Polk Audio Monitor60 Series II VS Ascend Sierra-1

Sure, they can be compared.

If you do, the Sierra 1 will sound about 200% better but the Polk will probably have a bit more bass.

For $850, the Sierra 1 certainly is in a different class re sound quality.

On the other hand, I personally find the Sierra 1 to be very much overpriced.

I find the Monitor Audio Bronze BX-2 to be a better speaker, and it is $500 per pair.

Another excellent speaker is the KEF Q300, for $649 per pair.

I think either one of those sounds better than the Sierra 1.

Actually, $149 isn't the sale price for the Monitor 60 II. That's pretty normal. When they come on sale they'll be $99 - $109. Sign up for newegg.com emails, the lower price happens quite often. In fact it was $99 just last week.

The Monitor 60 isn't in the same league as the Sierra but nor should they be considering the price.

Although doing so is never a bad thing when comparing speakers....auditioning at home is the best way to go about it. As for commsysman recommendations which BTW....are very established & well regarded speaker brands...he'll do so by making disparaging remarks towards other brands he doesn't like...just do a quick check of his posting history to see what I mean.
Edited by Billy p - 7/26/12 at 9:15am

Are you a former or current Sierra-1 owner or did you audition them somewhere?

A friend has them, and I visited their facility near San Diego and listened to some of their speakers.

As a current owner of both brands each has a very different sound to my ears, with the Sierra-1s being considerably more detailed than the Monitor Audios (I have the Silver series, one up from the Bronze). If possible, it's best to audition both in your own home.

Yeah, The Sierra-1 is in more of a different class of bookshelves (along with the Sierra-1 NrT, and Sierra-2 upgrades). Bamboo construction rather than the more commonly used MDF I know plays a part in that.

The sierra is a higher quality over kef or the audio monitor. The sierra doesnt use vinyl or mdf. It uses bamboo cabinet and a piano gloss finish. Both would made the kef and monitor audio if the offered. The sierra is assembled here in the states not in china. Thats whats the extra goes.

This just sounds weird. I would understand if somebody from, say, Texas or New York said that their facility was "near San Diego." But you're from southern California, yes? I wouldn't think somebody from southern California would describe a location in Orange County as "near San Diego."

Apologies for being off-topic, but this just struck me as being strange.

Well, if you have lived in Orange County most of your life like I have, San Clemente is so far south from Anaheim or Seal Beach that it seems like (and is) as close to the greater San Diego area as it is to the central part of Orange County. San Clemente is right up against the San Diego county line, 40 miles or more from central Orange County.

Also, it has been a few years now, but it seems to me the facility I visited was in Escondido at that time, which is in San Diego County ( perhaps they have two facilities, one in each place; offices and manufacturing...I think that is the case..).
Edited by commsysman - 8/1/12 at 1:47pm

Better double check your geography there.

You must be forgetting about Camp Pendleton, that 20-30 miles of northern San Diego county with no development and little/no general population (outside military). That means even the southern edge of Orange County, such as San Clemente, is much closer to the rest of Orange County than it is to any populated areas of San Diego County.

And San Clemente is 50 miles from "central" Orange County? That's totally false. Give me one direction in which Orange County is 100 miles across, or even close to that.

The facility I visited was in Escondido.

What part of Orange County is that in, beav??

I am fairly certain that they have offices in San Clemente and a manufacturing facility in Escondido ( or at least they did at that time).

I know every inch of Orange County like the back of my hand, including the mountains, because I used to be part of a volunteer communications team (OC RACES) that is an auxiliary of the OC Sheriff and worked with Orange County Search and Rescue teams and the Fire Department during emergency incidents.

According to Mapquest, it is 50 miles from Fullerton, which I would consider part of central Orange County, to San Clemente.
Edited by commsysman - 8/1/12 at 2:06pm

Well, you know, if you had said from the beginning that you visited them in Escondido, this conversation wouldn't even be taking place, would it Bob?

I also like how you have twice edited your post instead of owning up to your mistakes. Looks like you haven't changed a bit, nor has your academic career taught you anything about ethics.

My ethics are such that I wouldn't dream of making petty personal attacks on individuals in a public forum like this. If you choose to do so, that says something about YOU...and nothing about me. I limit my comments to topics under discussion which hopefully have something to do with audio matters. I answered your question out of courtesy, but in the future I will not be drawn into an irrelevant exchange such as this.

What I said in the beginning was that it was "near San Diego", which was true. It was not a mistake. You never bothered to ask me what city, but started attacking me with no reason. I'm sorry that you have nothing better or more constructive to do with your time.

Please try to confine your comments to audio matters so that this space can be used in a constructive manner.



