[jsaliga]

Since you demand my opinion I'll give it.  I think chocolate ice cream is always the best.  It can only be made better by putting more chocolate in it, flakes, pieces, swirls, whatever, more chocolate is always better.

   I have always believed that any food can be greatly improved by adding a sufficient quantity of bacon to it...even chocolate ice cream.

--Jerome

[Bob2]

  I have always believed that any food can be greatly improved by adding a sufficient quantity of bacon to it.

Oh, Hell yes!

[Yog Sothoth]

Haha, thanks guys!  All opinions welcome, and I suspect barring a couple of holdouts almost everyone would concur.  Certainly more agreement than all the differing audio opinions!

[aceinc]

My opinion is that opinions are akin to rectums, everyone has one, but seldom do you want to hear someone else's.

[charmerci]

After much research and soul searching I have decided to build a pair of Philharmonic BMR monitors rather than upgrade the Ascends.

I ordered the parts from Meniscus and the flatpack cabinets from Speakerhardware.  I'm excited about building another pair of speakers; I've been so ill for so long I've not been able to do much. While I wait, I must also clean out my garage (workshop really, as a car has never been in it!).

Thank you all for your input; your suggestions have been very helpful.  If anyone has built these and has any advice I would welcome it gladly.  I've also turned up plenty of information online.

That's so cool!

In terms of building those speakers, you'll probably find the best people are on the avsforum philharmonicaudio speaker thread - but avoid discussing about anything else as a Denon/Pioneer, etc. AVR is "all you need." 

[Yog Sothoth]

That's so cool!

In terms of building those speakers, you'll probably find the best people are on the avsforum philharmonicaudio speaker thread - but avoid discussing about anything else as a Denon/Pioneer, etc. AVR is "all you need." 

Awesome, thank you!  Despite aceinc's truism, it's not all undesirable rectums after all!

I'll try to keep a running photolog of the construction to post.  I think the construction will be pretty straightforward, especially since I've build speaker cabinets from scratch before.  Where I have zero experience is in finishing Baltic birch.  Likely go with the suggestion from the flatpack supplier.  But I'm open to any other rectums, er, opinions, too!

[Daryl Zero]

Awesome, thank you!  Despite aceinc's truism, it's not all undesirable rectums after all!

I'll try to keep a running photolog of the construction to post.  I think the construction will be pretty straightforward, especially since I've build speaker cabinets from scratch before.  Where I have zero experience is in finishing Baltic birch.  Likely go with the suggestion from the flatpack supplier.  But I'm open to any other rectums, er, opinions, too!

I would love to hear your opinion on the Philharmonic BMRs. I went to an Audio Show in Phoenix in August and heard those speakers. There were a couple of other show-goers who raved about those speakers. It wasn't an ideal way to hear them but they really didn't do anything for me. I was seriously considering the Ascends you were cogitating about so, in the name of science, I demand you provide your opinion.

[Yog Sothoth]

I would love to hear your opinion on the Philharmonic BMRs. I went to an Audio Show in Phoenix in August and heard those speakers. There were a couple of other show-goers who raved about those speakers. It wasn't an ideal way to hear them but they really didn't do anything for me. I was seriously considering the Ascends you were cogitating about so, in the name of science, I demand you provide your opinion.

I will say the Ascends are fantastic; I don't think you can go wrong with them!  The RAAL tweeter is very smooth, and the transition between the RAAL and the woofer is seamless.  The only reason I'm moving to the BMRs is I've been anxious to build something (and they use the RAAL tweeter!).  I've been in the process of cleaning out 8 years of workshop constipation (I have been in hospital, gravely ill, undergoing organ transplants) so I can begin working on projects.  I now have all the parts and the flatpack cabinet for the BMRs and should begin their construction as soon as I finish a small set of bedroom speakers I'm working on.  I will definitely post here the process and results.

[AllanS]

I’ve had a pair of the previous generation (7” Scan-Speak) of Philharmonic BMR in Salk boxes for about 4 years. I auditioned the Sierra 2EX for a month but decided to go with a pair of Salk Supercharged SongSurrounds.  No fault of the Sierras. The cabinets are beautiful, solid, and well built. Unless something has changed both BMR and Sierra EX use the same RAAL 64/10 tweeter.

