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** For a nominal fee, we will take a full suite of CEA-2034 measurements of the speakers you are purchasing using our Klippel NFS. Results will be emailed to you in a PDF file. We can also provide the raw data in text format.

** Note: NFS measurements take ~6 hours per speaker, as such these are not refundable.
$838.00

Our New Benchmark Bookshelf Ribbon Speaker

New Klippel NFS optimized version!

Using high resolution 360-degree measurements generated by our Klippel NFS, we developed a new method of integrating our Sierra-2 RAAL ribbon with our EX woofer, greatly improving directivity and providing a more linear and appealing in-room response.

Featuring our proprietary 6" SEAS EXCEL Curv™ Woofer. With the development of this shockingly high-performance woofer, we have improved upon every aspect of our award winning Sierra-2.

Over 1.5 years in development and taking full advantage of the best transducer engineers in the business, we are excited to once again set a new performance standard. High-end tower-like speaker performance in a compact beautiful bookshelf-sized speaker.

Follow the development of the Sierra-2EX from beginning to end:
Sierra-2EX Development

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SIERRA-2EX V2 CENTER DESCRIPTION

 

A while back, we were privileged to be introduced to a new super high-end diamond tweeter SEAS developed called the White Diamond. We were extremely impressed and immediately requested that SEAS build us up a matching cost-no-object woofer based on specific parameters to meet our performance goals.

About one year later and after many samples, we had our new woofer and we started building and selling custom Sierra Diamond speakers. These custom Sierra Diamond speakers start at ~$8000/pair, thus greatly limiting their affordability.

The performance of the Sierra Diamond is astonishing, but customers as well as those who auditioned this speaker noted that as impressed as they were with the diamond tweeter, the woofer was equally impressive. We fully agreed. The midbass punch, bass extension, midrange detail, frequency response linearity, and overall dynamics was the best we had ever come across in a woofer this size, and even compared to many larger woofers.

Our own customers started to inquire about using this woofer in many of our designs, including our most successful speaker to date, our award-winning Sierra-2. Problem was, being a true custom build - each of these woofers was being hand made for us by SEAS’s engineering team. These had never been mass produced.

As a company, we have always tried to give our customers and fans what they ask for – this is a major advantage of selling direct – we get to communicate directly with consumers. Upon witnessing the massive amount of interest in a Sierra-2 with this woofer, we became fully committed to make it happen.

SEAS went to work on optimizing manufacturing processes and parts procurement – while we committed to purchasing a large enough supply to make it beneficial for both SEAS and Ascend and get the per unit pricing down to a point to make it affordable, a true win-win.

Our EX woofer is part of SEAS’s Excel line, using an optimized version of the venerable W16 motor system – customized to best match a new specially treated Curv woofer cone. Our EX woofer is a purely custom build compared to the stock W16 and is exclusive to Ascend Acoustics.

The Sierra-2EX improves upon every performance aspect of the Sierra-2. This is a true benchmark product and thanks to the feedback and inquiries from all of you – we fully committed ourselves to making it happen and we could not be any more pleased with the results.

Hand assembled, tested and packaged in the USA, we are so confident of the component and build quality of the Sierra-2EX that we are backing it by a comprehensive 7 year parts & labor warranty. Left / right pairs are matched by hand to within ± 1dB and we are including a printout of the actual production line response measurement of each speaker.

We dare say it, but you simply cannot find this type of quality control, care and pride from products that are fully assembled and tested in overseas manufacturing facilities.

We must warn you though, once you have heard what these RAAL true ribbon tweeters are capable of, there simply is no turning back...

We thank you for your interest!

