New setup: RAALs Towers or Sierra S2-EX? And what amp?

I'm building a new setup for music listening in our small living room (12' x 16' or so). My budget for speakers is around $2000. I'd like to buy a nice basic amp for under $1000, closer to half that if possible.

I'm not going to have a perfectly aligned listening setup as there is no good place in the living room for that. I think I will be slightly 3-6' off center and rotate the speakers accordingly. That's best case. Worst case is they will go on the one of the walls directly to the left or right of the couch.

What difference will I hear between the RAALs and S2-EXs?

Will a Cambridge Audio AXA35 or CXA61 amp be enough to drive them (35 and 60W respectively)?

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Originally Posted by thomas32

I'm building a new setup for music listening in our small living room (12' x 16' or so). My budget for speakers is around $2000. I'd like to buy a nice basic amp for under $1000, closer to half that if possible.

I'm not going to have a perfectly aligned listening setup as there is no good place in the living room for that. I think I will be slightly 3-6' off center and rotate the speakers accordingly. That's best case. Worst case is they will go on the one of the walls directly to the left or right of the couch.

What difference will I hear between the RAALs and S2-EXs?

Will a Cambridge Audio AXA35 or CXA61 amp be enough to drive them (35 and 60W respectively)?

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I believe you are asking about the differences between the Sierra RAAL Towers vs. S2EX's? Both use a RAAL tweeter but of different size (though there is an option of getting the Towers with a NrT dome tweeter). The higher output tweeter of the Towers match with a midrange driver and 2 woofers which give the towers greater efficiency (play louder per power input). On this forum, I have heard Dave (the designer) say that the Towers have more forward Mids, and the EX's are a little more laid back in that regard.

Would you benefit from the efficiency of the towers? It depends on how loud you listen and how far away from the speakers you will be... and how much power your amp can provide (but I wouldn't want my amp to limit my speaker options)

The amps you are considering seem underpowered for the price. My suggestion is, don't disregard 5.1 or 7.1 home theater receivers. They may have way more features than you need, but can be had for a bargain and offer plenty of power.

-Tom K

I agree... there are many AVR's out there that'll be plenty of amp for your speakers. They will certainly have a lot of options and growth if you ever branch out. So there's plenty to look at there. I just bought my son a new Denon AVR and it cost $299.00...80 watts per channel.

But like you, I opted for the 2 channel stereo set-up. So here are a few 2 channel stereo options to consider;

I'm powering my 2's (and will also power my 2 ES speakers) with an old Harmon Kardon 3490 120 watts per channel. I know Harmon amps had spotty QC but I lucked out. I bought it used 6 or 7 years ago and it still performs perfectly. You can pick them up still for approx $200.00 to $250.00. Here is a great detailed review and a LOT of positive comments...7 pages to be exact.

https://forums.audioholics.com/forum...-review.66892/


If you don't want to go used and you want a more powerful amp than the two you mentioned, here are 2 I've been looking at in the event of the demise of my Harmon;

Parasound NewClassic 275v2 Two Channel Power Amplifier and a compatible pre amp- Parasound Zpre3 Compact Stereo Preamplifier. Buying these two together will come under $1000.00. There are some VERY good You Tube reviews out there. I am very impressed with this company and its founder the more I research what their offerings are.

Another really good option is The IOTAVX SA3 Integrated and the PA3 Amplifier Combination! Another VERY impressive but new, company. This combo may be closer to the $1000.00 mark though.

The Parasound combo is 90 watts into 2 channels and the IotaVX SA3 combo would end up at 100 watts (bridged due to two amps in this combo set up.)


So there's three options with plenty of "juice".... one a used bargain-basement price and two new options costing considerably more.

I may end up with the Parasound in the near future.

I hope that helps. Others here may have better options.

While this option is toward the high side of your budget range, you might also consider two Outlaw Audio model 2200 Monoblocks. This 1-channel amp is rated 200 W, 8 ohms, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, < 0.05 % THD, and the cost for two is $719.

http://www.outlawaudio.com/products/2200.html

Note that the in-room sensitivity specs of 92 dB for the Tower, 86 dB for the S2-EX, means that the S2-EX needs 4x as much power as the Tower to reach a given loudness. So I would lean toward a higher-power amp like the Outlaw 2200 if I was getting the S2-EX.

Finally, instead of the Towers, you could get Sierra Horizons with a "vertical" RAAL ribbon (oriented for vertical rather than horizontal speaker setup). The Horizon and Tower contain the same set of drivers in different geometries. Compare dimensions to see which is most compatible with your room.

The Outlaws are a good suggestion. They occasionally go on sale with free shipping.

Another option is Emotiva. Their amps are pretty good -- the XPA series is higher end and perhaps a bit more than you may want to spend. The Basic series (maybe an A-150 for around 320) might be an option, but I've not heard/used one. Or, look for a used UPA-2. I used to use one to drive my S2's but moved on to tubes. Still use the UPA-7 for surrounds/center/atmos.

Most Outlaw amps are made by ATI(although I don’t think the 2200 is) a very reputable amp manufacturer.

I would also highly suggest looking at Monoprice’s Monolith solid state amps, which are also built by ATI and a great value.

I checked the specs and the recommended minimum to drive the Sierra 2EXs is 45W. I listen low to moderate volumes in a small room. Surely 60-80W per channel is enough...

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Originally Posted by curtis

Most Outlaw amps are made by ATI(although I don’t think the 2200 is) a very reputable amp manufacturer.

I would also highly suggest looking at Monoprice’s Monolith solid state amps, which are also built by ATI and a great value.

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I concur on the monolith suggestion. Just sold my 7 ch outlaw 75w amp and bought the monolith 200wx7 amp and love it so far! It’s a beefy 94 lbs. it powers my center, surrounds, and outside zones.

I had my 2EXs paired with a Parasound 275v2 and it was a very nice setup. But I can never leave well enough alone and bought a Parasound Halo A23+ and I'm extremely happy. Is the A23+ worth almost 3X the cost of the 275v2...probably not, but it makes me smile:).

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Originally Posted by thomas32

I checked the specs and the recommended minimum to drive the Sierra 2EXs is 45W. I listen low to moderate volumes in a small room. Surely 60-80W per channel is enough...

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A conservative estimate of sound attenuation over distance in a room is -4db/doubling of distance. If S2EX’s sensitivity of 87db is measured at 1 meter with 1 watt of power, then at 4m (~13ft) it should produce 79db with 1 watt.

If for each time wattage is multiplied by 10 = +10db SPL or

for each time wattage is doubled = +3db SPL then

1watt at 4m = 79db

10watts at 4m = 89db

20watts at 4m = 92db

40watts at 4m = 95db

80watts at 4m = 98db

So If an amplifier can continuously provide 80 watts to 2 channels (20hz-20khz) then it can play at 98db through both speakers at 4m all day long. And in the case of playing normal content like music, can produce short term peaks greater than that.

Considering that you listen at moderate volumes and that you sit close, I’ll bet you’ll be fine with 60-80 watts per channel (8ohms, 20hz-20khz).

-Tom K