The Tower Discussion Thread!

[markgoebel]

I will be getting a pair of E15HP2's tomorrow. I won't be able to set them up for a few days because I'll be working. In the meantime, possibly someone will have a similar setup as mine.

In a 3300 sq. ft. room I have an integrated amp, Yamaha A-S2200, that features left and right pre-outs for the subs. The speakers are Ascend Acoustics Towers with RAAL. I'll use REW eventually.

Any tips on subwoofer settings?

How do you like the Yamaha A-S2200 with the Sierra Towers?

[BZ58]

The best word I can think of to describe it is “clear”. The instruments sound real. I really like the Sierra Towers with the Yamaha.

[jeenam]

:Question for Dave:

Other people have mentioned they found the bass of the Towers to be lacking compared to other speakers. I have found this to be true as well. If I didn't have a subwoofer to fill in the low end I would not keep the Towers.

How did you end up at the current config with the small dual-woofer configuration? Are there any easy mods one can make to pad the x-over to adjust levels?

[choirbass]

I’m not Dave, but I fail to see how the Sierra Towers are lacking in bass. They’re flat, not bloated. They’re about accuracy. Adding a sub only throws that off, and serves to accentuate bass by inflating it.

Now if you’re talking about a sub covering the bass frequencies below where the Sierra Towers cover, that’s different. The bass doesn’t have to be bloated, and can stick to accuracy.

[djDANNY]

I’m not Dave, but I fail to see how the Sierra Towers are lacking in bass. They’re flat, not bloated. They’re about accuracy. Adding a sub only throws that off, and serves to accentuate bass by inflating it.

Now if you’re talking about a sub covering the bass frequencies below where the Sierra Towers cover, that’s different. The bass doesn’t have to be bloated, and can stick to accuracy.

They’re fairly flat anechoic maybe, but in room is a totally different story. Subs give you an opportunity for optimal placement whereas speakers need to be set up to provide you with the proper imaging. A good sub properly integrated with your speakers will 99% of the time give you the best in room freq response and sound.

[BZ58]

I don't think you need a subwoofer with the towers, especially with music. I just got them to compliment the towers. I have them for a trial period. I hope I don't decide to return them.

[choirbass]

I second that about not needing a sub for music, or movies even. I only have the Sierra-2 with no sub so I can only imagine how much better the Sierra Towers are.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’m sensitive to bass. I can do without earthshaking effects or muddled bass caused by a subwoofer. It doesn’t help.

[racrawford65]

IMO, the Towers have really good bass and do quite well with music w/o subwoofer(s). That said, I agree with djDanny - a good sub or two, properly integrated, elevates the listening experience.

[SunByrne]

Maybe it’s just me, but I’m sensitive to bass. I can do without earthshaking effects or muddled bass caused by a subwoofer. It doesn’t help.

If one is going to use a subwoofer, I think it's really important to get it right. A poor, or even badly-integrated, subwoofer can definitely be worse than no subwoofer at all. These poor people who think they'll make their setup sound better by dropping $100 on bad sub and just put it wherever... all you can do is pity them.

A high-quality well-integrated subwoofer, though, is a thing of beauty. The problem is that in some rooms, it's hard to get good integration, even with high-quality subwoofers. I'm a big fan of sealed Rythmiks and Seatons because not only are they great, I think they're easier to integrate. It's easier with an AVR that has room correction, to be sure.

As far as I'm concerned, it's worth both the effort and the expense. But then I'm a bassist...

[racrawford65]

and if no avr with room correction, the miniDSP (+REW) works really well to integrate subs - I use this with my dual Rythmiks. The DSpeaker Antimode 8033 looks like it would do a good job, as well, and it's fully automated. Been thinking of picking one up to try it out.