SIERRA-2EX V2 CENTER FEATURES

 

  • All Sierra-2EX V2 are hand assembled, tested and packaged at our factory in Orange County, CA
  • A serialized production line frequency response measurement is included with each speaker
  • 7 year manufacturer's warranty + 30-day satisfaction guarantee

Cabinet:

  • Exclusive vertically laminated bamboo cabinet construction dramatically reduces cabinet resonance for a cleaner, more detailed, and transparent performance
  • Cabinet is a stunningly beautiful natural hardwood finish, there are no veneers and as such, no need to be concerned about peeling veneers or wraps or veneer cracks
  • Cabinet is fully environmentally friendly as the bamboo we source is a completely renewable resource
  • Unlike MDF, our bamboo cabinets are formaldehyde free (nearly all speaker cabinets use MDF)

Woofer:

  • Fully custom manufactured by SEAS of Norway to our specifications and exclusive to Ascend Acoustics
  • Long-throw design for high power handling and extended bass
  • SEAS’s exclusive SpiderRing® technology improves suspension alignment for higher long term reliability, improved power handling and improved mechanical linearity
  • Custom cast magnesium frame for a stiffer and lighter basket frame allowing for less material behind the woofer cone reducing back-wave reflections for enhanced detail, better airflow and less cavity resonance
  • Radially reinforced surround reduces surround resonances at higher excursions and provides for better overall damping
  • Exceptionally large magnet system combined with symmetrical driving force
  • Pure copper upper and lower shorting rings to reduce distortion, linearize magnetic flux, and dramatically reduce inductance
  • Massive pure copper phase plug improves off-axis dispersion, greatly reduces any beaming, improves power handling and thermal compression by acting as a massive heat sink, and enhances the functions of the upper and lower shorting rings
  • Vented pole-piece and open spider for enhanced air-flow and cooling, minimizing compression artifacts.
  • Exclsuvie SEAS Curv™ cone technology (woven polypropylene) featuring a newly developed damping treatment for exceptional self-damping, extremely low mass, high stiffness combined with exceptional self-damping providing greater detail while remaining smooth with no harsh cone break-up modes

Tweeter:

  • Fully custom true ribbon tweeter manufactured by RAAL in Serbia to our specifications
  • True ribbon tweeter has no voice coil, the pure aluminum ribbon is the only electrical conductor and the only moving part
  • Extremely low moving mass design, typically less than 1/50th the mass of a dome tweeter, enabling near instantaneous acceleration / deceleration, and no stored energy all combined to provide near perfect transient reproduction
  • Class-leading horizontal dispersion width provides a huge soundstage and precise imaging
  • High powered neodymium magnets in a unique homogenous design (equal strength magnetic field throughout the entire ribbon area) provides lower distortion and less stress on the ribbon diaphragm
  • Critically damped rear chamber to absorb the back wave of the ribbon diaphragm, improving frequency response linearity and overall transparency

Crossover:

  • Klippel NFS optimization for enhanced directivity, accurate tonality and improved driver integration
  • Large open topology with proper inductor spacing and orientation to reduce mutual inductance and saturation
  • Heavy gauge pure copper traces to reduce resistance and provide higher power handling
  • Featuring metallized polypropylene capacitors
  • Air-core inductors in the direct signal path

SIERRA-2EX V2 CENTER SPECIFICATIONS

 

Typical In-Room Frequency Response 34Hz - 27kHz
Typical In-Room Sensitivity 88dB @ 2.83v / 1 meter
Nominal Impedance 8 ohms
Max Continuous Power* 150 watts
Max Short Term Peak Power* 300 watts
Cabinet Detail Exclusive V-LAM™ construction featuring 20mm thick vertically laminated bamboo, internally braced. Bass reflex via flared rear port tube
Tweeter Custom made RAAL true ribbon tweeter featuring a 10mm wide pure aluminum ribbon with a total moving mass of less than 1/100th of a gram
Woofer Proprietary 6” long-throw low mass treated Curv™ cone Excel woofer, non-resonant cast magnesium frame, radially reinforced surround, SEAS SpiderRing® technology, solid copper phase plug, upper and lower copper shorting rings, vented pole-piece and vented spider. Custom made for us by SEAS of Norway and exclusive to Ascend Acoustics
Connections (2) gold plated all metal 5 way binding posts
Inserts 1/4-20 threaded insert for securing to our TP-24 stands
   
