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Ascend Sierra 2-EX vs Other Options - HELP

16K views 43 replies 13 participants last post by  aarons915 
#1 ·
Hello, first off I love this place and thank you for all the vital and important info you guys provide! I am currently running a Sonos setup with Playbar, Sub, and two Sonos Ones as rears. I am looking to move to the NEW Sonos Amp, and a pair of bookshelves in hopes to achieve louder, better, and more dynamic sound with movies and video games. I will be keeping the Sonos Ones as rears, and I am open to upgrading the sub as well if needed.

Based on this setup and mainly the Sonos AMP, is there any bookshelf speakers better than the Ascend Sierra 2-EX for under $2-3k? Is the 85db sensitivity a concern for this amp and louder volumes? Any help or input is greatly appreciated!! Thank you!
 
#2 ·
I don't see how the Sonos Amp would be integrated into a video system? There is only one HDMI - how does it handle in and out? And, I see it has RCA inputs - would you use preouts from an A/V receiver? Or would you be swapping cables all the time between devices?
 
#4 · (Edited)
If you're willing to go the used route, these would compare favorably with the Sierra 2EXs


https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649545011-philharmonic-bmr-speaker-pair/images/2363967/


edit: My apologies. I actually meant to say that the BMRs would compare similarlry with the Sierra 2EXs. Guess I was more tired than I realized when typing, and said the opposite of what I meant. Not having heard the Sierras, I really believe these would sound very similar, with minor differences.
 
#19 · (Edited)
For the curious, here’s the link to a review showing the Sonos Amp pushes 200 Watts at 4 Ohms, without distortion: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ds/review-and-measurements-of-sonos-amp.6957/

You’ll note also that this review is a bit incomplete, because it’s really hard to test fully digital amplifiers (much to the reviewer’s frustration, unfortunately), since most testing equipment is geared towers analog amps. What this does show though is that the Sonos Amp has extremely low TDH+N in digital playback modes (which is the whole reason most people use Sonos Amp), but has poor performance if you use the analog inputs (high nose floor), and it handles very well all the way up to 200 Watts output (at 4 ohms) before encountering any distortion or clipping.
 
#24 · (Edited)
The two I would be most interested in comparing are the Sierra 2ex and Buchardt S400.
Me too! I haven’t heard the Buchardt, but I would expect it to at least match the Sierra 2EX bass response. However, I would be very surprised if it can compete with the RAAL ribbon tweeters in the Ascend in the treble department. It would be incredibly impressive if it did, though, but I just doubt it.

I’m a new Ascend fan after having bought my RAAL towers, and I can confirm the treble on these is truly something special. It’s addictively, amazingly good. It seems to combine all the best parts of metal dome and soft dome tweeters at the same time (plus a level of subtle fidelity and resolution that I simply have never heard from any other tweeter ever), where the sounds that you want to sound crisp and detailed and energetic all sound exactly so, yet while simultaneously without being harsh or fatiguing, and sounds thar should be gentle and delicate and soft sound just as good (if not better) than a soft dome would. (Honestly, I don’t know if I can ever go back to a non-RAAL tweeter after hearing these, that’s how good they are.)
 
#29 ·
Per the Rythmik quick guide, the "Bass Extension Filter" (14 Hz vs. 20 Hz vs. 28 Hz) affects the point at which things are rolled off below the setpoint. The "Low pass slope setting" (which is what I think is being discussed) is for Line In signals only (not LFE-In). I think it's disabled if you use LFE-In like I currently am...


Maybe I need to investigate reconfiguring for Line In....
 
#38 · (Edited)
@JordanT23 : My Ascend Sierra 2EX's arrived today as planned, and I'm listening to them right now. They're really amazing. Every rave you review I've seen is absolutely correct. Once you optimize speaker placement, the bass is really excellent for speakers of this size, but also (as expected of Ascend) so is every other frequency -- especially treble (due to the incredible RAAL ribbon tweeter they use). It's just all-around an amazing speaker that does everything stunningly well.

Right now I'm listening to it without any subwoofer, and the bass is still strong enough that I can feel surfaces around me vibrate at times. I agree with others who say it's almost tower-like. Of course, it's not going to be able to be subwoofer-like and cover 20-40hz flatly or up to high SPL, but I can totally see how many people would be extremely happy with a stereo pair of these alone (for the kinds of music where there's no deep bass; I'm still a big fan of subwoofers for music).

Regarding your questions about the Sonos Amp: I've tested pushing the volume fairly high, and I always reach the point of getting so loud that it physically hurts my ears before I notice any hints of stress from the speakers (or the Sonos Amp). The Sonos app uses an exponential volume scale, so most of the really loud volumes will occupy the last 10-20% of the volume bar, but don't let that make you think the amp is not powerful: as far as I can tell, it's more than capable of driving these to painfully loud levels (which is not surprising, given the specs). That said, your sound level sensitivity may be different from mine, so these subjective volume descriptions may not be absolutely helpful (aside from getting an SPL meter).
 
#39 ·
@JordanT23 : My Ascend Sierra 2EX's arrived today as planned, and I'm listening to them right now. They're really amazing. Every rave you review I've seen is absolutely correct. Once you optimize speaker placement, the bass is really incredible for speakers of this size, but also (as expected of Ascend) so is every other frequency -- especially treble (due to the incredible RAAL ribbon tweeter they use). It's just all-around an amazing speaker that does everything stunningly well.

Right now I'm listening to it without any subwoofer, and the bass is still strong enough that I can feel surfaces around me vibrate at times. I agree with others who say it's almost subwoofer-like. Of course, it's not going to be able to be subwoofer-like at 20-40hz, but I can totally see how many people would be extremely happy with a stereo pair of these alone.

Regarding your questions about the Sonos Amp: I've tested pushing the volume fairly high, and I always reach the point of getting so loud that it physically hurts my ears before I notice any hints of stress from the speakers (or the Sonos Amp). The Sonos app uses an exponential volume scale, so most of the really loud volumes will occupy the last 10-20% of the volume bar, but don't let that make you think the amp is not powerful: as far as I can tell, it's more than capable of driving these to painfully loud levels (which is not surprising, given the specs). That said, your sound level sensitivity may be different from mine, so these subjective volume descriptions may not be absolutely helpful (aside from getting an SPL meter).
I have mine set up right now and they are outstanding.
 
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