Need Help With Sierra Luna Performance
Purchased the Sierra Luna for my desktop setup a few weeks ago and to be honest I am not impressed with the performance of the speakers. I am looking for suggestions and input as maybe I have them setup improperly as I really want to love these speakers. The build of the speakers on the other hand is impeccable and very nicely done.
My desktop setup has the speakers about 36 inches apart and toed into the sitting position. I do have a few audio components on the table. The speakers are hooked up to a Nuforce STA 200 to a Schiit Bifrost Multibit DAC and volume control through a Schiit Sys passive preamplifier.
Here is a picture:
https://i.imgur.com/hogWzZi.jpg
I have a JBL LSR 30X at home and when I first compared the two, the Sierra Luna sounds only a little better in the highs to me, otherwise I feel like it is a wash with the JBL LSR 30X having a better phantom center to my ears (cause of the waveguide?).
I thought maybe brain burn in had maybe something to do with this so I gave it another week but the differences are still pretty minor in my opinion. So then I bought a pair of Isoacoustic stands to see if that would help. I think they certainly helped but I still feel the performance difference to the LSR 30X is only minimal.
I am also testing a KEF LS50W and to my ears the vocals of the LS50W seems to have a bit more body to it (but it also might be that the LS50W renders vocals out a bit more forward than the Luna's). The phantom center is also much stronger and there is more of a sense of verticality in the imaging of the sound. Also sometimes the bass that comes out of the Luna's are a bit too boomy and uncontrolled.
Is it possible that I just can't get the performance I want out of these speakers due to my setup? I understand the room has a lot to do with the sound of the speakers but to be honest there isn't much I can do about the room which is why I went nearfield to try and take out some of the issues with the room.
Thanks in advance for any help! I really want to keep the speakers but I fear I may have to return them.
Re: Need Help With Sierra Luna Performance
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sylafari
Purchased the Sierra Luna for my desktop setup a few weeks ago and to be honest I am not impressed with the performance of the speakers. I am looking for suggestions and input as maybe I have them setup improperly as I really want to love these speakers. The build of the speakers on the other hand is impeccable and very nicely done.
My desktop setup has the speakers about 36 inches apart and toed into the sitting position. I do have a few audio components on the table. The speakers are hooked up to a Nuforce STA 200 to a Schiit Bifrost Multibit DAC and volume control through a Schiit Sys passive preamplifier.
Here is a picture:
https://i.imgur.com/hogWzZi.jpg
I have a JBL LSR 30X at home and when I first compared the two, the Sierra Luna sounds only a little better in the highs to me, otherwise I feel like it is a wash with the JBL LSR 30X having a better phantom center to my ears (cause of the waveguide?).
I thought maybe brain burn in had maybe something to do with this so I gave it another week but the differences are still pretty minor in my opinion. So then I bought a pair of Isoacoustic stands to see if that would help. I think they certainly helped but I still feel the performance difference to the LSR 30X is only minimal.
I am also testing a KEF LS50W and to my ears the vocals of the LS50W seems to have a bit more body to it (but it also might be that the LS50W renders vocals out a bit more forward than the Luna's). The phantom center is also much stronger and there is more of a sense of verticality in the imaging of the sound. Also sometimes the bass that comes out of the Luna's are a bit too boomy and uncontrolled.
Is it possible that I just can't get the performance I want out of these speakers due to my setup? I understand the room has a lot to do with the sound of the speakers but to be honest there isn't much I can do about the room which is why I went nearfield to try and take out some of the issues with the room.
Thanks in advance for any help! I really want to keep the speakers but I fear I may have to return them.
You could invest in a Behringer ECM8000 or a UMIK-1 mic and install REW. Then see what the frequency response of the speakers are at your listening location. There may be some problem areas based on your sitting position that could be corrected with EQ (also good idea to install Equalizer APO).
It may be the room, or it may be a speaker preference. Coaxial drivers definitely throw a different radiating pattern at you than a traditional 2-way. I do feel the Sierra 2 benefits from a bit of "warming up" with EQ to sound tonally closer to what I expect from reference headphones or larger bookshelf speakers in the 30-60Hz range, so based on your statement about Luna I'm thinking you may want to measure the speakers, remove any peaks or nulls, and then play around with a target curve, one that boosts the low end a little bit.
