**Official Ascend Acoustics Tower Thread** - Page 31

That's not necessarily true....I asked this same question and was told if music is your primary focus and you listen to hi res quality discs go with the RAAL...it's more detailed but if your more of a ~50% guy like some of us the standard NrT would more than suffice....

Although I do not have the Ascend Towers I agree that if ones system use is more towards HT than music the NrT tweeter would be a good choice. When I ordered my SongTowers I told Jim Salk my music tastes and system use and he steered me towards the dome tweeter. I think either tweeter choice is an excellent one. The NrT tweeter is no slouch either.

Bill

I could save around $1000 by not doing it. Is the difference night and day...if it is then I might as well upgrade.

What I'm thinking about is demoing...

Sierra Tower + STC
JTR Triple 8s
Aperion Grand

I'm not trying to reach reference levels. I just want detail clarity and and all around experience. I want to feel like I'm there.

The difference is noticeable, but for 95% HT use, I am not sure you would realize the benefits. That said, most people that end up with a great set of speakers, start listening to more music.

Curtis,

So true, once I upgraded my speakers my system use went from 75% HT to 75% music listening.

Bill

Me too, Bill, but then I upgraded my subs and went back to more movie watching .

I'm one who could not spring for the RAAL upgrade as I was at the top of my speaker budget with the "standard" towers. I was about 95% HT to 5% music as well. I can tell you that while I understand there is a difference (not heard the RAAL's), I know I ended up with a fantastic speaker none the less. I have no buyers remorse and think the standard towers are incredible as they are. I have started to listen to more music since getting the towers say 75% HT to 25% music so the opinion that people tend to listen to more music when they get better speakers seems to hold true (at least with me anyway).

My opinion is if your budget will let you go with the RAAL upgrade, if the extra 1k is going to break the bank then don't sweat it get the standard dome tweeters and don't look back, you won't be disappointed with either one of the setups.

Regards,

RTROSE

Just placed an order for Sierra towers (poor mans version ) to complement the Sierra Horizon. The towers will replace my 340SE's which I sold off yesterday! Can't wait to get the towers in place!

Congrats and you will not be dissatisfied

Congrats! My towers/Horizon shipped out on Tuesday and should be arriving early this week.

Congrats gentleman you guys are in for a real treat.

Rob what tweeter did you go with, and finish...

Dan

Dan,
My focus is on the center speaker for HT and I decided to go with the Raal Ribbon for what I'm hoping is extra clarity and wider dispersion covering the dialogue. With a Raal ribbon center, Dave recommended the NrT tweeter for the towers (based on almost exclusively HT use), however, I went with the matching ribbon for the towers, as well. So its ribbons across the fronts.
I wish I had more time to listen to music, and what I can hope for is the ribbon tweeter will focus some of my time listening to 2.1 music.

Went with the Black Matte finish for HT, perfect since I am installing a projection system, as well.

You can listen to music, and watch high definition video as well. There are some excellent Blu-ray concerts that will give you the best of what your sound/video system has to offer!

You are really in for a treat with the new speakers, I bet you will be enjoying more music in the near future.

I am very jealous of you owners and soon to be owners of Towers!

Yes, take advantage of the Sierra towers for music and the projection system. Sounds like a plan.

Anyone listening to the towers from around 8 feet back? Wondering if they work well this close or of I need to be looking at bookshelves.

My system is currently in a room that is quite small, and it works great. There were some issues with bass peaks, and nulls (room modes) my Anthem processor with ARC took care of the bass problems, as well as doing an excellent job integrating a sub woofer. Not an ideal situation, but it's still very good.

The stereo imaging isn't as deep, or wide as it would be in a better room, multi-channel reproduction is awesome, great sound field representation with 5.1 channel sources.

I have NrT Sierras for surrounds and they were used as front stage speakers before I got the Towers. I can't say that there is an advantage to bookshelves that I'm aware of in your circumstance. Of course, there are many things I'm not aware of LOL!

With the significant amount of time I've spent with the RAAL Towers, I can say that the most significant areas the RAALs shine in comparison to the NrTs are in the areas of imaging, low level detail, and purity of sound quality. The sound of a bell, cymbal, or triangle is crystal clear and in a solid image from the time it is struck, until the sound has decayed to inaudibility. And it is still clear and audible amidst many other higher level sounds of all frequencies.

I was listening to a well recorded jazz title this morning, I could clearly visualize where every piece of the drum kit was located, and almost watch the drummer hitting the snares, and cymbals by visualizing where they were all located in the sound stage. I wasn't even trying to listen that closely, sometimes things just stick out to you when listening. I think horns (trumpets, saxophones, etc...) sound sweeter, more accurate with the ribbons as well.

