The Ascents are the original flagship model produced by Avalon Acoustics of Boulder, CO. Like all loudspeakers produced by Avalon, they are noted for the qualities of transparency and detail of presentation. Being very transparent, they will reveal everything that goes on upstream in your system. This means that you hear much more of the musical subtleties than you have probably ever heard before. It will make it obvious just what the strengths and weaknesses are of the recording you are listening to, as well as your source, preamp, and amplifiers. Any tweak that you introduce, such as upgrades in racks, power supplies, power cables, or interconnects, will be easy to hear and to discern just what is the nature of the change in performance accomplished by that tweak. By detailed presentation, I mean that not only is the soundstage very large, with music clearly being heard from well outside the space bounded by the placement of the speakers, but there is an ability to perceive the placement of each of the musicians in space. This effect will of course vary with the quality of the recording. The Ascents are not particularly efficient, meaning that they like amplifiers that deliver lots of clean power. I have been running them with VAC 140 monoblocks, which is a great match, but they also sound great with good solid state amps. These particular speakers are the Mark II model. This means that the drivers and crossovers were upgraded from the original release. Eventually, Avalon used its experience in developing their massive and extremely pricey Osiris model to create the Eidolon, which has replaced the Ascents in their lineup of products. The Eidolon does all of the same things that the Ascents do, only better. If you can afford them, you should get the Eidolon instead. I upgraded to Eidolons, which is why I am now selling the Ascents. But the Eidolon, in its new diamond edition, starts at $33,000 in standard finish. By comparison, these Ascents are a steal, especially considering that they come with Cardas Hexlink 5 triwired speaker cables in 6 foot length. These cables were a very good match in my system with the VAC amps. Just keep in mind that it is more important to match speaker cables to your amps than your speakers, so the ultimate performance of these cables depends on what electronics you are using. My offering also includes 2 sets of Apex couplers. These are the metal cones made specially for Avalon for coupling the speakers to your floor. The first set goes under the speakers, and the second set under the outboard crossovers. I placed the units on 1 ½ inch thick sandstone slabs on the floor. The sandstone with the Apex couplers really improved the performance. Some people have used marble slabs with similar effect. Lastly, it should be mentioned that these speakers have great Wife Acceptance Factor (WAF). They are gorgeous, and serve as a fine piece of furniture. To read a published review of these speakers, and to get more info on Avalons philosophy by visiting their website at www.avalonacoustics.com. These people are very helpful, and will be glad to assist you in optimizing speaker placement and room treatments.
