Advice on bookshelf speakers (Sierra 2, Buchardt, Monitor Audio, LS50)


Hello all. I'm interested in feedback from anyone who has experience with some of the listed speakers. Here's my long short story... after heavy interest in audio very early in my adult life, I lost track for a number of years (aka we had a kid) and have recently gotten back into stereo enjoyment. I have Monitor Audio Gold GR10 speakers which are from around 2002. Honestly I have no major complaints about the speakers' performance but I'm interested in exploring new things and seeing what might be available now after 15+ years of technological improvement in speaker design (ok, I know some 40 year old ones still sound great but stay with me here). I also have a pair of Monitor Audio Silver S6's (older ones from maybe 2004) which being floorstanders have obvious bass differences from the bookshelf GR10s but otherwise are clearly (to me) not as good.

What I'm Looking for:
Any listening experience you can share regarding these speakers (or similar):
-Ascend Acoustics Sierra 2 (I've read great things about these but have never heard a ribbon tweeter in my life and have seen conflicting info saying they are flat and clear like LS-50s and others saying they are nothing like LS-50s)
-Buchardt S400 (The way I've heard the sound described seems like what I like in a speaker)
-Monitor Audio silver or gold bookshelves (for comparison to speakers I am familiar with)
-KEF LS50 (which I recently bought and do not like - see below)
If you can compare them to each other, that's great. Or if you've heard any of them and can describe the sound the produce or what kind of music you think they're good for, that's great too. Floorstanders are not an option for me due to spousal and child constraints.

What I Listen to:
While I enjoy classical music, I only use it as background music when I want to relax and don't do any critical listening so I'm not worried about classical music performance. Music I really LISTEN to covers a wide gamut from rock (sometimes hard), a lot of electric guitar (I used to play fairly seriously), some jazz (love me some Nat King Cole), "modern" female vocals (Norah Jones, Adele), and a bit of electronic craziness thrown in like Bjork and Jamiroquai. Glancing over a recent session I see Incubus, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Norah Jones, Tony Bennett, The Police/Sting, Sade, U2, and Morcheeba. Yes, all over the place. Maybe not your taste but I think it's important to understand the type of music the speakers will be used for.

What Kind of Sound I Like:
I am sorry to say I am not well versed in using audiophile adjectives to describe speaker performance. In my own words, I would say I like lively or punchy speakers with clear (bright?) highs but not bright to the point of harshness or fatigue. I don't like mid-range to be too pronounced. I remember as a kid playing with old stereos that all had EQs on them, I would set it in a V shape, turning down all the midrange frequencies. I like the sound to draw me in and make me smile and want to dance. My GR10 bookshelves can do this on some music. A bassline kicks in, or the chorus swells, and you feel that dynamic energy in the room. The KEF-LS50 can't do this on anything. And when I say punchy, I don't mean lots of bass. I have subs to fill in the low region. But the LS50s sound very flat to me - I don't mean flat frequency response, I mean they just sound like they perfectly produce a sound but have no emotion behind it. It's perhaps a lack of dynamics. The best analogy I can draw is when you turn on Dolby volume control which eliminates peaks and valleys in volume. The speaker gives me a feeling that everything sounds very clear and vocals are amazing, but it's not very dynamic, almost like no matter what is happening in the music it's all the same volume level.

Where I Listen: 
This is a family room setup in a great-room style room (aka big and open). Most listening is done standing up and moving around the room but when I really want to listen closely I usually stand in the sweet spot right behind the couch. The sweet spot is not noticeably better than other areas around the room, though, which is important to me. I'd prefer good dispersion since it's rare for me or anyone to be in the sweet spot for an extended period. The speakers are 10 feet apart from each other and a minimum of 10 feet and up to 30 feet away from our ears, depending where we are in the room or what we're doing.

Associated Equipment:
I have various gear around the house but amplification will be from Musical Fidelity - either an A5 integrated amp or an A308cr amp (both 250wpc so more than enough for any bookshelf). Source is mostly high-res Tidal streams coming via Roon to a PS Audio DSJr DAC. When not using the integrated amp, my weak link is my preamp. Currently (also due to spousal and size constraints) I am using a Marantz receiver, with the pre-outs run to the MF A308cr. Some of those things may change but suffice it to say power will never be a problem. I also have a 12 inch Sunfire sub currently mated to the GR10s and in another system/room I also have a Rythmik F12se.

Thank you and sorry to anyone that made it through this long winded post. Any feedback at all will be much appreciated. And if anyone has questions for me about any of the equipment I have, I'm happy to share.


jnehma1
30ft listening distance?!!!!

Well, that’s your issue, most speakers aren’t loud enough for >15ft away, especially not the LS50’s which are <85dB sensitive, I was gonna recommend the Philharmonic BMR (better than the Sierra-2 and LS50), but it’s barely more efficient than the LS50.

Your MA speakers are around 88dB (they aren’t super neutral so it’s hard to estimate), which means it needs about 1/2 the wattage the LS50 needs to get as loud, that’s a big difference, it also is a slightly easier load, so it likely gets around 2.2x as loud with the same wattage.

The Sierra-2 is also <87dB, so I wouldn’t recommend it.

The S400 is 88dB and 4ohm, so it should be fine.

The Polk LSiM703 is good.

The KEF R300 at 88dB is good. Accessories4Less has a new pair in gloss black and KEF recertified models for $1000 in gloss black, rosewood, and walnut.

The Selah Anniversario is good, but may be out of budget.

If ok with a wait in exchange for gorgeous cabinets, this Salk model, is real good.
Here’s an idea for you.

Ditch the solid state amp, go for tubes and pickup a speaker from Coherent Audio.
@mzkmxcv thanks for the feedback and other options to look into! The 30 foot distance is when we are in the kitchen, which is open to the family room. It's not the normal distance but we listen from there and from in the family room around 15ft away. Forgive my ignorance but I didn't anticipate any volume problems from any of the speakers. My Musical Fidelity amp weighs over 60lbs and is rated at 250x2 at 8 ohms. Why would a few dB less efficiency (at 1 watt) be a factor?

Salk speakers are definitely very pretty, I should look into them more. I wish I didn't live in a HiFi desert so I could do some auditioning in stores but we have nothing within 3+ hours drive besides Best Buy.
@jnehma1

The issue isn’t limited wattage supply, the issue is limited wattage handling by the speakers. Most speakers can’t handle more than around 100W, especially without distorting. Some even only 40W and the most I have seen is ~200W (such as some SEAS drivers). The Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 for instance states 200W continuous power handling, yet the measurements show the woofer distorts with only 10W.

As I stated, the LS50 only handles ~125W, which is the same as feeding your MA speaker ~55W (factoring in the harder impedance load), that should show just how much louder the MA can get. 
 
Even 15ft is pretty far. Is your seating against the wall? If so, that is the absolute worst place in a room to listen. If so, I would recommend a sofa table (skinny table behind your seating, can place some trinkets, photos, lights, etc.), which I have done. 
 
Feeding a speaker 40W while listening 7ft away gets as loud as roughly 100W while listening 14ft away. Even at 15ft, the LS50 can easily be seen as not being dynamic enough for many genres of content.
Interesting, thank you for educating me on some of those technical details. The room is wide open so there is open space behind the couch for at least 6 feet. But the funny thing about this is that I tested the LS50s in both the family room and in my media room (man cave) which has about 9 foot listening distance. It was in the man cave where I especially noticed the lack of dynamics in the speakers, and they were mated with a Rythmik F12 in that room.