I have a 5.1 setup with Sierra-1 L/R (soon to be upgraded to Sierra-2s), HTM-200SE for center and surrounds, and an LV12R sub.
What should I upgrade my center to? I'm considering Sierra Luna, Sierra-2, and Sierra Horizon.
Printable View
I have a 5.1 setup with Sierra-1 L/R (soon to be upgraded to Sierra-2s), HTM-200SE for center and surrounds, and an LV12R sub.
What should I upgrade my center to? I'm considering Sierra Luna, Sierra-2, and Sierra Horizon.
I would go with the Horizon w/RAAL. The dedicated mid range driver does wonders with dialogue and vocals.
The midrange driver is an added bonus, but I would say that don't expect it to be a night/day difference with the Sierra-2 in terms of dialogue. The Sierra-2 is also great with dialogue and vocals.
IMO, Sierra-2 as L/C/R with HTM-200SEs as surrounds would be excellent. That's what I have. :)
Yes, I have heard the Horizon center. Yes, it is better as a center than the Sierra-2. But the Sierra-2 as a center is great in it's own right.
You have Sierra-2's. Move one to the center and try it.
I meant that for the original poster, but forgot that he doesn't have Sierra-2's yet.
Full-range, yes, the Horizon for sure, but the mids, for me, it isn't night and day, better for sure though.
As for dynamics, yes, Horizon, but then I would also add Towers for matching dynamics.
I am probably also biased in having a matching front soundstage.
Thanks for the impressions!
Currently, with my HTM-200SE center, I find myself turning up the volume further than I feel I should have to, for dialogue to be consistently clear.
Any other thoughts on Sierra-2 vs. Horizon for center?
In an A/B the Horizon might easily beat the Sierra 2 in large part because of its higher sensitivity. If you carefully level match, it will still likely beat the Sierra 2 - but not to be a "night and day" difference. But that's speculation on my part.
As to which one to get, if you can afford it and have enough space for it, get the Horizon. If space and/or budget is limited for any reason, get the Sierra 2.
I use XT32, and it does wonders for locking in balanced imaging.
Currently thinking that Sierra-2 center is the right balance of performance for the buck for me. Also, no current plans to upgrade to towers, and I'm sure having a matched L/C/R can't hurt.
Thanks for this thread. I'm moving my S2's from a dedicated listening room to my living room for HT duty, and was wondering the same thing. I'll likely make a trip down south for a single S2 for my center channel.
I actually don't use it for music listening much anymore. It's a multi purpose room (sound isolated, treated, etc.). I'm using it for drum rehearsal (mine) some demo recording (daughter's) and I'm planning to build a dedicated vocal booth as am starting that type of work post-retirement.
I find I listen to most of my music via my HT receiver in my living room, and want to put my best speakers in place for both HT and music. The old Polk setup just isn't doing it for me!
I'm with Curtis on this one. I find it odd to have the output capabilities of the center channel to exceed the main speakers. I would say to go with a Sierra 2 or a Luna, if space for the center channel speaker is tight. The best option being a Sierra 2 center.
I could see a case for going with towers for left and right speakers and then maybe saving on the center a bit and just going with a Sierra 2. But, if the system is used for movies, why not just spend the little bit of extra money at the point and get full range speakers across the front. Sometimes the center channel can get hit with huge dynamic swings like in the mains, so it is best that their output capabilities are matched.
I already know I will purchase the MTM luna center.. just waiting for it to be manufactured.
Now that the Luna center is actually out? Luna or 2ex?
Good input. I'm struggling with a similar decision and the Luna Duo solves most of the problems, except for my old ears. Thanks for the feedback. Like to hear from some users who have the Duo, especially used with the Sierra 2's or 2EX's.
My wife is addicted to British TV shows. Dialogue is a challenge and I'm wondering what the optimal solution would be. Considering Duo and S2 centers. Trying to avoid jacking up the center channel output so we can hear what the Brits are talking about.
Dave has already recommended the Duo over the S2-EX as a center.
Been there, done that. I replaced my S-2 (not EX) center with a Duo when they came out. Haven't looked back.
My wife had similar problems with understandability with some shows. So I slowly increased level of center, ended around 1.5 dB hot. Wasn't enough of an improvement for her.
When the Duo came out, I bought one. It's running at 0.0 dB hot, and neither my wife nor I have problems with dialog on any of the shows we watch normally, or movies with the Duo. The Duo punches way above it's weight class. Just sayin'.
