Sierra-2 Development Thread

[ematthews]

I received mine a little earlier than expected (Thanks!). Actually, I too experience a "thin-ness" relative to expectations.

I bought them as bookshelf monitors, to be in bookshelves, flanking my TV, which is how I have them installed. They are "thin" (lacking "body") relative to what they replaced (Emotiva ERM-1) and compared to my main sound rig. However, I have not been able to give them a really serious, critical evaluation - one where pull them out into the room, on stands, with my best DAC and amp. Until I do that, I can't really say there is anything wrong with them.

For now, I am continuing to listen to them. They certainly provide the clarity and off-axis response I sought! I do value that. And they do have nice low bass for their size. If I ever arrange an appropriate critical listening session, I'll report back. My current feeling is that I can probably equalize them to be more satisfying someday, but I cannot equalize the dispersion and sound quality of a lesser speaker, so I am likely to stick with these as good long-term companions.

Just a note.... Dave explained to me that what we are hearing is a very accurate speaker with the 2's. You will not get any grey area etc with these. Once you listen for a while you CAN NOT go back to a speaker like the Emotiva. I was using Polk LSi before I got these. The one thing is I did need a sub with these since I like a bit of low end... The RBH Sound towers I got are very accurate like the Sierra's with the mid bass I was missing and really low end from a tower. I will get the Towers from Ascend one day.
Just wanted to make this point from what you said about thinness.

[jimb]

Just a note.... Dave explained to me that what we are hearing is a very accurate speaker with the 2's... The one thing is I did need a sub with these since I like a bit of low end... Just wanted to make this point from what you said about thinness.

Could be. The Emotivas are not my reference - just the speakers the S2s replaced. My main system is very high performance, as are my headphones, and I try to compare to how real instruments sound. There is a lot to like about the S2s. At the moment, I am satisfied to 'fault' the installation. I would like to roll-off driving the very low end to give the woofers a break on full range material, though I doubt that is the cause of the tonal (im)balance. As I said, I should be able to tweak the balance with equalization, if necessary.

[davef]

Could be. The Emotivas are not my reference - just the speakers the S2s replaced. My main system is very high performance, as are my headphones, and I try to compare to how real instruments sound. There is a lot to like about the S2s. At the moment, I am satisfied to 'fault' the installation. I would like to roll-off driving the very low end to give the woofers a break on full range material, though I doubt that is the cause of the tonal (im)balance. As I said, I should be able to tweak the balance with equalization, if necessary.

Are you able to post a pic of your setup?

[hornfan785]

Dave, do you plan on updating the Sierra-2 photo gallery with any of the US made finishes? I'd love to see what they look like in Black Bamboo and Black Matte.

[jimb]

Hi. Dave. I'll PM you...

[davef]

Dave, do you plan on updating the Sierra-2 photo gallery with any of the US made finishes? I'd love to see what they look like in Black Bamboo and Black Matte.

Absolutely! - in fact, we had set aside photo samples for just this purpose. However, sales of Sierra-2 continue to be brisker than we had anticipated and we had to sell the photo sample cabinets before we were able to take the pics. We have another batch of US built cabinets underway -- these should be ready in about 6-7 weeks, at which time -- new pics will be the highest priority.

[Bill66]

Hello All,

Had my Sierra 2's for a couple months now and loving them. Just a quick question, at what frequency is the tweeter/woofer crossover in the speaker? I know I read it somewhere, but I can't seem to find it. Thanks in advance!

[es2burn]

Just want to share my setup since there's some talk on streaming the FLAC's. Maybe there are others in this forum that are already doing so, I used a raspberry pi installed with XBMC to stream all my FLAC's. Used the HDMI to send signals to my X-4000 and it streams all files stored in a local NAS just fine. Since pi supports CEC, I just had both TV and receiver enabled with CEC control and I'm able to just use the TV remote to control most basic functions on the XBMC. Of course you can install the XBMC app on your phone to control it also (which is much faster). Control with TV remote is kinda sluggish unless you do some tweak to it.

That said, I've owned the S2's since April this year and I have been enjoying them DAILY since DAY 1! they are my fist pair of nice speakers (have always listened to the active computer speakers), and like many others said, I never understood what stage is until I heard them . Also, no more listening fatique, and I get to enjoy the musics hours long after getting back from a long days work

Dina and David had also been superb in helping me making my purchasing decision. Not to mention I just decided to stop by their office soon before their office closes on a Friday evening, and they still accommodated me with couple hours of demoing. My budget went from the 170's to the S2's after listening. (Had to convince the wife and took some effort over the phone - she wasn't with me that day) Sure it was an impulse buy - but we have not regretted since and have been enjoying them!

PS - the S2's are used as main speakers in the living room so far. We're saving up for the horizon center & sub and upgrade to the towers down the road. Room size is about 18'x30'x9' open space for reference if anyone's interested.

[DevL]

I followed this thread for the better part of a year. There was going to be a satin black us version with the ports from the towers. I have satin black towers and Horizon with RAALs. I checked to see if I could order satin black Sierra 2s and saw the option not available. What is the status of satin black S2? I really want them to finish my system.

[davef]

I followed this thread for the better part of a year. There was going to be a satin black us version with the ports from the towers. I have satin black towers and Horizon with RAALs. I checked to see if I could order satin black Sierra 2s and saw the option not available. What is the status of satin black S2? I really want them to finish my system.

absolutely available -- just not listed on our site just yet. Please give us a call at the office to order them.

thanks!