6 Weeks With The Sierra Ribbon Towers
I freaking love these speakers. I've got everything dialed in pretty tight now and they just keep continuing to put a smile on my face. They sound great with everything I've thrown at them and I don't find myself missing the Ultra towers at all (tho I still feel kinda guilty when I look at them... :p).
One big plus for me is that they sound just as good at low volumes as they do when you turn them up, which I really do appreciate. Has anyone else noticed that with some speakers? Even really nice ones sometimes seem like they don't open up or "come alive" until you put some power to them. I would say my Ultra towers fall in that camp. They sound great and can handle lots of power, but maybe lacking just a little bit of detail and bite at lower volumes. At least compared to the Sierras.
I would most likely have never even considered these speakers had I not found a smoking deal on a pair of Sierra 2s on Craigslist and jumped on them. After hearing what the RAALs can do in a capable design I knew I wasn't going to look at dome tweeters the same way again. I have a big room tho and like it kinda loud sometimes so the towers were a no brainer. Right now I'm 4/5 of the way to a complete 5.0 set of Sierra Ribbon speakers and am currently scheming on drumming up the funds for the Horizon center to complete the set.
I need to get busy and start selling some speakers. I have way too many anyway... lol.
Oh, and you can have my Sierra towers when you pry them from my cold, dead hands...
:p
Re: 6 Weeks With The Sierra Ribbon Towers
Me too!
i got mine just before you and at first did not get the WOW factor i was expecting BUT i remember you said you were missing the thump in the chest you got from your old ones i believe? Then i thought, that's it, i am missing the punch of my 8's but that wasn't really a good thing.
these are so pleasing to listen to! even at super low late night volume levels, you seem to hear it all!
i been addicted to Chillaxing Jazz Kolection on Pandura .
Re: 6 Weeks With The Sierra Ribbon Towers
Quote:
Originally Posted by
audiohead
Me too!
i got mine just before you and at first did not get the WOW factor i was expecting BUT i remember you said you were missing the thump in the chest you got from your old ones i believe? Then i thought, that's it, i am missing the punch of my 8's but that wasn't really a good thing.
these are so pleasing to listen to! even at super low late night volume levels, you seem to hear it all!
i been addicted to Chillaxing Jazz Kolection on Pandura .
The Sierras don't dig as deep as the Ultras, but I'm using subs so that makes it pretty much a non issue. I don't remember feeling like I was missing any punch tho. In fact I'm able to lower my crossover because the Sierras are more forgiving with placement and the Ultras are more susceptible to room modes.
Where the Sierras shine over the Ultras for me is better midrange detail and clarity (and of course the tweeters) which makes them seem a little more forward. I fully expected better highs, but that midrange caught me off guard. The driver Dave uses in the Sierra towers is almost as big a star as the RAALS! All good stuff. I've always thought the Ultras were just a little laid back, especially at lower volumes. The Sierras sound great at any volume.
As far as wow factor it's hard to be wowed when you're used to listening to good speakers. I've found higher end speakers that strive for accuracy start to sound more alike than different when you start getting into the really good stuff. Those night and day differences you experience going from lower quality to higher quality get smaller and smaller as you climb the ladder. Which makes sense if you think about it as the goal is the same.
That being said, by the time I finished the first cd after setting them up my expectations were exceeded with the Sierras and after 6 weeks of break-in (that's me breaking into the new speakers, not the speakers themselves "breaking in") I'm super happy with them. They sound so good I've been listening to stuff I haven't listened to in decades and it almost feels like new music.
Re: 6 Weeks With The Sierra Ribbon Towers
As far as wow factor it's hard to be wowed when you're used to listening to good speakers. I've found higher end speakers that strive for accuracy start to sound more alike than different when you start getting into the really good stuff. Those night and day differences you experience going from lower quality to higher quality get smaller and smaller as you climb the ladder. Which makes sense if you think about it as the goal is the same.
^ the law of diminishing returns.
Re: 6 Weeks With The Sierra Ribbon Towers
Quote:
Originally Posted by
racrawford65
As far as wow factor it's hard to be wowed when you're used to listening to good speakers. I've found higher end speakers that strive for accuracy start to sound more alike than different when you start getting into the really good stuff. Those night and day differences you experience going from lower quality to higher quality get smaller and smaller as you climb the ladder. Which makes sense if you think about it as the goal is the same.
^ the law of diminishing returns.
Yup, and I think these towers are right there. To do any better is going to cost a lot of money, and likely be an incremental improvement, if any, aside from mebbe deeper bass extension.
