The Tower Discussion Thread!

[choirbass]

I had purchased a Rhythmic sub for my stepdad awhile back to replace the cheaper sub that he had. The only way it sounds acceptable is with the volume turned mostly down to balance with the Sierra Lunas he has. As soon as you increase the volume up at all it takes away from it.

[djDANNY]

I had purchased a Rhythmic sub for my stepdad awhile back to replace the cheaper sub that he had. The only way it sounds acceptable is with the volume turned mostly down to balance with the Lunas he has. As soon as you increase the volume up at all it takes away from it.

Not trying to be condescending here, but well yeah that’ll happen if you don’t properly set the levels and time align the sub to the speakers. Also, if you have poor placement and don’t properly EQ them you’ll probably have a bunch of peaks that make certain frequencies sound boomy. But once you learn how to integrate it properly, as many here have said already there is just no comparison between a system with subs and a system that is speakers only. Running my Sierra 2’s in pure direct (2 channel only) vs with my subs is a completely different experience, both audibly and viscerally.

[choirbass]

Thinking of a DSPeaker ANTI-MODE 2.0 DUAL CORE for bass correction for my stepdad. Any thoughts about it?

[djDANNY]

Thinking of a DSPeaker ANTI-MODE 2.0 DUAL CORE for bass correction for my stepdad. Any thoughts about it?

I have no experience with that device but it doesn’t seem like it would be able to time align your sub with your speakers. I could be wrong though.

I personally calibrate manually using a measurement mic (umik-1), a minidsp 2x4hd, and free measurement software (Room EQ Wizard).

[choirbass]

Room correction and bass correction sounds too complicated to do manually. I think I’ll just stick to 2.0 stereo with an external DAC and 2 mono block amps without corrections for the biggest benefit and with the least involvement. I appreciate the posts tho.

As far as my stepdads setup, if there was an easy way to get bass correction I’d consider it.

[davef]

: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?

Hi Jeenam,

Everyone has personal tastes regarding what is/isn't "enough" bass. It is important to understand that the biggest factor with regard to bass in your room, is the actual acoustics of your room.

What are the dimensions of your room?

Have you had other speakers in this same room and exact same positioning that delivered more bass?

You might be surprised at how simply moving the speakers a bit forward or a bit backward will change the overall response. Google "Rule of Thirds" for speaker placement.

The vast majority of our customers are more than satisfied with the bass response of our towers, many of them do not use a sub. In fact, we demo the towers at our facility full range, without a sub.

That said, since you have a sub - why would you want more bass from the towers? A decent quality subwoofer will be able to better handle the frequencies from 80Hz and lower compared to nearly all speakers out there. And, more importantly, a subwoofer can be optimally placed in a room to yield the best overall bass response while speakers are just the opposite. Also Google "subwoofer crawl" for proper subwoofer placement.

How did you end up at the current config with the small dual-woofer configuration?

Because we design speakers for accuracy, that includes bass (no bloat or bass exaggeration) and transient accuracy - which is critical to match the performance of the very low mass midrange driver and the remarkable transient accuracy of the RAAL ribbon. Large woofers = heavier moving mass and require significantly more internal cabinet volume. Larger speaker cabinets cause other issues and also cost more to manufacture.

Are there any easy mods one can make to pad the x-over to adjust levels?

For nearly all speakers, the tweeter and midrange driver need to be padded down to match the levels of the woofer(s). It is not possible to get deeper bass extension by changing or making adjustments to a crossover. It can be done with powered speakers, by what is known as a Linkwitz Transform circuit, but doing so reduces dynamic range.

Everything in speaker design is about choosing which compromises to reach the performance goal.

[racrawford65]

Thinking of a DSPeaker ANTI-MODE 2.0 DUAL CORE for bass correction for my stepdad. Any thoughts about it?

I've not used it but have been researching alternates to the miniDSP. IMO, it is a nice device - will flatten peaks up to around 150 hz (as I recall from reading). It is my understanding it doesn't touch nulls nor can you time-align the subs. It is also automatic/self contained. That said, it should improve the sound of the bass from a subwoofer.

Is your step dad interested in selling it (assuming you don't pick it up)?

[choirbass]

I’m sure I’ll use it if I buy it, so as far as selling it that would be a no.

This is probably a dumb question but where does the sub plug into it? I see 4 RCA ports on a diagram. Also 4 XLR ports but I won’t use those. I would expect to see an LFE port like on a receiver.

[racrawford65]

thanks, choirbass.

[djDANNY]

I’m sure I’ll use it if I buy it, so as far as selling it that would be a no.

This is probably a dumb question but where does the sub plug into it? I see 4 RCA ports on a diagram. Also 4 XLR ports but I won’t use those. I would expect to see an LFE port like on a receiver. Why so many ports if you’re only using a couple at most?

I think you want the 8033 model if you’re going to be using it for your subs. But EQ’ing without proper time alignment still won’t get you where you want to be. You need to time align so in the crossover range your subs and speakers aren’t cancelling each other out. If you have a receiver with Audyssey for example that can do everything for you (set proper delays and EQ).