The Tower Discussion Thread!

[davef]

As I said, same as a Horizon Center so $1100. If you had an option (even a 2-way) that was roughly 8” tall in a MTM configuration that was a good match for the towers, I’d instantly buy that. For home theater I think centers are really important.

Hi kingcrowing,

Horizon with ribbon is $1450+. If you are looking for center with a dome tweeter, I would recommend going with our CMT-340.

An MTM "center" (btw, an MTM is a 2-way speaker) with 5" or 6" woofers using the smaller Sierra-2 ribbon tweeter is certainly possible at around $1500. However, it will not perform well as a horizontal center. Reason being is due to where we must cross the smaller RAAL to the larger woofers. Horizontal off-axis performance will be severely compromised due to wave interference. 4.5" woofers would be the largest I would use (our Duo)

The only true ribbon tweeter that would work well in this MTM configuration would be the RAAL 70-20xram, the ribbon we use in the Horizon and Tower. What makes this ribbon so unique and simply so good is that it is designed to be crossed as low as 1.8kHz. With that low of a crossover point, and when considering the center to center spacing between 6" woofers, horizontal off-axis wave interference will be reasonable.

The RAAL 70-20xram is an extremely expensive tweeter, costing significantly more than the smaller ribbon tweeter. Unfortunately, retail pricing on such a speaker is going to be much higher than your price point. There is no company on the planet offering speakers with RAAL 70-20's for less or even the same as we do, and that is because we purchase these in larger numbers than anyone else and even with that, our profit margins on these models are embarrassingly low.

You can approach Salk, but like what I just mentioned, you can't use the smaller RAAL in an MTM center with woofers any larger than what we already use in our Duo.

Horizon is your best bet by far, both in performance and price.

[davef]

A single 2EX is $838, so adding a second woofer at say 50% of the overall cost brings it to $1257... somewhere in that ballpark would work for me.

Adding that second woofer and positioning horizontally would provide noticeably worse performance than with the single woofer and small RAAL. Why not just go with the horizontally positioned Sierra-2EX?

[natetg57]

Adding that second woofer and positioning horizontally would provide noticeably worse performance than with the single woofer and small RAAL. Why not just go with the horizontally positioned Sierra-2EX?

Thanks for the insight Dave. I think the question some have would be whether a center channel with 2 6" woofers and the RAAL 70-20xram tweeter would be a significant step up from a Sierra-2EX or Duo? Obviously the Horizon with Raal is still better, but could this be an option if the Horizon is too big?

[kingcrowing]

Thanks for the insight Dave. I think the question some have would be whether a center channel with 2 6" woofers and the RAAL 70-20xram tweeter would be a significant step up from a Sierra-2EX or Duo? Obviously the Horizon with Raal is still better, but could this be an option if the Horizon is too big?

Yes, this is what I was trying to get at!

[Spamilton]

I think the question some have would be whether a center channel with 2 6" woofers and the RAAL 70-20xram tweeter would be a significant step up from a Sierra-2EX or Duo?

I'm certain it would sound better, but would enough people buy a $2k center for it to be worth it for Ascend? They have probably had these discussions.

[davef]

Thanks for the insight Dave. I think the question some have would be whether a center channel with 2 6" woofers and the RAAL 70-20xram tweeter would be a significant step up from a Sierra-2EX or Duo? Obviously the Horizon with Raal is still better, but could this be an option if the Horizon is too big?

I wouldn't call it a significant step up, it would sound quite similar to a Sierra-2EX but with higher sensitivity, increased power handling, and step up in overall dynamics. The RAAL 70-20 is slightly smoother and more linear compared to the S2EX tweeter but also doesn't have quite as wide dispersion. I would say overall it would sound better to most listeners, but I don't think it would be enough to justify the rather steep price increase.

It's a tough call...

[Spamilton]

I just did a quick Tower and 2EX comparison and thought I'd share. The full-size RAAL and the dedicated midrange really open up the sound. Movie dialogue and music in general sound superb. It sounds so good that it actually sounds worse with the center 2EX on. No need to worry, I was just testing one of my two 2EX. I don't have a 3rd. And I don't have room for a Horizon, but I'm not convinced it would be better for my room anyway.

I always thought the 2EX sounded recessed which I think is preferable for a more intimate room which is where I have them now. I'm guessing that's due to the wider dispersion.

Thank you, Ascend, for making great speakers!

[davef]

I just did a quick Tower and 2EX comparison and thought I'd share. The full-size RAAL and the dedicated midrange really open up the sound. Movie dialogue and music in general sound superb. It sounds so good that it actually sounds worse with the center 2EX on. No need to worry, I was just testing one of my two 2EX. I don't have a 3rd. And I don't have room for a Horizon, but I'm not convinced it would be better for my room anyway.

I always thought the 2EX sounded recessed which I think is preferable for a more intimate room which is where I have them now. I'm guessing that's due to the wider dispersion.

Thank you, Ascend, for making great speakers!

Happy to hear you are enjoying them!

[Brannigan]

Still loving my towers after all these years especially after finally getting quality separates for amp and dac. How long until the tower 2 comes out?

[jwarthman]

Hello, this is my first post, although I've been lurking/reading for a while! I see many very experienced people here, and would love to get recommendations.

I've ordered a pair of Sierra Towers with RAAL. I will be driving these, along with a Horizon center (dome tweeter, not RAAL) with a Denon AVR-X6700H. I have a 5.2 configuration with really old Energy rear surrounds, and the subs are a new SVS SB-3000 and an old Energy e:XL-S10. So ya, one sealed and one ported sub, which isn't ideal...

This Denon has Audyssey MultEQ XT32, and I have the MultEQ app on an iPad for additional tailoring.

The system will be used ~70% for movies, 30% for music.

So, I have two questions (for now). First, how to handle bass management?

That is, how best to configure the crossover from the Towers to the subs? The Denon gives me a few options. I could configure the Towers as "small", and direct the bass energy to the subs below some particular frequency. SVS recommends a 60 Hz crossover for these Towers, which is bit lower than the 80 Hz I've seen recommended here.

Or I could tell the Denon to send all frequencies to the Towers, and also send frequencies below the low-bass filter frequency to the subs.

Last, I could forego use of the subs and send all frequencies to the Towers.

Second, since the Horizon center has a dome tweeter and the Towers will have RAAL tweeters, how much difference would it make to "upgrade" (or replace) the Horizon center with an RAAL Horizon? Would the difference be substantial, or subtle?

I really can't wait to receive the Towers!! In the meantime, I'm sure I will have more questions. :-)

Thanks in advance!

Jim