too sharp of highs, I prefer a more "natural" and "smooth" detailed treble and voices have to have "weight" and not sound "hollow" like I've heard on Polks. I want some agility, don't want it to sound sloppy. So far from what I've read and researched, the Sierra's are the more natural sounding (which I prefer) and the LS50s are more "colored" and can be described as having too much treble. But yeah all these findings are subjective and I will eventually demo them. I just want to make sure I'm demoing the right speakers.

Hlam, what do you think of the midrange for both speakers (especially male and female vocals/voices) and how they sound? I don't know if my descriptions of how I described the Dynaudio C1s make much sense, but do you think the Sierra 2s sound clean and agile, detailed and smooth? Did the LS50s sound "hollow" at all or was there anything you didn't like abou the midrange? Thanks so much for sharing your impressions!

Did you know the price of the Dynaudio C1 was about $7,500 MSRP BEFORE you listened to them?

Some people (Stereophile and Soundstage) said the $6,000 MSRP KEF 201/2 sounded better (and measured better) than the C1.

I bet the $12,000 MSRP Focal Diablo Utopia sound the best.

 

[ImcLoud]

Did you know the price of the Dynaudio C1 was about $7,500 MSRP BEFORE you listened to them?

Some people (Stereophile and Soundstage) said the $6,000 MSRP KEF 201/2 sounded better (and measured better) than the C1.

I bet the $12,000 MSRP Focal Diablo Utopia sound the best.

I think how speakers sound is relative............................................................................ to how much they cost and how nice their veneer is..

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I think how speakers sound is relative............................................................................ to how much they cost and how nice their veneer is..

Yup. Bias. I bet if a person thought the C1 was $200, the sound quality might have been quite different. It might still be very good, like the NHT Absolute Zero (listening window response +/-0.9dB). But probably not "the best" @ $200.

 

[glitch65]

Did you know the price of the Dynaudio C1 was about $7,500 MSRP BEFORE you listened to them?

Some people (Stereophile and Soundstage) said the $6,000 MSRP KEF 201/2 sounded better (and measured better) than the C1.

I bet the $12,000 MSRP Focal Diablo Utopia sound the best.

Yeah I knew how much they cost and that's why I mentioned I don't think I would ever spend that much, but I loved the sound of it and that is the sound I am striving for, which I know I won't get unless I get the exact same components, but would like to come close to it without spending that much

 

[ImcLoud]

Yup. Bias. I bet if a person thought the C1 was $200, the sound quality might have been quite different. It might still be very good, like the NHT Absolute Zero (listening window response +/-0.9dB). But probably not "the best" @ $200.

I find that to get a sound a lot better than some of the bookshelfs costing around $1000 you have to spend A LOT more, but there is NOTHING better than a nice little speaker that sounds good for under $500... I love my csb1's, they sound as good and in a lot of cases better than speakers I have spent much much more on, I enjoy them, and they FILL the room with sound, a nice powerful little speaker...

I have a few audiosnob-ish friends, and I love playing that cheap little system for them, a pair of outlaw mono blocks, sb12nsd subs, csb1 bookshelfs and a parasound preamp {all bought for under $2000} and you can not find a complaint that fits, the small drivers have enough output to fill the 400sq ft room they are in, the mids are strong and the highs are rite where I like them, clean, clear, and not fatiguing at all... I play arrowsmith "janies got a gun" and the intro whispering with the percussion sequence throughout perplexes people that never heard the song on a decent system, they get this confused face like, "I heard this song 40,000 times in my car but it sounds so different now"...

Don't get me wrong I appreciate what goes into some of these high end speakers the some of the high end bW tweeters and focal drivers they are amazing works of art and show how modern machining and materials can be utilised to make impressive components.. I appreciate things like that and that they cost a lot to produce and design, BUT what my ears hear is so similar I can not justify $20K on a pair of speakers...

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I find that to get a sound a lot better than some of the bookshelfs costing around $1000 you have to spend A LOT more, but there is NOTHING better than a nice little speaker that sounds good for under $500... I love my csb1's, they sound as good and in a lot of cases better than speakers I have spent much much more on, I enjoy them, and they FILL the room with sound, a nice powerful little speaker...

I have a few audiosnob-ish friends, and I love playing that cheap little system for them, a pair of outlaw mono blocks, sb12nsd subs, csb1 bookshelfs and a parasound preamp {all bought for under $2000} and you can not find a complaint that fits, the small drivers have enough output to fill the 400sq ft room they are in, the mids are strong and the highs are rite where I like them, clean, clear, and not fatiguing at all... I play arrowsmith "janies got a gun" and the intro whispering with the percussion sequence throughout perplexes people that never heard the song on a decent system, they get this confused face like, "I heard this song 40,000 times in my car but it sounds so different now"...

