Re: Sierra 1 or 2 for Home Theater
I think that's where the quality of your sub comes into play. What kind do you have? Dave will help you with the recommended crossover point so if you listen to music in 2.1 rather than 2.0 the sub will take the deeper bass and the Luna's will handle the upper bass on up to the highest treble. I agree with you that if you listen to music without the sub you might want to go for the Sierra 2's.
As far as future proofing, if it were me, I would get the Luna's now with a Sierra 2 center. After you move and presumably have more space, then go for either the Sierra 2's or the towers for your mains and move the Luna's to surround duty. That would be an amazing sounding system.
Re: Sierra 1 or 2 for Home Theater
I guess I just have different goals than you - I don't have any interest in surround, I've had the setup in the past and don't think the benefits are worth the hassle. 3.1 is just right for me and I'd like to just make one purchase that will keep me set for many years to come... I have a BIC America 10" Sub and I currently have the crossover set at 80Hz for home theater, that's something I'd be interested in upgrading in the future but for the time being it's good enough.
I listen to music in 2.0 as intended (mainly vinyl) so I don't really want to start using a sub for music, the sub is really just for movies. I'd say I listen to 60:40 Movies:Music so music is quite important to me, and lately I'd say it's becoming almost reversed as I've been getting back into vinyl recently.
Edit: I would be curious to have some discussion about my original post though... Sierra 1s vs Sierra 2s for HT, those are the two models I'm most interested in.
Edit 2: Reading through the Luna page this is from Dave on if the sats would perform better than the 2s: "For main left/right speakers, if given the choice of Sierra-2 or R-Sat's, I would recommend the Sierra-2 for everyone unless budget / size / space constrained." so I think that answers that for me.
Re: Sierra 1 or 2 for Home Theater
For 2.0 music listening, I would go Sierra-2 over the Luna.
Personally I don't like to place any speaker that close to the rear or side walls. I think you would get better performance by giving them more room to breath. But I can understand if this isn't really possible.
Re: Sierra 1 or 2 for Home Theater
Sadly this is the space I have to work with... I've spent a lot of time rethinking my layout and I've asked a lot of people who have been to my place if there's a better location for my setup but sadly I haven't found a better option. living in a small apartment I've got to have room for seating etc. so I'm trying to work with what I've got for the time being and hopefully wherever I live next I'll be able to spread out my system a bit more and move my turn table to it's own rack as well.
I read through a lot of the Luna thread and now I'm pretty sure I want to get the Sierra-2, and it looks like they can be ordered in Satin black, so I may just bite the bullet and get a pair and a center!
Re: Sierra 1 or 2 for Home Theater
I definitely think you're making the right choice. The RAAL tweeter and Curv woofer in the Sierra 2 really make a worthwhile improvement over the Sierra 1.
Re: Sierra 1 or 2 for Home Theater
If you're really against the subwoofer for music, then yes, the Sierra 2 is the right speaker for you out of all of the ones that you have mentioned. Heck, even the Sierra Tower with RAAL tweeters, that'd go down in the bass range even further, but your apartment probably wouldn't be able to fit it very well.
Re: Sierra 1 or 2 for Home Theater
The tower would be my ideal choice but with the RAAL tweeter that's over $1,000 more than the Sierra-2s so I just don't think it makes sense. I do have a sub for movies so I think the 2s will be good. The fact that I really want a matching center means the 2s (with center) is about the most money I feel comfortable justifying.
Re: Sierra 1 or 2 for Home Theater
That said, would the towers be worth considering? I could save up a bit more and go for them with a Sierra 2 center but I wonder if that would be over kill?
Re: Sierra 1 or 2 for Home Theater
The Sierra 2 makes for a remarkable center and in conjunction with the Sierra 2s L & R, you'll have a sweet, seamless soundstage for HT.
If you are going up to the RAAL towers, you'll want the Horizon. As good as the Sierra 2 is, there would definitely be an imbalance there for HT purposes. Of course if you went with the Towers, you could always get by with a phantom center while you saved up for the Horizon.
But honestly, three Sierra 2's and a sub and you'll be golden.
JMO (I've owned both)
Re: Sierra 1 or 2 for Home Theater
Awesome. The Horizon is just way too big for me so I think 3 Sierra 2s seems like a happy medium as far as size & price. I also like the idea of having all three totally matched for HT and with my sub (probably crossed over at 80hz) it'll be a good setup. And that price is much easier to swallow!