I truly don't notice much difference between the ribbons and the domes in a movie. I'm usually too engaged in the movie to be listening for the smaller details in the soundtracks. I will say that the gunshots in a scene from the "Mr Brooks" Blu-ray is the most realistic sounding gunshot I've ever heard, I think Kevin Costner has a thing for gunshot sounds! "Open Range" is also pretty darn good. I don't think the ribbons have a lot to do with the gunshots sounding so real, but it does speak volumes for the dynamic capabilities of the Towers/Horizon.

Ok I think from reading up some more that the extra 1K for Raal is worth it.

Pet Motel,

Thanks for the great feedback!

Is that what we are calling him now?

Well I could post some pictures of my 3 Irish Wolfhounds and the description might fit LOL!

In all fairness I would have to defer to Djoel's opinion as far as a true apples to apples comparison between the RAAL and NrT Towers. With the dedicated, more defined/refined mids in Towers as compared to the Sierra 1s, some aspects that utilize both drivers (like the horns) might be a combination of both drivers that differentiate the two speakers.

Lol Swype strikes again!

Hold the press My Gal who of over 11 years have seen her good share of speakers and have had her opinion of what she like, and what doesn't sound good.
She has very vocal which a pair of Dali, saying that they hurt her ears, she said they were too high, or rather too sharp I thought the world of them and felt the ribbon tweeter was just want the doctor order, they did allot of things right. But of course she didn't feel the same way, and she would remind me of that when listening to music, and movie by telling me to lower the volume Not so much fun, this lead me to think, that conventional dome tweeter would always be in my future. So the next speakers I got where some 800 series B&W's, and the complain stop though the sweet ribbon highs where always in the back of my mind.

Fast forward 3.5 years or so, and I'm back with some ribbon, and loving every second of it. My girl has really said much, which is a good sign me thinks..Today she said, you know I really like these speakers, they are so light, as if there's no speakers in the room I was WOW, then she said none of that SHH-SHHH-SHHH sound what so ever. I'm just happy the little lady is enjoying the speakers just as much as I do.

Carry on

Djoel

Whew! With eleven years invested in your gal, I'm sure it's a huge relief that you'll be able to keep her since she likes the Ascends .

I'm about ready to pull the trigger on a pair of Ascend Towers and Horizon center, (second choice was/is the Salk SongTowers).......
The only hang up... deciding which finish to go with,
Satin Espresso or Satin Cherry, leaning towards Espresso, Cherry might be a bit to red......
Any opinions?

DreamCatcher

Cherry is the clear winner, but it depends on your current decor and where you think your future decor is going. Espresso is the more serious colour, so it's seemingly more neutral for the future, but consider that espresso may clash w/ certain types of hardwood floors (ones that are stained similar to espresso) and cherry can mix w/ any wood (like blue). If you can pull of cherry/red, go for the fun factor. If you win the lottery by the time you order you could probably go off-palette and special request piano white. I think that looks so slick on speakers...

Yeah would have been splitsville if she had complain about these babies





Hey DC do you remember sending me a link of the Sierra 1's like 5 years ago, that was the first time I gave Ascend some interest, we were mixed in the Def Tech Mythos camp.

Anyway, I have the Dark Cherry finish and they look great, I did consider the Espresso myself just thought it would have been too dark to go with the Salamander Synergy A/V Rack system.
Like JohnnyB mentioned I guess it all depends on your decor, but I'm sure you can't go wrong with either finish.

Good luck with your decision.

Djoel

Hey DC do you remember sending me a link of the Sierra 1's like 5 years ago, that was the first time I gave Ascend some interest, we were mixed in the Def Tech Mythos camp.

Anyway, I have the Dark Cherry finish and they look great, I did consider the Espresso myself just thought it would have been too dark to go with the Salamander Synergy A/V Rack system.
Like JohnnyB mentioned I guess it all depends on your decor, but I'm sure you can't go wrong with either finish.

Good luck with your decision.

Djoel[/quote]
Yes I remember it well.......
and thanks for the input.
What would you say is the Ascend Towers biggest strength?
And what are you driving yours with?

DreamCatcher

They do so many things right, I was surprised once to find out that my sub wasn't on a few days ago.They dig pretty low when ask for, something that's hard to believe from a speaker with such a slim profile.
Obviously the highs are and the fluid mids are the speakers biggest strength. I think once I find some real ME time where I tweak them by experiment with placement, things like sound stage and imaging will become more apparent to me, even though I've been startle with some recording where I though someone sang to me from my right side living room window! The thing is I'm 3 flight up from the street.

These are great speakers, which surpass they're price.

PS. forgot to add that I have the Towers with just a Denon AVR 4311ci, I'm thinking of adding an amp later down the road when some cash floats up.

Dan

She'll like ribbon arrays even more. For non audio nuts they sound far more impressive...