I owned a Paradigm Studio v.3 setup for over a decade. I decided I was going to upgrade this year and remember a lot of owners comparing them to the Paradigm line, which is a very neutral sounding speaker. I had previously purchased the Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 for an arcade setup and was really impressed with them for the price.

I had contemplated buying the Paradigm Signature series and love the way they sound, but the price differential was multiple times the cost of my Studio setup. So after the Sierra-2 came out, they were always in the back of my mind. I purchased them last month and have really enjoyed them. They're better than my Studio series and I would say similar to the Signature series, but much cheaper. But the difference between my Studio speakers and the Sierra-2 isn't night and day. IMO, once you get to a certain level, the improvements are marginal at best. For example, the Sierra-2 sound a little clearer and image better than my Studio series.

So if you're building a system from ground up, I think that the Sierra-2 may be one of the best priced speakers out there. I would imagine that you would really like them, especially after spending some quality time listening to music and movies.

Ha! Yes they did arrive today! The build quality is phenomenal. I listened to few minutes tonight but will really listen tomorrow. Using a HTPC to listen to FLAC and SACD rips with JRiver.

Buttery smooth is my first impression. Soundstage is immense and detailed but I will confirm that tomorrow a little more. Going to try it with and without a sub as well.

Glad to hear that your initial impression is a positive one. Keep us
Updated! I bet your using one of your custom AR-1's as your source?

This feedback is tailor made for my situation. The reason I say that is I got in my truck and drove 2 hours and spent most of the afternoon Tuesday in an honest to goodness, old school high end audio/video store. You know...the kind with quality products and people who are enthusiasts and knowledgeable. Not a chain retailer.I listened to some of everything they had....Polk, Klipsch, M & L, B & W, Def Tech, Revel, Paradigm, Golden Ear & Wilson Audio. In fact, I may have listened to every speaker they had hooked up. (It was a slow day at the store and the sales guy and I just happened to really get along). After considering all factors that goes into these kinds of decisions, the Paradigms (either the monitor 11's or the Prestige line) were my "favorites". (The Wilson Sashas with separate McIntosh amps weren't bad either but I really don't want a divorce at this point in my life. the real cost of buying them would include lawyers fees, alimony, etc.).

I didn't pull the trigger but have asked the sales guy for a proposal on both the Paradigm series. Or I may wait until the upcoming holiday season hoping they run the same package deal they did last year. But there are speakers at or near this price point that I would also love to hear as well - including the Ascends. Others might be KEF's (esp. the LS50) and some of the Philharmonic Audio stuff.

Thanks to all for the responses. As I said, I don't recall anyone ever trying out the Sierra's and then moving on to a different speaker in the same price point.

That's good to hear.

The Prestige line are the successor to the Studio line, so they are the best bang for the buck in the Paradigm family. The Monitor line is closer to the Ascend CBM-170 and CMT-340. As I mentioned earlier, the Sierra-2 compares very favorably to the Studio/Prestige and even the Signature series. There's also a sale right now on a few of the Sierra-2 finishes (natural/piano black), so they're an even better bargain. Add a good subwoofer and you'll have a system I doubt you'll feel the need to upgrade for a long time.

Whatever you decide on between Paradigm or Ascend, you're probably going to be very happy.

Man these things flat out just crush a good quality guitar recording.

I think that's the highlight after a few hours in. Also vocals are amazing as well.

Actually everything sounds great.

I'm pleased.

Listen to Nils Lofgren "Keith don't go".... the guitar is amazing on the S-2's!

So where is the thread for the JV guys who own the CMT-340 SE's? I've a couple of questions about them.

Don't be afraid to reach out to Dave and the Ascend team directly. They love their craft and are very responsive.

I sent an email to sales at ascendacoustics dot com earlier today and called them 5 times to no avail.

Have you checked to see if anyone near you would audition them for you?

