***The Official Ascend Acoustics Sierra Thread*** - Page 81

Bigger the cushion the better the pushin'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzsWuqNlLK4

When I start to think it's a volume issue, something else convinces me otherwise. I was listening to a movie with two-channel stereo dialog, with my right speaker dialed down to a level that made audio pans in the Breaking Bad scene seem more seamless. However, when listening to a dialog driven scene in two-channel stereo, the left channel overpowered the right channel. I raised the volume of the right channel back to the volume my SPL says it should be at, and the audio sounded balanced again. This works against my thinking that the audio in the right channel is too loud.


Thanks for the response, David. I did try going into my receiver's equalizer settings and turned it from "Audyssey" to "Manual." There doesn't seem to be any difference however.



I will try moving the sub around next. However, the room this is all in is not very huge and I don't have a lot of options on where to put the speaker. I'm not sure it will fit to the left of the left speaker. How exactly could the sub, which is sitting by the left channel, be potentially affecting the right channel?

[quote=cuzzin;21040465]
If the issue is mostly heard with Breaking Bad and no other movies then I would say it could be an issue with that specific movie soundtrack.


To be honest I'm not sure how it could effect the right speaker. But having an object that large in the way of any speaker is never a good thing for proper imaging IMO. So with that thought in mind you should try moving it just to see if it changes the interaction of your three front speakers.

Bill

This is getting to what Dave was trying to point out.

For one of the speakers, you could be getting room gain as it goes lower in the frequency range. Since will throw off your SPL measurements when using pink noise (test tone), since it is averaging all frequencies. So even though the speakers are level matched, the important upper midrange and treble frequencies are not as high as they should be, and lower then the other channel, which is why lowering the level of the other channel sounds better...but then with dialog it does not sound correct.

Well tonight I got around to trying some new things. I swapped some speakers around, moved my sub to the left of the left speaker (see pictures), but unfortunately the issue persists. The best way I can describe this issue I am having, just to reiterate, is that once audio enters the side channels (or the right at least; haven't confirmed the left yet), it becomes very hollow, like the person on screen started talking through a funnel. So I got to thinking: if this issue is only affecting the side channels (again, left unconfirmed), is it possible the speaker stands could be a factor in all this? These are the stands I am using: https://audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PGDS03. The three pillars are able to be filled with sand or lead, however mine are currently empty. When you knock on them there is an empty, hollow sound. Maybe I'm just reaching and desperate for an answer here, but is it possible the stands can be affecting the audio of the side channels?


The Breaking Bad scene was where I first noticed the issue, but it is not the only time I have noticed it since.

[quote=cuzzin;21053462]
Have you tried raising the volume of the center channel slightly to offset the hollow sounding dialog? Do you have any setting on your AVR that alters the SQ of your LCR speakers? There is a setting on the Onkyo 886 called Theater-Dimensional that can be set to wide or narrow for the R&L front speakers. Maybe your AVR has a similar setting that is effecting the SQ of your LCR speakers.



No harm loading your speaker stands with sand or shot as I always did to add more weight to the speaker stands I have used. But I doubt that it is the stands loaded or not that are causing the issue you are hearing.


Other than a few movies you have heard this issue with do the majority of the movies that you have watched sound fine?

Bill

Hello Sierra 1 owners. I'm hoping you can help me out with a question. I am looking to buy the Sierra 1 speakers after all the fantastic reviews I have read. However, I am wondering if they are well suited for my setup. I will be using them for desktop speakers for critical music listening. They will be powered using a Peachtree Nova. The distance is what has me worried.

They will be 48" apart -that is the center of the woofer in both speakers. I will be sitting centered between them and 30 inches back from them. There is nothing behind them to intefere with the porting. The closest wall is 4 feet away. I'd appreciate your thoughts if you have a similar setup using them on a desk or close quarters.

I don't think you'd have any issue using them for near-field listening. You can also buy the optional Q-Plugs to help control the bass from your Sierra if you feel they are too close to your rear wall (or to help integrate the Sierra's with a subwoofer, if you buy one later on).

I find the sierra to be exceptional at near field. You can listen to them to prolonged periods and do not get listen fatigue. I would think this due to the smoothness if the tweeter.

I don't know if this is against the rules or not but I'm selling off my sierra 1's (light cherry fronts and an espresso center) to help out a close friends financial situation. Then I plan on buying the sierra towers around christmas. My speakers don't match due to buying a center after they stopped offering the light cherry.

Here's the audiogon listing http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.p...324277311&item

@all

I posted this particular question in the Ascend Community Forum, but I also wanted to get some feedback here at AVS.

I wanted to get some input from owners of the Sierra 1s for their front soundstage. I'm almost ready to make a purchase, but need to ask for advice re: the Sierra 1 center in either a Horizontal or Vertical Position. If any user has tried both orientations or if there are users of horizontal or vertical positioning, then I would like to get your feedback re: whether or not you all have you noticed any localization as in the sound not seeming to emanate from the center of the screen but rather from the speaker itself in your particular orientation of the Sierra 1.

These are some beautiful speakers and the WAF is out the roof! My wife really loves the dark cherry or espresso finishes, so I just want to make sure I get the best out of the center channel orientation since I'm 99% HT....But maybe after purchasing this, I may have the urge to get some music time in as well

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers!

