Philharmonic Audio Phil 3 - Acoustic Zen Crescendo II comparison

F

Freesole

Audiophyte
Great thread - aside from the name calling and criticisms of the OP.

I have the Ascend Acoustic Sierra Towers with the RAAL ribbon tweeters and they do sound great. I have the opportunity though to get the Salk SS8's. I would imagine the performance in the high's to be similar but the midrange and low end to be a big difference.

For those who have heard the Salk's (ie. SS8) and the Philharmonic's (ie. Phil3) and maybe the Ascend's, what would you say are the differences between them in terms of sonic characteristics?
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
I have the Ascend Acoustic Sierra Towers with the RAAL ribbon tweeters and they do sound great. I have the opportunity though to get the Salk SS8's. I would imagine the performance in the high's to be similar but the midrange and low end to be a big difference.

For those who have heard the Salk's (ie. SS8) and the Philharmonic's (ie. Phil3) and maybe the Ascend's, what would you say are the differences between them in terms of sonic characteristics?
Hi Freesole

I've heard both the SS8 and the Phil3 enough to be familiar with them. I've not heard the the Sierra Towers, but have heard the smaller 2-way Ascend Sierra, which I like.

The SS8 and Phil3 sound like close cousins. The most obvious difference in sound will be the more potent bass on the SS8. Those speakers do have different midrange drivers, but they sound quite similar to me. I think the SS8 is a bit more sensitive overall. In my opinion, both are among the best speakers I've heard at any price. Just guessing based on the Sierra Towers appearance & specs, I'd say either SS8 or Phil3 will be a major step up from what you now have.

What finish are the SS8s you're considering? The Salk finishes I've seen are better looking than any furniture or speakers I've seen.

If you have room for the large SS8s (43" tall × 10.5" wide × 15" deep, 126 lbs. each speaker) and if the price is right, I'd say go for them.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Well, they have done themselves not favors with that website. That BS about cables gets them off to a bad start with me.

However it looks to be a proper TL and not a mass loaded effort, and it looks competently designed.

I did manage to find an impedance curve against frequency.



Now the bass is very extended. The important thing is that the line is properly damped. There is one peak of impedance showing the line is non resonant and shows it is aperiodically damped.

There is some loss of output from 50 to 100 Hz. The line is properly augmenting speaker output over the bandwidth of the pipe. This is what happens if you build an extended bass pipe alignment. I have not found a way round this using a single line. That is why my enclosures have two lines wound round each other tuned one half octave apart. This is a trick I learned from the late John Wright of TDL. It makes the design and build extremely complex though and demands active electronic crossovers.

I suspect however that these speakers do sound better then anything you will have heard before. That dip will probably be obscured by the room.

Speakers like this are very rare indeed. From that third party impedance measurement that speaker will have a clear and accurate bass the like of which you will not have heard before.

The frequency response across the rest of the range is exemplary. The remaining part of the impedance curve attests to very competent crossover design.

You should try and hear it before purchase.

I do know that owners lucky enough to have well designed TLs like that never can go back to ported designs for their serious listening.
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
Great thread - aside from the name calling and criticisms of the OP.

I have the Ascend Acoustic Sierra Towers with the RAAL ribbon tweeters and they do sound great. I have the opportunity though to get the Salk SS8's. I would imagine the performance in the high's to be similar but the midrange and low end to be a big difference.

For those who have heard the Salk's (ie. SS8) and the Philharmonic's (ie. Phil3) and maybe the Ascend's, what would you say are the differences between them in terms of sonic characteristics?
I too am interested in the Ascend Sierra line, and am also in converstion with Dennis about the BMRs and Mini-Phils with potential future upgrade to the Phil3.

Very intrigued by both by reputation alone. Would like to hear any compare/contrast notes between the Sierra Towers and Phil3s!
 
Kvn_Walker

Kvn_Walker

Audioholic Field Marshall
I do know that owners lucky enough to have well designed TLs like that never can go back to ported designs for their serious listening.
This, I'm about to find out... but that's another story, another day. ;)
 
F

Freesole

Audiophyte
I too am interested in the Ascend Sierra line, and am also in converstion with Dennis about the BMRs and Mini-Phils with potential future upgrade to the Phil3.

Very intrigued by both by reputation alone. Would like to hear any compare/contrast notes between the Sierra Towers and Phil3s!
I would think the Phil3's would compete more so with the Salk SS8's rather than the Sierra Towers but could be wrong here. I haven't heard Salk or Phil's but can tell you that the Ascend's are fantastic to my ears in the mid-high ranges. It is just one of those things where it leaves you wanting nothing more and I find it hard to imagine that a speaker could be much better.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
....If there is no possibility of either dac or cable causing what I'm hearing...
Unless the DAC or cable or amp is defective...It could happen. :D

If they are working perfectly, then they are not causing any adverse sound effects.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
Regardless of how the speaker measures and what anyone thinks, there is no guarantee that you will like it better than anything else you've heard.

Maybe you can pay someone a fee to go listen to a pair somewhere out there. Sure is a lot cheaper than buying a pair. :D
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
No, only of new members who read nonsense like The Absolute Sound, Positive Feedback, or similar material about subjective analysis, and believe it.
Members who believe that all wires, DAC, outlets, plugs, caps and other parts, and amps sound night/day different?
 
Irvrobinson

Irvrobinson

Audioholic Spartan
Unless the DAC or cable or amp is defective...It could happen. :D

If they are working perfectly, then they are not causing any adverse sound effects.
Cables? Absolutely, unless you [mis]design them to sound different. For DACs and other electronics, it is not so simple, but I haven't heard a difference between well-executed DAC subsystems (a DAC is more than a chip) in years. I think there can be differences between electronics, but as soon as the comments go to soundstage depth, "transparency" (whatever that is in electronics), or a myriad of other effects no one could possibly design for, I turn on my bullshit filter.
 

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