Be patient, you can either leave a detailed message or send them a detailed email, Dave and Dina will get back to you within a day or 2

If you really can't wait, post your questions here or over at the other ascend thread and I am sure fellow ascend owners will be more than willing to help you out..

Dina is their main customer service person and she can get really busy sometimes, so it's best to leave a message or ask them to call in an email. She always got back to me within a day or so.

I also encourage you to use the forum on the Ascend Acoustics page. I'm over there all the time and it's a great place with very helpful members.

Roger that!

I basically want to know if they are backordered on the CMT-350 SE F/C/R combos. I think I read somewhere that they were 5-6 weeks out on being able to ship. Also, do they put a hold on your CC and charge it once the items ship? If the wait is going to be 1.5 months, I'm going to cancel my order and go with something that can be at my door in a shorter time frame.

Ascend working hours are 10 am - 6 pm (PST). In your case, make sure to call after 1 pm. I'm pretty sure if you call Dina right now you will get her on the phone.

I was in a similar position about this time last year. I wanted to replace my front speakers, Polk RT3000p L/R and CSi A6 center, however I was looking for towers. After reading many reviews of other brands and building a list of possibilities, I ran across GunmetalR56's "Center channel- SVS Ultra vs. Aperion Verus Grand" thread, which got me interested in Ascend (which I had never heard of before this -- guess I have my head in the sand). Like you, I found almost no negative comments about their products and very positive comments for the RAAL tweeters with music (which is >90% of my listening). So with a leap of faith I purchased RAAL towers and horizon last March and I absolutely have no regrets. I'm thrilled every time I listen to them, which is several hours daily since I'm retired.

FWIW, I think the towers are a steal (probably as are all of Ascend's products). I purchased the RT3000p fronts in the mid 1990s for $3000. I was happy with them, but always felt the mids and highs were lacking detail. In March 2016 I purchased the Sierras in black matte for $2700 and I can't believe how much of an upgrade in sound it has been. There's nothing lacking and they sound great, regardless of the volume setting.

As for auditioning the Ascends, you might want to request an audition on the Ascend Acoustics forum as others have done. http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/for...oduce-Yourself .

I'm in Northern Colorado. If you're anyplace close, you're welcome to audition mine, but they're not S2s.

Jack

I started the 1st of my calls at 3 PM (EST). If I don't get an email response by Monday, I'll just go with the RBH R55Ti offerings on Amazon. Thanks for the responses!

Dina just responded to my email. Looks like the backorder information I received was "fake news". My speakers are shipping out in a few days! This feels just like when I was 12, waiting on high-end BMX parts to ship from CA!

I think you will like the 340's. I'm using 2 for surrounds in my 5.1 setup. They don't get a lot of direct work as surrounds, but I will listen to 5.1 audio sometimes or all-channel stereo mode just for fun and they do sound nice.

Hey guys I've been eyeing the Sierra 2's for awhile now and will probably be trying them out later this year but I was wondering if anyone could help out with a question. I recently auditioned some monitor audio gold 50 and thought they were amazing, they're the first real ribbon speakers I've heard. I'm just wondering if anyone has heard the gold 50's along with the sierra 2 and what their thoughts are.

I love the bamboo cabinet but the only thing that gives me pause is the mating of the 6 inch woofer with the RAAL close to 3kHz frequency, considering a 6 inch woofers dispersion starts to beam around 2300Hz. The MA gold is crossed at 2300 Hz which seems to be a more desirable point and also suggests a quality ribbon since it's able to be crossed that low. Maybe it doesn't matter though, I tend to worry about details that may not even matter sometimes lol. Either way I figure if they're very close the Sierra 2 is quite a bit cheaper and may be worth buying a pair to audition against the MA 50.

