# Magnepan 3.7's v. Ascend Acoustics Sierra Towers



## vidiot33 (Dec 12, 2013)

Hi: I wonder if anyone has heard both the Magnepan 3.7's and Sierra Towers and would offer their thoughts. Although I like many things about the Maggie's, they may not be optimal for home theater, my primary use for them. They excel with Jazz and Classical, as was pointed out by a reviewer in the $2500 Speaker Evaluation for the Magnepan 1.7's, and is equally applicable to the 3.7's, although they do go lower. Also, would anyone suggest another brand they feel might be an upgrade for the 3.7's for home theater use? (In the $2-$4 k range). Many thanks!


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

vidiot33 said:


> Hi: I wonder if anyone has heard both the Magnepan 3.7's and Sierra Towers and would offer their thoughts. Although I like many things about the Maggie's, they may not be optimal for home theater, my primary use for them. They excel with Jazz and Classical, as was pointed out by a reviewer in the $2500 Speaker Evaluation for the Magnepan 1.7's, and is equally applicable to the 3.7's, although they do go lower. Also, would anyone suggest another brand they feel might be an upgrade for the 3.7's for home theater use? (In the $2-$4 k range). Many thanks!


I have heard both, and I prefer the Ascends as I feel they perform just as well in the high end, and really outperform the Maggies in the low end.

What is your movie/ music listening split? Also, when you listen to music, would you be adverse to crossing to a sub? Having heard the JTR Noesis speakers, they are an excellent choice for home theater and fall into your budget range. However, they play down to about 65-70 Hz (if memory serves) so they really need to be crossed to a sub. That said, they are perfect for HT as they handle dynamics extremely well.


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## vidiot33 (Dec 12, 2013)

ALMFamily said:


> I have heard both, and I prefer the Ascends as I feel they perform just as well in the high end, and really outperform the Maggies in the low end.
> 
> What is your movie/ music listening split? Also, when you listen to music, would you be adverse to crossing to a sub? Having heard the JTR Noesis speakers, they are an excellent choice for home theater and fall into your budget range. However, they play down to about 65-70 Hz (if memory serves) so they really need to be crossed to a sub. That said, they are perfect for HT as they handle dynamics extremely well.


Hi: Appreciate the input. I'm about 90 percent home theater, and I have dual Rythmik 15" sealed subs, crossed over At 40hz, which I'm very happy with. Thanks for your suggestions. I'd like to to stick with a fairly full range floorstander, as I'm one of those people that can easily locate the sub if it's crossed too high. Happy to hear that you feel the Ascends equal the 3.7's in the midrange and outperform them in the lows. I've had good success with ID companies, such as Rythmik. You can get very good performance, value and customer service. Since I'm in the middle of re-constructing my home theater, I'll probably need to wait until that's completed to do this. Thanks again for the helpful comments!


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

The Ascends would be a good fit then - plus, if I recall correctly, their CC is a monster.


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## vidiot33 (Dec 12, 2013)

ALMFamily said:


> The Ascends would be a good fit then - plus, if I recall correctly, their CC is a monster.


Yes, their center is, but I have come up with what I believe to be a better way to do the center channel. Even big centers like the Sierra don't image like vertical floorstanders (they can't since they're horizontal) and even the best ones don't go down as low. My solution is to use two vertical centers (carefully positioned and toes in), using your system's best 2 speakers (splitting the center outs), and adding an amp. This accomplishes several things: greatly widens the sweet spot, increases dialogue intelligibility, increases low frequency impact, and utilizes your best speakers for the most important home theater task. I have also experimented with a phantom center channel, and was not able to tell the difference when my rather expensive center speaker was engaged or phantom mode. I appreciate that this is an unconventional solution, but I think it's a superior way to optimize center channel duties. Please let me know what you think.


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