Edited by commsysman - 8/1/12 at 2:36pm

Fullerton is part of "central" Orange County? That's odd, considering it is on the actual border of Orange County and Los Angeles County. So you picked a town on the far edge of the county and used that to bolster your claim that San Clemente was 50 (no, wait, 40?) miles from "central" Orange County? Too funny.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fullerton,_California

All you have shown is that it's only about 50 miles from one edge of Orange County to the other, which proves my point. So thanks for that.

As for my original intentions, there actually was a reason for wanting to know more. Believe it or not, it wasn't just to pick on you. By knowing where you visited Ascend, it tells us something about when you visited Ascend. And that tells us something about whether or not the Sierra-1 was available when you visited.

And, by the way, Google maps shows a way to get from San Clemente to Fullerton in 40.6 miles. That's right, all the way from the southern edge of Orange County to the northern edge, in 40 miles.

Do you really think that the OP cares?

I don't.

You are totally off-topic and I will ask you once again to please stick to the topic.

Commsysman,

Once again you are making untrue statements regarding our products.

You have never visited our facility...

We have never had an office or manufacturing facility in Escondido. Our manufacturing facility has always been at the same location as our office, which you would have known had you actually visited our facility.

Commsysman, this is not the first time we have caught you lying about our products, please make sure it is the last time. Thank you.

Tough stuff...

If this is what you want in a speaker,then I don't think you will be disappointed
In the Sierra one. IMHO they play way above their price point. I have compared
Them in my home to the B&W CM-1and the 685. Also to Paradigm Sig 1,and
Studio 40. They never fail to put a smile on my face. I believe they offer a money
Back guarantee if you are not pleased.

Someone just got owned.

Well deserved!!... I haven't looked at his post history but take a look at this:
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1422124/bookshelf-speakers-center-5k-to-9k#post_22257630

I used to own Rotel RB-980BX and I personally think Rotel makes decent products. Now Rotel might not be the ultra high-end for commsysman's taste but come on... Commsysman comes here with an agenda and/or bias which is fine (almost everyone has one, I guess), but claiming to audition pair of speakers at Ascend but doesn't even know where exactly Ascend Acoustics is located and then DaveF's confirmation that he has never visited Ascend facility is beyond agenda or bias.

Disclaimer and sorry for the off-topic post: I do not own any Ascend products but interested in towers and have heard Sierra 1s few times and really like them.

Always nice to see a manufacturer chime in when people are lying about their products

If I made a mistake about the location, I made a mistake. It was a long time ago, and someone else did the driving. That certainly does not constitute "lying about your products", does it?

I was certainly at your facility, wherever it may be. My memory is perfectly clear on that fact. The other two people that were with me can verify that, if you want to challenge it. Buy us all lunch at the Mission Inn and we'll sign a statement.

As for lying about your products...I expressed an opinion about them and you apparently don't like it; too bad. It's still my opinion. I DO think they are pretty good speakers, but I also think they are overpriced when compared to the competition. How does that constitute a lie?

Whether my opinion is true or not is hardly for you to say; your association with the company obviously proves that you are blatantly biased.

Be careful who you call a liar until you can come up with something resembling proof, which certainly does not exist. I do not lie about your products and you have certainly NEVER "caught me" doing any such thing!

If you are so thin-skinned that you can't stand an opinion about your products that you don't agree with, perhaps you should sell used cars for a living.

In any case, all of this is pretty much irrelevant to my experience with the Sierra 1 speakers, since all of my recent experience with them is from listening to them at a friend's house. I mentioned that previously.

I have listened to them for enough hours that I can confidently compare them to other speakers I am familiar with. My opinion is just that; anyone can take it or leave it.





Edited by commsysman - 8/9/12 at 6:53pm

Hmm, that took a while for you to come up with.
It doesn't seem consistent with this:
"I know every inch of Orange County like the back of my hand, including the mountains, because I used to be part of a volunteer communications team (OC RACES) that is an auxiliary of the OC Sheriff and worked with Orange County Search and Rescue teams and the Fire Department during emergency incidents."

And if "it was a long time ago," how does it have any bearing on the Sierra-1, which wouldn't have even been available?

Keep dancing, though. We all enjoy the show.

You are ignoring the first thing I said in post #7. A friend has them. I have listened to them many times.

Funny how you can pick at the second thing I said over and over while blatantly ignoring the first.

Rather selective.

It may surprise you to know that when someone else is driving, and there is conversation in the car, I am not likely to be concentrating on a map or the geography. My recall of such a trip, after years have passed, is not going to be very good.

During emergency incidents, I am totally involved in the geography. It's hardly the same thing.


Edited by commsysman - 8/9/12 at 6:17pm