Information about new Sierra-1 and Towers?

[Geoh]

Hell, as long as the cabinet is dead, and the driver and XO are top-notch, I'd be happy with the black vinyl wrap. Keep my cost down. It's what's inside that counts.

I don't think we have to worry about the cabinet being dead, or the driver and XO being top notch or for that matter the quality of sound that the Tower will produce.
I expect the Sierra Tower to be a class leader by a long shot!
In fact I'd be shocked if it wasn't......
Geoh

[Too_Blue]

This has me thinking...

Given a < $2000 budget (say, $1800-ish) and a preference for 2 channel music as a priority and a setup that doesn't offer a high-pass option (or any bass management), I'm starting to wonder if I should opt for the towers instead of going the Sierra-1/sub route (using Q-Plugs). I can always add a sub later (and a preamp with bass management that won't degrade the signal-$$$) if I feel the need. Right now I want the best, simplest, biggest room filling sound I can get from the gear I'll have (DAC with volume control and a super analog output stage > amps). I'm running small 2.5 way towers with 5.25" drivers (PSB Image T-45) now and like the way they fill the room. I'm a K.I.S.S. kind of guy, but want to upgrade to a speaker that has a better midrange, digs a little deeper on the bottom end, doesn't have a midbass hump, and is just overall a better sounding speaker.

Movie LFE means very little to me as I haven't watched a movie in a couple of months and when I do watch one, it's more likely to be a psychological thriller or comedy or such, not a big special effects flick. Music, on the other hand, plays for many hours each day, every day. And the lowest note in like 99% of music is what, 30hz for the bottom of a 5-string electric bass? (No pipe organs here, electronica either.)

I started considering this route after reading this entire thread. My only reservation is the gloss finish. The monitors are small, so it's not as much of an issue. But 44" towers... that's a lot of shiny! But I could live with it given excellent SQ, especially if it matches my woodwork (dark cherry is near exact).

Whatever speaker I end up with will be driven by Emotiva UPA-1 monoblocks (200w @ 8 ohm, 350 @ 4 ohm), so power isn't an issue.

Opinions?

P.S. I also read the entire Ascend Sierra thread on AVS over the last couple of days. All I can say is kudos to Dave F. My hat's off to you, sir. I admire the professionalism and patience you've shown when dealing with a variety of internet azzhats over the years. You're a class act.

[Mike^S]

A satin black finish would be nice, or even just a matte black.

[merrymaid520]

A satin black finish would be nice.

Based on that, my sources tell me your wish will come true

[Geoh]

Based on that, my sources tell me your wish will come true

That would/will be awesome!
Again......... any idea when we can preorder the Sierra Towers?
I would also love to see a Sierra Tower Center....

Geoh

[merrymaid520]

That would/will be awesome!
Again......... any idea when we can preorder the Sierra Towers?
I would also love to see a Sierra Tower Center....

Geoh

I believe Dave can answer more questions privately in regard to specifics and a time frame. I pre-ordered my towers roughly over a year ago Just ask Dave

[davef]

Just a quick note... It seems that a small percentage of customers are unable to open the confidential shopping cart link contained in the email sent today. I have no idea why this happened but if you are having any difficulty in ordering, please send me a PM or email and I will forward you the link directly.

Also, some customers have inquired about a different ordering option for those who will be sending the speakers back to us for the upgrade. Please order the kits using the same link. We will be sending out a confirmation email within 24 hours thanking your for the order and asking which upgrade method you prefer. Any freight fees you pay now, in advance, will be credited towards the freight fees of shipping the speakers back to you once we have completed the upgrade.

We are swamped today with various questions and orders but we are getting through everything efficiently.

Also, our shopping cart software will automatically send out an email when we close the day confirming that your order has shipped. It hasn't, it is just an annoying little glitch in our system due to the way we have set this product up in the shopping cart.

Thanks so much for your patience and understanding!

Thanks so much!

[cynan]

I apologize in advance as this is sort of a silly question.