Don't get me wrong I appreciate what goes into some of these high end speakers the some of the high end bW tweeters and focal drivers they are amazing works of art and show how modern machining and materials can be utilised to make impressive components.. I appreciate things like that and that they cost a lot to produce and design, BUT what my ears hear is so similar I can not justify $20K on a pair of speakers...

Well, there is a lot more to it than just perceived sound quality.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Yeah I knew how much they cost and that's why I mentioned I don't think I would ever spend that much, but I loved the sound of it and that is the sound I am striving for, which I know I won't get unless I get the exact same components, but would like to come close to it without spending that much

I would strive for the sound of the KEF Reference 201/2. Check those out if you can. Then strive for that sound.

http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/kef_2012.htm

http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/708kef/index.html

 

[Steve81]

the LS50s are more "colored" and can be described as having too much treble. But yeah all these findings are subjective and I will eventually demo them.

From what I've read, the rise in the LS50's high end response is a bit of intentional voicing to help balance out the total power response. To put it another way: they aren't necessarily meant to be listened to in the usual "listening window" of 0-15 degrees off axis, but closer to 30 degrees (i.e. not toed in to the listener).

Also FWIW, my general opinion would be to use the LS50 with a sub regardless of how deeply it extends. Compared to something like the Ascend, the LS50's woofer is at a disadvantage in terms of Sd (surface area) due to the concentric tweeter, and probably in terms of linear excursion as well. The UniQ woofer also has one other caveat: even if it's capable of big excursions, the more the woofer moves, the worse it functions as a waveguide for the tweeter, altering the high end response.

 

[Ponzio]

So far from what I've read and researched, the Sierra's are the more natural sounding (which I prefer) and the LS50s are more "colored" and can be described as having too much treble. But yeah all these findings are subjective and I will eventually demo them.

I've sat back and watched this thread with some interest, being a LS50 owner. I could go & on about how I think the LS50's are one of best bookshelves under $1.3K ... you'd be a fool to pay $1.5K; everything is negotiable ... yada, yada.

Go to a local KEF dealer, listen to them there, ask for a 5 day home demo and time it so that you have the AA Sierra 2's at the same time. One thing is for certain, they need plenty of power; anything less than a true 110WPC from your amp/AVR and you're just whizzing in the wind. I live in the Philly area and nothing would please me more than to have a shootout with a pair of Sierra 2's, which I haven't heard, to satisfy my curiosity. Impartial witnesses are also welcome to observe and comment to this thread later and if they sound better I'll be the first one to admit it.

Also in regards to the statement that the "LS50's are more colored" and "having too much treble"; I believe that couldn't be further from the truth. That was the reason I chose them over the others, especially after demoing the Paradigm Studio 20 v.5's, Dynaudio X12's, Wharfedale Jade 3's and similarly priced models. BTW, a good sub that goes down to at least 20Hz is needed no matter which bookshelf you choose.

 

[billy p]

I've sat back and watched this thread with some interest, being a LS50 owner. I could go & on about how I think the LS50's are one of best bookshelves under $1.3K ... you'd be a fool to pay $1.5K; everything is negotiable ... yada, yada.

Go to a local KEF dealer, listen to them there, ask for a 5 day home demo and time it so that you have the AA Sierra 2's at the same time. One thing is for certain, they need plenty of power; anything less than a true 110WPC from your amp/AVR and you're just whizzing in the wind. I live in the Philly area and nothing would please me more than to have a shootout with a pair of Sierra 2's, which I haven't heard, to satisfy my curiosity. Impartial witnesses are also welcome to observe and comment to this thread later and if they sound better I'll be the first one to admit it.

Also in regards to the statement that the "LS50's are more colored" and "having too much treble"; I believe that couldn't be further from the truth. That was the reason I chose them over the others, especially after demoing the Paradigm Studio 20 v.5's, Dynaudio X12's, Wharfedale Jade 3's and similarly priced models. BTW, a good sub that goes down to at least 20Hz is needed no matter which bookshelf you choose.

What an excellent idea..order a pr of S2's and have all those who'll be present chip in..if you decide to return them & not to keep them...or they'll sell pretty darn easy on the used market...if you ask me.

 

[Ponzio]

What an excellent idea..order a pr of S2's and have all those who'll be present chip in..if you decide to return them & not to keep them...or they'll sell pretty darn easy on the used market...if you ask me.

I just purchased a pair of Salk SongTowers QWT & the SongCenter last Saturday and unless you want to see me dead for amusement at my wife's hands, you'll understand if I pass up on your recommendation.

... but I'm serious, if someone wants to come to my house or I'll travel locally, within reason, and I'll bring Trixie & Dixie along for the competition. I'm interested as much as anyone else to see & hear what other audiophiles think.

Think of the Mexican bandit in "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" who turns around and points to all his fellow travelers and states, "we are not afraid".