Ascend Sierra 1 Reference vs. Era D5

looks like loomis disliking the eras unleashed a little squall ...actually, while i do enjoy flapping my jaw now and again, i've got no personal stake in dissing your tastes, or hyping my own--hell, i'm not crazy about some of the gear i've bought and still own. i still stress, however, that choice of speakers (which, in my view, is as important as choice of spouse) shouldn't be made in a vacuum. now, a couple of months ago some yokel off of craigslist came to my office to buy some bose cubes i'd picked up at a garage sale. i set 'em up and played 'em for him, and he was rhapsodic--he couldn't praise 'em enough. until, of course, i connected and played my proac responses, whereby his jaw dropped, he got all gloomy and left bose-less. caveat emptor.

Everybody,
I so appreciate this thread and all of your thoughtful responses, including Loomis. I've never had a pair of small monitors in my room and am very curious about how they'd sound.
There was a time when I'd never have bought any piece of gear without an in person audition, but the existence of Audiogon (you can always sell later and recoup some of your investment) as well as the lack of dealers to hear a lot of good stuff makes that "rule" hard to adhere to.
Although I know that all reviews, even the professional ones, have to be taken with more than a grain of salt, the fact that the pro reviews of the Ascends and the Eras have been so glowing made me interested in them.
I've also thought of Dynaudios, but they're out of my budget, new, and on the used market, there are so many older models floating around out there that I kind of got discouraged about figuring out what to look for.

The Sierra 1s are a much better speaker than the 340 or 340SE.
They do both have a very neutral sonic signature. If you like the British sound they aren't for you.

I haven't heard the D5 to give you a comparison.

ProAc monitors(Tablette?) sonic signature is what the Sierra 1s remind me the most of.

hey loomis no squall at all. I merely was surprised at the tinny and such comments as that is maybe the first time I've heard that particular comment associated. Now as I am not tied to my speakers and am a big boy I take criticism of them as it is given and considering the factors involved one mans treasure is another's garbage. I was just puzzled, thats all. Other that that I could not agree more with the listen to everything ethos, especially while removing all the variables that it is possible to remove.