Both are fine speakers but in my experience the BMR is a step above.  Dave did a masterful job with the EX.  They occasionally surprised me how deep they would dig.  But the BMR has the driver and box size advantage.  And Dennis Murphy is a cross over magician.

At the end of the day I’d happily recommend either the BMR oSierra EX.  But I think they scratch different itches.  The BMR is a big book shelf speaker with a fuller sound.

[BPT]

Here is your comparison.
BPT

[Yog Sothoth]

Here is your comparison.
BPT

Oh, that's great, thank you!

[Daryl Zero]

I've just picked up the Ascend Sierra LX to play with. Big mids and it digs low. Nice sounding speaker. I swapped some KEF LS50 Metas which I had in the area to compare and the LX filled the room better but didn't have the highs that the KEFs did so well. There have been a few user reviews out there and I'm thinking the LX might be better in a HT set up but I'd like to see if it breaks in and opens up.

[Yog Sothoth]

I've just picked up the Ascend Sierra LX to play with. Big mids and it digs low. Nice sounding speaker. I swapped some KEF LS50 Metas which I had in the area to compare and the LX filled the room better but didn't have the highs that the KEFs did so well. There have been a few user reviews out there and I'm thinking the LX might be better in a HT set up but I'd like to see if it breaks in and opens up.

Interesting.  The Sierra 2EXs have have the RAAL ribbon tweeter and they shine especially in the high frequencies.  I've never heard the LXs so that's good information to know!

[Daryl Zero]

Right now, if you want that upper end beauty and transparency, stick with the Sierra 2EX. I'm still trying to figure out this LX and I like it but not the high ends. I don't know if there is a fix for that or whether there is a break in period. It really sounds great in the HT set up but not as much in a stereo set up. There is an interesting user review here:

https://byrneweb.com/sunburn/blog/2022/05/01/ascend-acoustics-sierra-lx-vs-sierra-2ex-comparison/ 

I would say that the review is fairly accurate. I don't know about measurements. Maybe I'm used to ribbon and AMT tweeters but I miss that in the speaker in the two channel system so the LX is a bit frustrating there. The mids and lows are really something though.

[BPT]

Daryl Zero--are you using EQ (https://pierreaubert.github.io/spinorama/eqs.html) on these speakers when making comparison. It would be nice to have your comparison opinion with EQ on each.
BPT

[Yog Sothoth]

Right now, if you want that upper end beauty and transparency, stick with the Sierra 2EX. I'm still trying to figure out this LX and I like it but not the high ends. I don't know if there is a fix for that or whether there is a break in period. It really sounds great in the HT set up but not as much in a stereo set up. There is an interesting user review here:

https://byrneweb.com/sunburn/blog/2022/05/01/ascend-acoustics-sierra-lx-vs-sierra-2ex-comparison/ 

I would say that the review is fairly accurate. I don't know about measurements. Maybe I'm used to ribbon and AMT tweeters but I miss that in the speaker in the two channel system so the LX is a bit frustrating there. The mids and lows are really something though.

Yeah I think I would really miss the shimmering highs if I went back to a non-ribbon high end.  I'm in the process of building a set of Philharmonic BMRs and they use the same RAAL tweeter; I'll be very interested to hear them when they are done.  Ultimately I'll have to sell the Ascends to cover the BMRs though.

[Daryl Zero]

Daryl Zero--are you using EQ (https://pierreaubert.github.io/spinorama/eqs.html) on these speakers when making comparison. It would be nice to have your comparison opinion with EQ on each.
BPT

Not using eq. My amp is the Cambridge Audio CXA81 which does not have tone controls. The app on the phone or ipad probably can do some eq but I haven't needed it for the LS50s. The amp is a bit on the warm side so that might be taming the LS50s to a degree as I have read about others complaining that they are too bright. In my HT set up, the LXs are driven by a Denon AVR and sound pretty good there. There is more room and open space but there are several other speakers so I'm not as zoned into what they sound like there.