My understanding is that the Sierra Center differs only in having its tweeter rotated 90 deg, go give better horizontal dispersion. I have mind horizontally and have never noticed any negative effects re localization, etc. (The L/C/R Sierra's are ~ 10 ft from the MLP.)

@millerwill

Thanks for your feedback. Was wondering what is the height of your center speaker stand and brand? I think we will also have about a 10ft seating distance as well.

The L & R speakers are on Sanus stands, see Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&key...l_1lkfoz82fa_e), the 24" or 30" high ones, can't remember which (and I'm out of town at present); just shoot to have the tweeters as ear ht. The center has to go underneath my screen (144x72), and is on a low equipment bench, but angled up (using the ubiquitous doorstops under the front edge!) toward ear ht. Not totally ideal, but works fine.

I use this center stand--it's rock solid and adjustable:

http://www.lovanusa.com/images/L-ML2CB-1887_bgls.jpg

@millerwill

Thanks for the info. I was definitely leaning towards either the 24" stands that Ascend sells on their site or going with 24" stands from Sanus. For the center, I was thinking the same solution using the doorstops.

@holt

That is a nice center speaker stand. The only issue I see is how low it is to the ground, but I guess there should be no issues since it is tilted up. By chance is their a stand like this but higher off the ground that can tilt in that manner? Do you use the Sierra 1 center vertically or horizontally?

It's definitely low to the ground, but I have it on top of a low media cabinet angled slightly upward. I've seen traditional "bookshelf-type" stands for centers but I needed something to go on top of my media cabinet, and wanted something nicer looking than Auralex Mopads. This is actually in my HT setup and my Sierras are in a 2.1 setup in another room, so no Sierra center. My Sierras are on stands by the same manufacturer as the center stand, Lovan.

I bought the 24" stands that Ascend sells for my Piano Black's. They look basic and clean, while also hiding the speaker wire. After putting some kitty litter in them and fiddling around with placement, they sound and look great.

Hopefully these links will come out, but these were the stands I was looking at prior to making the Ascend speaker stand purchase:

http://www.amazon.com/Lovan-Affiniti...1494092&sr=8-1

http://www.skylanstands.com/stands.htm

Just purchased three weeks ago that were b stock but tested the day after I purchased them by the date on the response curve sheet. I am experiencing the right one bottoming out when it's turned up. The left and center do not bottom out. I have a mrx 500 and the volume will bet at -10 when this occurs. Any ideas as to why this is happening? The receiver has them crossed over at 60 as chosen by arc room correction.

My guess is your AVR added a bunch of gain while EQ-ing during room correction. Try turning whatever EQ ARC has off and see if it still happens.

It did add room gain to 2. But why would this only happen on one speaker of the front three and not the others? Should I be concerned with the speaker?

While it's always possible that there is something wrong with the speaker, auto-eq software tends to be finicky and if by mistake tries to boost a null room mode, can quickly overextend any speaker's capabilities.

I would fully disable any EQ and run the speakers at the same volume level as before with the same program material. If it happens again, swap your left and right speakers and see if the problem follows. If you still have a problem or any concerns, I'd call or email ascend directly. I'm sure they will be happy to assist (they always are):

http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages...contactus.html

It is probably due to the placement of the particular speaker.

As jonny says, to test this, swap speaker locations, and run the EQ routine again.

Based on your description, it does sound like one of the speakers is exciting a room mode and your AutoEQ (ARC) is trying to compensate by boosting lower frequencies.

I would recommend the following:

Without changing any settings, swap the speaker that is bottoming with one that is not. If the speaker that is now in the same position as the speaker that was bottoming does not bottom on the same source material -- it could be a woofer issue. We fully test every speaker that leaves our factory but on rare occasion, a problem can arise after a few hours of usage. If this is the case, please give us a call.

If the swapped speaker is also bottoming in the same position -- ARC is adding too much low end boost. If you wish to use AutoEQ and you are using a subwoofer, simply raise the crossover point -- this will filter more low end information from the speakers and send it to the subwoofer. Should solve the problem quickly...

Please keep me updated, thanks!

I'm thinking about replacing my Paradigm Studio 20 v5's with some Sierra 1's in my two channel system. I'm just wondering if Parasound Halo gear is a good pairing with these speakers. Is anyone using Parasound gear to drive their Sierra's?

I had sierras(before the Halo amp) and now the ascend Towers with a Halo A21 and love the combo! I also use the parasound 2100 preamp, very nice 2ch pre. Parasound makes excellent well built gear for the price.

Right now I'm using the Marantz PM8003 IA to drive the Paradigm's, I made some changes to the amplification in my HT system so now I have an A23 that's collecting dust. A used halo P3 came up for sale in my area and I'm thinking about grabbing it, it'll only cost me $150 above the amount I can sell the Marantz for. Thanks for the insight on the pairing.

Are you familiar with the Paradigm sound? If so, how would the Sierra's compare or what were the difference's you perceived?

Here is a well excuted review on the Sierra's...after reading it I was sold...lol.

http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/showthread.php?t=4694