ascend sierra tower with raal or Focal Aria 936

Absolutely the 936. Soooo smooth, absolutely massive sound stage. Height width depth like crazy. Unbelievably musical.  Maybe the most musical speakers Focal has ever made.  Even bigger soundstage and more holographic than the Electra line above the Arias.

The Sierras are nice but I absolutely guarantee if you’re worried about fatigue, you will regret that purchase. Remember this post in a few months and it’ll be the ultimate "I told you so" whichever way you decide. ;)

If you heard Focal speakers are bright, you heard that from someone who hasn't heard Focal speakers within the last 5 years or so.  Arias aren't bright at all and neither are the Sopras (properly set up).

I've seen that thread on AVS and I'd take that guys opinion with a grain of salt.  Very novice listener and even he was bothered by the sierras at first and "learned" to like them after all the AVS users convinced him to essentially.

Just find a Focal dealer to hear the Arias at and you'll see.

213runnin:  Assuming that Ascend is doing a charity by not just taking the extra money they would be giving to dealers is so short sighted.  Just because they are manufacturer direct means NOTHING.  If you were in their shoes, would you throw away profit for no reason?  If so, you’d be a terrible businessman.

Again you’re assuming they’re taking the “let’s  prices low and just sell more” approach.  I’m sure they are in some sense, but not the the extent that you think.

Also, Focal speakers are hand made in France and they make all their own drivers.  This includes the Aria series.  So technically they are saving money there as well and keeping costs down too.

Remember, SVS and Emotiva were both Internet direct “value” brands, yet magically they are at the same prices via retail with full dealer margin now.

It’s not as simple as you think.

213runnin: amazingly, you still don’t get what I’m saying.

Can you prove to me somehow that Ascend is passing on the savings of not going through a dealer network, not dealing with advertising cost, etc?

The internet direct brands want you to have that impression, but it makes no sense for them to do so. Did you just completely ignore the point I made about Emotiva and SVS earlier?

”they don’t need to make as much”  – spoken like someone who has no idea how a successful business works.  They will and should sell for as much as
they can get based on the perceived and actual value of the product.  Again, refer to my SVS and Emotiva examples that you seem to have ignored.

Please explain how they changed their approach to offer the same stuff for the same price but adding a gigantic margin for dealers off the top.  Oh, and the fact that they now advertise all over the place.  Explain it.

You’re comparing two COMPLETELY different products at those price points. One a gen 2, one a gen 3, plus inflation. Plus the fact that they’re now made in the USA, plus the fact that they’re... you know... completely different.

Any other solid points you’d like to make?

Let me make this simple for you. I originally stated that there’s really extra substantial intrinsic value of an internet direct product at a given price point. There is no way that Ascend is selling a product that would sell for say $10,000 at retail, for $5,000 direct to customer just because they don’t have to deal with dealer/distributor cuts. No way they would be that dumb. If it has a consumer value of $10,000 why wouldn’t they sell it direct for say, $9,000 and keep the extra profit? I fully understand the point of “lower profit, but sell more” and to some minor extent there’s is an obvious SLIGHT bit of that but not nearly to the amount you suggested.



You can say this is Economics 101 all you want, and I’d agree. Basic short sighted overly simplistic economics. The real world of speaker/electronics selling is more complex than the basic simplicity you seem to be applying to it. There are so many more factors.

Look at Dollar Shave Club for a perfect example of the internet direct “advantage.”  Pay more for the same product and they laugh all the way to the bank.