Another vote for Ascend Towers. My plan was to either buy some M60v4s sooner or save a while for Towers with the RAAL tweeter (nearly 2x the price).

I went with M60v4s. They arrived yesterday (yay !!) and are sitting beside a pair of Ascend Sierra-1's. I'm really struggling with the comparison, partly because I don't have a switch box and partly because there are a bunch of big vs bookshelf factors mixed in.

There are a couple of things I prefer about the Sierras (percussion sounds a bit tighter in busy spots and acoustic piano sounds a bit more realistic) but I remember hearing some of the same things I liked about the Sierra's when I had a borrowed pair of M3's sitting beside my M60ti's. Small box vs big box. Bleah.

I really need a pair of M3's to do this comparison properly. And a 3-way remote speaker switch. And an assistant. And, as long as I'm whining, I need more free time, more hair for the back of my head, and a couple of yards of crushed stone for that big %^$#&^%$ swamp at the end of my driveway.

Hey, I have a better idea. How about if I give up on my comparison and bring M60s/Sierra-1's (and beer) down to your test instead ?

I haven't put the M60v4's side-by-side with the M60ti's yet but my immediate impression was that the v4's had a more neutral balance. The M60ti's only needed to be toed in to make the stereo imaging "pop" and otherwise sounded a bit better when pointed straight ahead, but the v4's image AND sound best when they're toed in and tweeters are at ear level. For me (6'5" with sofas & chairs raised 4") that's either a 6" plinth or a 1x2 under the front feet. Guess Mark was right about the M100's.

Not sure how to do an amp shoot-out without a really fancy switch box unless someone's memory for sound is a lot better than mine. Even the time it takes to swap speaker cables is enough to muck up an A/B comparison for me.

Last edited by bridgman; 04/03/15 11:44 PM.
M60ti, VP180, QS8, M2ti, EP500, PC-Plus 20-39
M5HP, M40ti, Sierra-1
LFR1100 active, ADA1500-4 and -8