RAAL ribbons are generally regarded more favorably than ribbon tweeters from C-CAM. Don't worry about the details about cross-over. Dave Fabrikant knows how to design a speaker, and if you read the Sierra-2 thread on the Ascend Forum, you can see what pains he went through to have a special woofer designed to mate with the tweeter. The performance of this driver is absolutely stunning. Value is what you get. Price is what you pay. The sound quality of the Sierra-2 is such that it can go toe to toe with speakers priced 3 times higher. If you understand how the retail chain works, you'll understand that the retail mark-up is about 100%. And I can tell you right now that the components used in the Sierra-2 are superior to the components used in the Monitor Gold bookshelves.

Audition them both as ears are different. But I prefer the sound of the Sierra-2 over something as highly regarded as the B&W 805 D2. I haven't heard the D3.

First of all I wasn't saying Dave doesn't know how to design a speaker or implying it, ascend speakers are highly regarded for good reason I'm sure, even though I haven't heard a pair yet. Most of the rest of your post doesn't seem to be backed by much, I haven't found a technical comparison anywhere between RAAL and MA ribbons, probably because the MA is proprietary technology and isn't sold to other companies. So all we can really speculate about the quality is through the specs so since it is able to be crossed over at 2300Hz and has extension up to 60kHz suggests a quality ribbon.

The components in the sierra 2 may very well be of higher quality than the MA gold but again I don't see how you know this for sure since the MA are proprietary and very hard to directly compare to retail components. Considering price points you're probably right but with trickle down technology from the platinum series it's not always so simple.

Buying Sierra 2's probably is the best approach though just for peace of mind.

I think this is exactly why Dave together with SEAS created the new custom woofer for Sierra-2 so the woofer can operate still in piston range at higher frequency..

If you have any concern, take a look at the Horizontal and vertical off-axis graphs plus listening window on this link

http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages.../srm2meas.html

Base on my own experience, which is also backed up by the measurement, you will be fine as long as you can keep your ears at tweeter level

As you can see, Sierra-2 has remarkable horizontal off-axis response and it does has some dips once you are more than 5 degrees off-axis vertically

(which in my case, was a good thing as I had the ability to add acoustic treatment to walls but not to ceiling..

This will answer all your questions. No one here can listen with your ears.

I own the Sierra 2's and have heard them next to the MA Gold 200. I though that the Sierra 2 was the better speaker. This is just my opinion and should mean nothing to you.
Buy the Sierra 2's and do your own comparison. Please come back and let us know what you think.

If you're talking about trickle-down from the Platinum line, I can only say that RAAL's true ribbon tweeters are generally considered the best. The Heil airmotion technology (AMT) accordion-like motion tweeters (like that found in the Platinum line) have really closed the gap, and I hear the newest ones sound amazing. The Monitor Gold tweeters look like Fountek tweeters which are no slackers but again are not as highly regarded as RAAL tweeters and are around 1/4 of the price. But how the components are matched and integrated into the speaker is more important than the quality of the individual parts. I highly doubt the tweeter technology was developed in house by Monitor. Those look like Foundtek NeoX tweeters with a different front panel to fit into Monitor speakers.

Everyone has different ears. Let us know what you think after you audition them.

Jack - thanks for the link! I have just posted over there. Also, appreciate the offer to hear your set up. It's a bit far for me though.

You're welcome and good luck with an audition!
Jack

Monitor audio designs and manufactures their own drivers and have for a long time as far as I know, you know this is the norm for bigger speaker companies right? Either way I agree with you and others that I need to audition them I was just hoping that someone might have heard both.

Received my Sierra 2's today. Loving the sound profile vs. my B&W's. I'm pleased to report that I don't get any reflections from my TV with the piano black (Was a little concern after a post a few pages back).

Still need more listening time to be able to articulate what I like about what I'm hearing but my immediate reaction is wow.

Hello Everyone,

I have decided to buy Ascend Acoustic Sierra 2 as my LCR speakers and HTM-200 SE as surround. Could you please, suggest some good stands for Sierra 2 but more importantly good wall mounts for HTM-200 SE.

Thanks,
Mag