I currently use Sierra-1s L/C/R and am about to jump on the NrT upgrade. Do I only upgrade the L/R or all three? I only use the center channel for home theater and find the standard Sierra-1 performance to be already more than adequate for that task. I am only really interested in eking out every last ounce of performance for 2 channel music. Is it ridiculous to only upgrade the L/C in an L/C/R setup?

Anyone else with this setup that is upgrading to NrT?

[davef]

Coming up for some air today -- many questions in this thread need to be answered.

It looks like the new tweeter has an upward trending response that peaks around 4-5dB at ~24KHz. Is that going to sound "hot" in the treble compared to the original Sierra-1?

Very good point... The tipped up response on the 1 meter on-axis anechoic response is precisely what we were aiming for with the new tweeter. In order to accomplish this, many features of the stock tweeter had to be completely changed, including going to a considerably more powerful neodymium ring magnet, changing the voice coil wiring and former and turning the tweeter into a fully "under-hung" design.

This is a 29mm dome tweeter which is a rather large diameter for domes. This offers many benefits, including lower distortion levels at lower frequencies, higher power handling / higher efficiency / improved dynamics. The one drawback is that upper frequencies of the tweeter become more directional compared to a smaller dome tweeter such that they will roll-off sooner off-axis. Keep in mind that when we sit down to listen in our rooms, we here a combination of the direct-sound and indirect sound.

The rise in response you see on the 1 meter anechoic response is precisely tuned to compensate for the off-axis roll-off associated with all dome tweeters such that a flat in-room response is generated.

As with the original Sierra-1, our focus was not so much a ruler flat on-axis response, but more of an accurate in-room response.

Below are some in-room measurements of the final version of the NrT compared to the standard Sierra-1. Ignore the peak at 100Hz and the dip at 200Hz as these are caused by floor bounce (reflections). The measurements were taken with the speakers positioned in the middle of the room with about 3 feet clearance from the wall behind them. Our listening room is ~ 14.5 feet wide and 20 feet long. Another important item to point out, since a few non-Sierra owners have expressed their doubts, the in-room bass response in this large room with no corner loading is exactly -3dB at 36Hz, even better than our posted specifications and that is with the speakers located away from walls and corners.

Measurement below taken with a microphone distance at 60 inches. Sierra-1 NrT is yellow, standard is green. Notice how the NrT high-frequency response flattens out while the Sierra-1 starts to roll-off.




Here is the response with the microphone distance at 80 inches. Notice that the further the distance away, the flatter the high-frequency response becomes.



You are seeing significantly greater extension with the new tweeter, in fact, in-room this tweeter's response is -3dB at 28kHz which is remarkable for any dome tweeter. And I should mention, you are seeing real measurements here, taken with industry standard reference gear and a $3000 calibrated microphone... And I would be more than happy to duplicate these measurements for anyone in-person

I should also mention, after today's NrT demo, we are now 14 for 14 listeners prefer the NrT over the standard. (yes, I am that obsessive that I actually track this data ) Today, Scott used the term "much more open sounding with the ability to hear multiple layers in the vocals, something I have never heard before with this CD".

I am hoping Scott will share his thoughts but all I can say at this point is that I am really excited to get these into your homes!

[bk_856er]

I apologize in advance as this is sort of a silly question.

I currently use Sierra-1s L/C/R and am about to jump on the NrT upgrade. Do I only upgrade the L/R or all three? I only use the center channel for home theater and find the standard Sierra-1 performance to be already more than adequate for that task. I am only really interested in eking out every last ounce of performance for 2 channel music. Is it ridiculous to only upgrade the L/C in an L/C/R setup?

Anyone else with this setup that is upgrading to NrT?

I'm also curious to hear some thoughts on this. After some consideration, I ultimately decided to upgrade all three of my Sierra-1s for maximum performance/matching in all applicaitons.

I also think I recall reading here that the new tweeter assembly is symmetrical, so it cannot be rotated like the original one for broader horizontal off-axis response.

Are any pics of the new parts available?

BK