I wonder what causes the intelligibility issues. I have S2’s across the front with no issues and no need to boost the center volume.
Curtis - Perhaps room acoustics / layout or simply one's hearing?
Jaybeez - I made the same change as Bruce -- from S2 (no EX) to the Luna Duo. Initial impressions are that the Duo is better than the S2 for dialogue clarity. I've not watched a lot of movies or tv with it yet nor have I rerun ARC yet, hence "initial". I did think the S2 was a good center, as well, although depending on the program/movie, I did have to boost it on occasion for better clarity. My hearing isn't as good as it used to be.
I wonder too. I've heard it, I know it exists, but I can't figure out why, or what the Duo does differently to improve it. It's like magic. And as an engineer, I hate that. You'd think that eventually I'd get used to not knowing how some of these things work. But, I don't. Sigh...
I think that it just comes down to symmetrical dispersion on the left and right, leading to better dialogue intelligibility. The variation in reflections on the left and right are likely the culprit, since the direct and reflected sound have slight differences. I bet it would be much harder to tell the difference if the Sierra 2 (or EX) was vertically oriented. Most can’t test this unless they either don’t have a TV as an obstacle or they have an acoustically transparent screen. Temporarily it would be easy to test though, in any setup.
The DUO is on the product list! No one said?
I would expect it to have more to do with the frequency response differences. In any case, it will be interesting to hear if more people have the same experience.
Yesterday afternoon, Dave and the team put a Duo together for me. I brought it home and looked at the box while my wife and I rented and watched "Downton Abbey". We fell asleep about halfway through, on my part because I couldn't make out the dialogue of the British actors (as usual). This afternoon, I installed the Duo, along with S2s doing L / R duty. Ran Audyssey and didn't like what I heard. Over-rode the crazy Audessey choices (fronts are big? crossing over at 50 hz?) and then watched the rest of the film. Absolute night and day difference! Dialogue was crystal clear and the front end of my AV set up was as perfect as I could imagine. I watched a bit of TV and listened to multi-channel music streaming from Apple TV just for fun. Everything I heard brought a smile to my face!
Thanks for the post. You're coming very close to my needs as my wife is Brit (a lot of British shows) and I am looking for dialog clarity. Can you describe what L/C/R that you were coming from? It appears that you upgraded to S2's and a Duo center - I am considering the Luna bookshelfs and a Duo for myself and since you have talked with Ascend, did you evaluate the Luna vs the S2 ?
Hello daddyo. I've actually had the Sierra 2s for a few years, and used them for 2 channel music in a dedicated space. My AV rig had a front end of Polk LSIM (703s and 704c) which were capable, but never gave me the vocal clarity I was looking for.
I didn't look at the Lunas, though depending on the size of your room I would imagine they would work. I haven't actually heard the Lunas, though have put ears on everything else in the lineup.
Early next year I plan to replace the Sierra 2s with an EX set, and move the 2s to rear surround duty.
As I also use my AVR for multi channel music, this gives me an all Sierra 2 listening experience.
You are helping me a lot. That Polk 704 is a 3-way speaker and you have noticed a marked improvement with the Duo (an MTM design at about 2x the price). Very good feedback to say the least. So good components (more expensive) can top whatever tech advantage that a 3-way brings for a cc. I think Luna would be adequate for us, we don't listen loud and the room is small at 1800 ft3 but it does have a half-open wall. Mostly HT. We're nowhere near high volume with my 5.2 Elacs.
It's not unusual to have to override some of the Audyssey 'choices'. Standard practice would be to change everything to small and set the crossover at 60 or 80hz. I change the Audyssey setting to 'Front LR Bypass'. That way I'm getting EQ on my subs and surrounds but not on the front mains.
one thing to keep in mind with front l/r bypass.audyssey is eqing your other speakers to match the uncorrected response of your fronts.
That's a good point. I didn't intend to go with this setting, it just sounds better to me with two channel music and I'm a 'set it and forget it' guy.
The measured response of the left and rights, doesn't seem too far off from flat so I think I'm ok.
Eventually I'll upgrade to a newer Denon, 4400 or 4500. This would give me the options that I think I'm looking for.
Partially thanks to this thread my Duo center arrived today. It’s replacing a Sierra 2EX that I upgraded this summer. Looking back, I should have just bit the bullet and ordered the Duo along with the upgrade for my LR. Should be able to get it in my system this weekend and hopefully it will be worth the price of admission.