Nice review of the 'LS-50 killer' - Sierra 2's with RAAL ribbon tweeter

I have owned the Sierra-1 for 6 years. I have had my heart set on soon upgrading to the Spendor S3/5R2. However, reading this thread has gotten me interested in the Sierra-2. My room is pretty small though so I think the Spendor may be better for my space.

 

I owned S3/5R2's and thought they were a great little speaker. I do think the Sierra-2 is quite a bit better.

If you room is pretty small check out the new 'Sierra Luna'. It's a Sierra-2 type speaker that's smaller - 6X6X10. Brand new, just started shipping last week. Mine will be here Wednesday.

Probably needs a woofer, but the $500 SVS sub works great in my office setup.

 

Wow I was just checking out the Luna and they do look nice! It looks like there is no rear port, correct? There is a slot type front port? Also do you mind me asking what the price is?

 

$1200. Here's everything you could want to know about them, all 658 posts:

New for 2016 - Introducing the Luna Mini Monitor! !

 

FWIW, I'm also using Skylan stands with mine. They are more damped in the high treble and have a very blacker background than a metal stand. I've also used metal stands with them and they sound great, as well. It's a livelier sound. The soundstage feels bigger and there is a little less thickness in the low mids. I went with the Skylans cause I have a kid and Noel will customize your top plate for ya so you can make everything super-secure. Both types of stands sound great. It's really a matter of what type of presentation you prefer.

Dave at Ascend typically recommends the Sanus SF series for the Sierras. I believe he does his demos and testing on those stands as well, which is great cause they're really cheap. Can't hurt to try those first as they are readily available at a lot of places with generous return policies.

 

My brother was looking for a pair of bookshelf speakers a couple of months ago and was considering the LS50s and the Sierra 2s with the RAAL. He bought a pair of the Sierra 2s and after doing some direct comparisons in the same system and room we both felt the LS50 was the superior speaker.

To both of us and my sister in law the Kef was smoother and far more natural. The Sierra's did some things well, but to us they had an unnatural hyper-detailed sound that completely took us out of the music. He sent back the Sierra's and ended up going with the LS50.

I felt like I should share my experience with both models to give another viewpoint. As always your experience may vary based on your system and preferences.

 

The Sierra was giving you a closer look at what was happening upstream with your system?

 

That's always a possibility , but I don't see how that could be the case. I've used the other equipment with many other speakers including Wilson Sabrina's and Acoustic Zen Crescendo IIs and haven't observed those qualities in any setup other than with the Sierra's.

The two amps we used were the Hegel H300 and the Primaluna Prologue Premium integrated amps. Both are quite different and the qualities we noted were consistent with either.

I can see how people could like the characteristics Sierra 2's, but they just didn't work for myself or my brother when we compared them to the LS50. I think it's likely just a matter of different tastes.

 

Yeah. And so many variables, before one even accounts for taste.

 

FWIW Thinking about what you said, I did some messing around yesterday and it didn't take much to get the Sierras to the point where there was way too much detail. I switched out one copper cable for a silver Black Cat Lectraline XE between the SACD player and the solid state amp and it was already too much zip for my taste. I am inclined to say that anything that will lean the sound towards a brighter presentation will immediately be noticeable with the Sierras. But, with the right type of setup, they are pretty magical.

 

Question for you, and any others here who might be able to help me. I've owned Sierra Towers with NrT tweeters for years, and have recently been thinking of sending them back for the RAAL tweeter upgrade. When I sit in the listening position, the tweeters are just slightly lower than ear height. Do you think this might be an issue? I can't do much to adjust either the seat or the speaker. Does the sound really deteriorate a lot when you're standing up and walking around?

These speakers have been the best I've ever owned, and although it's been years I have no itch to try another brand. The sound is natural and full, with a lush midrange that is perfect for my preferences. As much as I love the speakers, if the RAAL is a significant improvement I will just have to do it. I'm just concerned about the directional issue because I've never really thought of that before.

 

Can you tilt the speakers back by raising the front a little bit. If your speakers are on solid floors just put a couple of pennies under the front spikes. The simplest and cheapest solutions often work the best.

 

In my previous home, the ribbons were maybe an inch or two below ear level, but it did not impact the high end extension that much. Maybe a tiny bit. This was on the Skylan stands. I did find myself slouching in the chair though, from time to time, to get a little more detail. But again, Skylan stands, from my experience can be a bit damped up top. I found since the metal stands had a livelier sound- they were more forgiving of tweeter placement. Point being, floor standers might be more on the more forgiving side, maybe not. I'm sure Dave at Ascend could tell you.

I walk around the house all day long and still enjoy the speakers a whole lot. Does the high end dip some when you stand, yeah. But my old dome tweeters did to some degree, as well. It doesn't really bother me. The Ascend forum has a ton of information available on the ribbons. (I think there were even some frequency response charts that showed the high frequency drop off based on vertical axis.)

 

Thanks for the replies... Great advice. I've tried looking through the Ascend Acoustics forum but haven't found many mentions of the vertical dispersion. I might send Dave a quick note to get his thoughts as well.

 

I've owned the Sierra 2's for about a year, and absolutely love them. I'm powering them with a Rega Elex-R, and it's a really nice combo. My previous favorites with this amp were the Dynaudio X12's, but they seemed to lack a little fullness in the bass for the size of my room (they did image like crazy though). I even had Dynaudio Focus 160's, and I still think the Sierra's are better - at least with the rest of my gear, and my room. Definitely worth a listen.

 

I've been running the little 'Sierra Luna's' with a $500 SVS sub for two, three months now and it's spectacular.

I'd prefer this setup to a pair of Sierra-2's. If you don't want to do a sub, get the 2's, but the Luna's and a sub is wonderful.

 

ls35a I hope you come back to this thread because I would like to know in a room 20x14 if you think the Luna's and a SVS sub be enough to energize that size room. I listen mostly to classic rock. I currently own the Golderear Aon 2 with the sub and it does a great job but I'm very interested in those Luna speakers

 

That's a tough call. My home theater is about that size, maybe 17x14 and I'm using Proac Tablette 10's in it with a big SVS sub and it works great.

Do you have the speakers on the long wall so you're sitting closer to them, or on the short wall so you're farther away?

If I have some time this weekend I'll take the Luna's upstairs and see how they sound in that room.

If you had a home theater setup, or some other setup where the speakers weren't running full range I'd say maybe. But if you're running the speakers full-range and the sub just 'added on' I'd say forget it.

My AVR only puts out above 80hz to the main speakers so they're not stressed at all.

 

Yes the speakers are on the long wall and I sit approx. 11 feet away. The speakers are 9 feet apart due to wall unit. I have a Yamaha 800 receiver which I cross over at 80hz with the SB 1000 which I believe the Luan's require. The Aon 2 fill the room pretty well and sound really nice but like I said I am very intrigued with the Raal tweeter and the over all size of the speaker. (waf). Thanks

 

I am considering getting some Lunas to wall-mount, but am still quite fond of my 2's. Any particular reason you prefer the Lunas with a sub to the 2s?

 

Huge image, lower and punchier bass. I like a well balanced 2.1 setup.

 

Right on. Did you wall mount the Lunas, or are you keeping them on stands?

 

Has anybody compared these two in the intervening months?

 

They're on bookcases about five inches from the long wall between my desk.

 

Curious about the Lunas as I don't see them on their website?