Sierra-1 Setup and Listening Tests

When setting up speakers, placement is always an important consideration. I set the speakers up about 7 1/2 feet from each other and each was about 7 1/2 feet from me. Neither of the speakers was closer than 1 1/2 feet from either a side or back wall. From here I played with the toe-in and decided that I preferred them toed-in just a hair. With the Sierra's pointed directly at me, I felt like they were way too forward and "in your face". You're going to have to play with the speakers in your room to see what you like best.

When ordering the Sierra-1's, you have the option of full shielding or not. This is usually associated with center channels which tend to live very close to displays. CRTs in particular are susceptible to magnetic interference from unshielded drivers. But the Sierra-1 isn't a center channel… or is it? If you'd like to use a Sierra-1 as a center channel, Ascend Acoustics will reorient the tweeter and provide a larger grill so that you can lay the speaker down on its side for easier placement near a display.

Listening Tests
While you can look forward to reading about the Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1 in our forthcoming bookshelf speaker shootout, for now you'll have to do with my observations and a few comparisons to the speakers I had on hand. The Usher Audio S-520's impressed me more than most any speaker has on an initial listen - especially at their price point. At $400 a pair (fully shielded and piano black) we are looking at a speaker that costs less than half as much as the Ascend Sierra's. They are just over half the size of the Sierra's as well. Regardless, it is important to remember that these comparisons were done sighted, by me, in my room. Many factors unrelated to the speakers in question could affect my perceptions. As always, you'll want to hear each of these speakers yourself before buying. I powered the Sierra-1's with Emotiva Audio's reference stereo combo the RSP-1 and the RPA-1 fed by a Denon DVD-3910 in pure direct mode.

One note; Ascend provides with each matched pair of speakers a chart of the frequency response of each speaker. These speakers are matched by hand to within +/-1dB of each other! The frequency response graph is actually from the production line measurements. Much like your first child's hand prints, proud owners can frame these and put them next to each speaker or mount on a wall for envious friends to see.

CD: Yello – the eye
Imaging. If you don't know what it is, you need new speakers. And if you want to know what it is, pick up a pair of Sierra-1's. The Sierra-1's really surprised me in their ability to image well. I placed the Sierra's in a variety of orientations - pointed straight forward, straight at me, and at a variety of toe-in angles. In every position, they imaged spectacularly. The soundstage was rock solid with vocals and instruments well placed and located. During this part of the testing, I did notice a little port noise as I was moving the speakers but I NEVER heard it from the listening position at ANY volume.

The only real "problem" I had with the Sierra's was a bit too much bass. That sounds weird in a bookshelf speaker review, but the Sierra's had such a strong bass response that I occasionally noticed a bit too much hold over on some notes and the midrange seemed a tad ill defined. In this case, this isn't such a bad tradeoff. For the most detailed midrange response, Ascend recommends using a subwoofer and crossover the speaker over at 60Hz. There was little music that I threw at the Sierra's that I felt was in need of a sub. The bass extension was even enough for the dreaded "Track 6" test that I put most speakers through. Will the Sierra's benefit from a sub, sure, but only to fill out the bottom end of the kick drum and for the occasional challenging track. Oh, and movies. You'll definitely need it for movies. But I didn’t need to tell you that did I?

CD: Bang & Olufsen Vol. XIII – The Sound of Perfection
It is hard for me to get away from this CD for reviews. There is just so much here to listen too. Just when I think I've exhausted every track, every nuance, I hear something else. I used this album a lot for the comparison of the speaker pairs I had on hand. One thing I was really interested in was treble extension. Once you get past your bass addiction (you can always tell a noobie as that's all they care about) you'll learn that treble is just as important. The Sierra's tweeter performed remarkably well easily out extending the Usher's. High hat's, cymbals, and more were easily reproduced. There were a couple of  cases where I was hearing things with the Sierra's that I wasn't hearing at all with other speakers. The Sierra's were less fatiguing and mostly held together even at higher volumes. Overall, the Sierra's provided an excellent listening experience.

CD: Various - Jazz at the Pawnshop
Like many of you reading this, I used to keep close track of the albums used for reviews and would occasionally pick one up. Jazz at the Pawnshop was just such an album. With lots of fast percussion, clarinet, sax, and xylophone, it is chock full of sounds that are both easily recognizable and hard on speakers. With the Sierra-1's I found myself enjoying this album as if it were the first time I'd ever listened to it. As a former bass guitarist in a jazz band, this album has a sort of nostalgia that makes me want to pick up the bass again. The imaging with the Sierra's was so good, it made be feel like I was actually sitting directly behind the band at a little night club (it's the clapping that ruins the "front row center" feeling). The bass did muddy up a bit during some of the more complex and challenging sections but overall the presentation was very good. The clarinet sounded very lifelike and realistic, the cymbals and snare were tight and present, and the bass guitar was sufficiently throaty and reverberant. There was definitely some information on the low end that was missing from the drum solos but the depth that the Ascend Sierra-1's reached was pretty staggering.

One thing that really struck me as I was listening to this album was how well the Sierra's provided an accurate and lifelike presentation of the music without being overly bright or "in your face." You hear terms like "laid back" and "warm" bandied about forums and audio discussions all the time and for each the connotations of those words is different. Let's just say this, I found the Sierra's to be very engaging - and that is a very good quality in a speaker.