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Dave (et al) -- Can you give some idea of the differences in sound character between the RAAL tweeters is the Sierra-2s and the Towers? I'm enjoying my new Sierra-2s, but wonder if the Tower version would provide any appreciable advantages apart from low-end extension.
Many thanks as always...A.
my new Sierra-2s, but wonder if the Tower version would provide any appreciable advantages apart from low-end extension.
Nobody will ever accuse you of being overly verbose... :-)
I own the -2's and visited Ascend to audition the Towers. I would say that Yes, there are appreciable advantages, but not so much in sound "character". You get the same level of clarity and even response, but at high volumes, the Towers create a much larger soundstage with the dedicated mid and woofers. The sound just feels bigger, like there's more of it. It's not exactly "louder", but it did convince me that I do want a pair... :D
That being said, by Dave's recommendation (right after the audition) I picked up a sub, and the 2.1 experience with the -2's gets significantly closer to the Tower experience, in my opinion. That would be another reasonable option.
I do have a sub: a Hsu Research TN1220 (one of the company's tall, passive cylinders) powered by an external companion 500-watt amplifier with low and high-pass filters). With this in play the sound is more than respectable, certainly, but I yearn for a bit more "weight" in large-scale symphonic music, etc. that I favor. This is a 2-channel system, not a home theater (that system is two floors down in another part of the house). The Sierra-2s are in a difficult room: the third floor of a 165-year-old New Orleans home. The dimensions are roughly 12x25x7 (note the low ceiling). I have acoustical treatments, but challenges remain.
I wasn't originally prepared to spend the cost of the RAAL towers, but have now decided I'll make that stretch if they sound as good as their growing reputation suggests. I crave a bit of that bigger soundstage you mention, as long as it doesn't come at the cost of inflating voices, pianos, etc. to unnatural proportions.
Best...A.
I owned the Sierra 2 and something was missing for me. I also used a Rythmik sub with them. Wasn't sure what it was... I sold them and purchased a set of RBH SX/6300R towers. I got them for a great price other wise they were way out of my budget.. In any case I missed the clear sound from Ascend speakers with RAAL... I just made the purchase of RAAL Towers this week.. I think it's what you are looking for. I can not wait to get them.. Sucks waiting two months!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The towers have a dedicated sealed midrange driver which, in theory, frees other drivers up for use in a the narrower frequency range that they do best at.
Whether this means a noticeable difference in practice I do not know. Perhaps a local audition is available?
Where did you cross them over at? I found crossing them over at 80 makes them sound and feel a lot bigger, I'm using the Rythmik E15HP. I wonder how much the Sierra towers would take over the S2's at 80+?Quote:
Originally Posted by ematthews
How far will you sit from the speakers. Dave may hate me for this but even he commented on it that they will not fill a large room. If you will sit towards the back of your 25 ft room then you may not think you got the extra bang for the buck. I have a 20 x 24 ft room and I sit 17 ft from the Towers and I think they lack the punch for me. Great clean sounding speakers but cannot fill the room to my seating position at -20DB on my Denon 4520 Ci with Audyssey 32XT working etc etc.
I dont care what anyone says but one should not say that we need to have their speakers in a fully treated sound proof room with no nulls etc etc.
My opinion is they are meant for nearfield listening and are truly stunning when sitting no more than 10 Ft away from them and playing with a Subwoofer.
I think the Sierra1's I have are the best kept secret at Ascend. Just cannot beat the price performance ratio on them.
In Ascend's listening room, the seating position is about 14 feet from the speakers.
In the last year or two, I have heard the Sierra-1, Sierra-1NrT, Sierra-2, and Towers (with and without RAAL), and they all work very well in that space.
Myself, I sit about 10' from my Sierra-1's with a Rythmik F15HP sub....crossed at 80hz, but I can't tell any difference when crossed at 60hz...so I crossed them higher. Using Trinnov, the system crosses them at 80hz.