I just posted this in the audiokarma forum, hope it's okay to post it here too.
I just got through a listening session on the Sierra 2 vs my old Paradigm Monitor 7 v3(towers with 2 drivers and a metal tweeter) connected to my Denon AVR 4520 using a cd player as source. I was able to A/B the speakers by connecting the Sierras to zone 2 while the Paradigms were on main stereo 2 channel. No sub or processing.
I listened to a variety of music to get a feel for each speaker and was surprised that the Sierra's were not lacking in the bass compared to the towers and their much larger cabinet. In some rock or pop style music they were fairly close at times, though you could hear the ribbon tweeter was clearly more accurate.
But as I kept playing and listening, it began to be clear that the Paradigms seemed to be out of their depth. They sounded veiled at times going from speaker to speaker. Vocals was where this was most obvious. Then I reached for Dianna Krall's All For You cd.
The piano, the voice, the other instruments, wow. The Sierras had realism, detail, the sense that the band was in the room. The Paradigms gave a colored rendition of the music by comparison. Again they had no more bass than the Sierras, which impressed me to realize those small cabinets are something else. And with well recorded/produced stuff from Yo-Yo Ma as well, 3D imaging was apparent and not so much with the Paradigms.
I've always been a sucker for a pretty voice, and with Dianna the Sierras sounded gorgeous; clear, detailed, and emotional. As if there were no speakers at all, or the closest I've come to that sense.
As I mentioned earlier, I put them up against my Paradigm Signature S6 v2 as well. This was with Parasound gear, a A21/P7 system. They of course benefited from the superior electronics and larger room. Again, I actually preferred the mids and vocals of the Sierra, though I think in this case, personal preference would have a larger part to play, and the results were very close. Here the S6 won the nod over all due to the rest of the package, and well they should as they cost 4 times the retail of the Sierra 2. Impressive that the Sierras did so well, however.
Overall I am seriously impressed with the Ascend product. They offer the kind of detail and realism in a bookshelf that I've simply not heard before. I only bought a pair of them as a try out in the theater room. I'll be buying the center channel without hesitation once the budget allows.