Bass Extension (-6dB) 42Hz
Anechoic Frequency Response 51Hz - 27kHz +/- 3dB
Anechoic Sensitivity 85dB @ 2.83v / 1 meter
   
Dimensions H x W x D** 7.5" x 14.25" x 10.5" positioned horizontally
Speaker Weight (each) 20 pounds
Shipping Weight (each) 21 pounds
   
Minimum Recommended Amplifier Power Rating for Speaker Distance to Listening Position
3 Feet or Less 3 watts minimum
9 Feet or Less 26 watts minimum
15 Feet or Less 60 watts minimum
21 Feet or More 120 watts minimum
   
     *Unclipped peaks      **Grille On

SIERRA-2EX V2 CENTER MEASUREMENTS

 

* The below anechoic measurements are high-resolution full-range 360-degree scans taken with our Klippel Near Field Scanner.  A minimum of 800 individual measurements are taken to generate these advanced measurements, typically requiring a minimum of 6 hours.  These are unsmoothed and fully conform to CEA/CTA-2034 standards.

These measurements are as accurate as is currently technically possible.

Due to the costs, space requirements and complexity, very few manufacturers own or have access to a Klippel NFS, nor would they ever publish such detailed data on their products. Ascend Acoustics is and always has dared to be different.

For information regarding the CTA-2034 standard, please click here: CTA-2034

For information regarding the Klippel NFS, please click here: Klippel NFS Video and Technical Data

** All measurements below are with the speaker positioned in horizontal orientation, as is typical for center channel usage.

 

Sierra-2EX V2 Center CEA-2034

 

Sierra-2EX V2 Center EIR

 

Sierra-2EX V2 Center Early Reflections

 

Sierra-2EX V2 Center Contour Plot

 

Sierra-2EX V2 Center Impedance and Phase

 

Sierra-2EX V2 Center Off-Axis PIR

*Note: Our exclusive Off-Axis Estimated In-Room Response measurement is a critical performance metric. It is an accurate comparison of the differences a listener should expect to hear sitting at different off-axis angles from the speaker; on-axis, +/- 10 degrees horizontally, +/- 20 degrees horizontally and +/- 30 degrees horizontally.

This is a modern and more accurate prediction of in-room speaker performance at different listening angles compared to a simple off-axis measurement graph. This measurement graph accounts for both direct sound and indirect sound and requires thousands of individual off-axis measurements that are then processed through complex algorithms to derive the results. In comparison, an off-axis measurement is just a single response measurement that does not account for the actual directivity of the speaker and is not representative of what we actually hear.

This is stunning off-axis performance for a horizontally positioned center channel! There is less than 1/2dB of deviation between the different off-axis positions (basically inaudible) and this is based on accepted science determining what the listener will hear from this speaker in a typical listening environment.

SIERRA-2EX V2 CENTER SUMMARY

 

The Sierra-2EX V2 improves upon every performance aspect of the Sierra-2 and the measurements are outstanding!

Mids are cleaner - smoother sounding with more weight to them (they sound warmer, fuller with more detail). Because of the upper end improvements, we were able to use a steeper high pass filter slope on the tweeter, easing the workload on the ribbon tweeter which in turn increases power handling, lowers distortion and provides for an even better overall blend between the woofer and tweeter.

The Sierra-2EX sounds like our Sierra-2, but is warmer/fuller, cleaner (especially at louder volume levels), more musical and with rather shocking dynamics. And, if run full range - the bass response seems to defy the laws of physics -- it is tower-like. In direct A/B comparisons with speakers using very high quality larger woofers, the EX woofer hit harder and deeper.

This is a true benchmark product and thanks to the feedback and inquiries from all of you – we fully committed ourselves to making it happen and we could not be any more pleased with the results.

SIERRA-2EX V2 CENTER

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