Deciding between NRT and RAAL Towers -- Potential upgrade from 2EX for music/movies

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Originally Posted by RicardoJoa

I believe the difference lies on the spectral decay between the two tweeters. Raal stops much quicker across the tweeter range which translate to a much cleaner presentation.

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Absolutely, there are very significant and measurable differences in decay times between the RAAL and basically all other tweeters. With the very low mass of the ribbon, combined with a very high power motor system, RAAL ribbons show nearly instantaneous acceleration and deceleration.

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Originally Posted by choirbass

All I can say is that not everything that can be measured can be heard. The RAAL tweeters are impressive measuring, but hard to tell from an audible standpoint.

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Much depends on your own hearing, and trust me when I say you can not assume your hearing is the same as someone else's.

One of the projects I am working on involved precisely matching the frequency response (on and off-axis) of a popular speaker to a RAAL version. In direct monaural A/B comparisons, precisely level matched - the differences in the treble response was even more audible then I expected. Myself, Dina and another listener (a trained musician), were able to pick out the RAAL speaker every time.

This evening marked the 3rd time we did these comparisons over the past week and the results did not change. This phrase gets overused, but with the RAAL, it was as if a veil was lifted providing greater detail, and even more noticeable - instruments like acoustic guitars, cymbals, triangles - there was clearly more defined "attack".

I would like to chime in and say that I was fortunate enough to have the nrt towers and the RAAL towers in my room to compare.
I knew within minutes that the RAAL was the right choice for me.

I would say my mix of listening content is probably 80/20 movies/music. I find the RAAL to be fantastic for movies and what really jumped out at me (that I hadn't factored in) was how excellent they are for movie soundtracks.

Watching the new Dune, even streaming on HBO Max, Hans Zimmer's score is just electrifying, bombastic and the different instruments just really stand out. The explosions sound pretty bombastic on the RAAL towers as well 😁

Look forward to seeing which way you end up going.

I picked up a pair of Towers with NrT tweeters secondhand a few years ago and have often wondered about the RAAL upgrade. I've looked through the forum and haven't found much regarding the cost. I'm sure it includes $700 for the RAALs and most likely shipping both ways paid by the buyer. What is the labor cost and typical turnaround time?

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Originally Posted by curtis

Very audible for me.

You are right though, all you have to satisfy is yourself.

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I totally agree with you. Going from Sierra 1s to 2s to RAAL towers were a huge audible difference to me. Took seconds for me to noticed the difference. Night and day. For someone that doesn't noticed a difference, something is wrong with their ears.

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Originally Posted by bryanb

I picked up a pair of Towers with NrT tweeters secondhand a few years ago and have often wondered about the RAAL upgrade. I've looked through the forum and haven't found much regarding the cost. I'm sure it includes $700 for the RAALs and most likely shipping both ways paid by the buyer. What is the labor cost and typical turnaround time?

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Hi Bryan,

Congrats on your secondhand purchase!

Yes, we can do the RAAL tower upgrade for you here at our factory. Unfortunately, it is significantly more expensive than the $700 for the RAAL 70-20s. It is important to understand that our $700 upgrade charge at the time of purchase takes into account that we are not using the NrT dome, which is a very expensive dome tweeter. The upgrade also requires new crossovers and significant internal cabinet modifications.

The 70-20 tweeters typical retail for $750 each, even more now that RAAL (like everyone else) has had to raise prices.

Please send us an email if you would like a formal quotation.

I never thought there was anything wrong with with my hearing till I got the Sierra-2s. I’ve always had good hearing, the S-2 caused me frustration and doubt. But that’s why I’m going for the NrT Towers over RAAL, better to be safe than sorry.

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Originally Posted by choirbass

I never thought there was anything wrong with with my hearing till I got the Sierra-2s. I’ve always had good hearing, the S-2 caused me frustration and doubt. But that’s why I’m going for the NrT Towers over RAAL, better to be safe than sorry.

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The biggest difference I noticed when comparing the Sierra 1s (silk dome) to the Sierra 2s RAAL is the clarity with no hint of harshness and the airiness to the highs. You didn't noticed it in your comparison?

Nope, it sounded the same on the 340s and S-2s

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Originally Posted by choirbass

Nope, it sounded the same on the 340s and S-2s

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We all hear differently, but, in literally thousands of customers who have moved from one of our dome models to our ribbons, I have not come across anyone stating they could not hear a difference (besides yourself).

That said, we have plenty of customer who prefer the more forward, dynamic and more energized presentation of our domes over our ribbons - but, again, I haven't come across anyone who hasn't heard a difference.