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Thread: Sierra-1 NRT vs Towers. No comparison??? A friend got me thinking.

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  1. #1
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    Default Sierra-1 NRT vs Towers. No comparison??? A friend got me thinking.

    As times goes on, I am more and more happy with my new Sierra-1 NRT L/C/R speakers. My apologies to Dave for poo pooing the sound initially as now I notice how bad other speakers sound when I compare them to Sierras-1.

    I have yet to replace my SUB and surrounds. Planning on that update this week possibly.

    A friend came by last week, looked at my speakers, was impressed, BUT said that if I put those Sierra-1 as surrounds and get the Sierra Towers for the front, THAT will be the ultimate set up.

    My question is .... in terms of quality of sound, volume, depth, etc .... is the sound from the Sierra Towers (with RAAL) in a different ballpark when compared to Sierra-1 NRT?

    My room is just 13x18 with 8.5 ceiling and I do have neighbors so I'd never blast my music or movies. I do 60% music and 40% movies. I sit about 7-10ft away from speakers. Center channel is about 6-7 feet away from me ... pretty close. That's why I am thinking that in this situation Towers may be an overkill.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Sierra-1 NRT vs Towers. No comparison??? A friend got me thinking.

    My opinion, YES the Towers especially with the RAAL tweeter will be a definite step up all around over and above the sierra-1 NrT's. You gain the dedicated midrange driver and better tweeter of course. Plus, the towers offer more bass

    again, someone else may not believe the added investment is worth the improvement. If you can, try and demo a RAAL Tower.

    Quote Originally Posted by Pianist718 View Post
    As times goes on, I am more and more happy with my new Sierra-1 NRT L/C/R speakers. My apologies to Dave for poo pooing the sound initially as now I notice how bad other speakers sound when I compare them to Sierras-1.

    I have yet to replace my SUB and surrounds. Planning on that update this week possibly.

    A friend came by last week, looked at my speakers, was impressed, BUT said that if I put those Sierra-1 as surrounds and get the Sierra Towers for the front, THAT will be the ultimate set up.

    My question is .... in terms of quality of sound, volume, depth, etc .... is the sound from the Sierra Towers (with RAAL) in a different ballpark when compared to Sierra-1 NRT?

    My room is just 13x18 with 8.5 ceiling and I do have neighbors so I'd never blast my music or movies. I do 60% music and 40% movies. I sit about 7-10ft away from speakers. Center channel is about 6-7 feet away from me ... pretty close. That's why I am thinking that in this situation Towers may be an overkill.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Sierra-1 NRT vs Towers. No comparison??? A friend got me thinking.

    Quote Originally Posted by Pianist718 View Post
    My question is .... in terms of quality of sound, volume, depth, etc .... is the sound from the Sierra Towers (with RAAL) in a different ballpark when compared to Sierra-1 NRT?
    IMO...yes.

    The Tower simply has better midrange detail to begin with...due to the dedicated and purpose designed/built midrange driver.

    I like the RAAL tweeter over the NrT tweeter. It offers more detail over the NrT, and is smoother. Others will like the NrT for it's more forward nature.

    And the Tower does player lower and can play louder.

    For your sized room, and seating distances, I think the Towers would work fine, but of course, consult Ascend.

    edit: I see merrymaid beat me to it...
    -curtis

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Sierra-1 NRT vs Towers. No comparison??? A friend got me thinking.

    so future upgrade would be to ...... spend $4,000 on towers and center speaker and place Sierras-1 NRT (L/R) as surrounds. And sell Sierra-1 NRT center channel speaker.

    result .... dream set up?

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Sierra-1 NRT vs Towers. No comparison??? A friend got me thinking.

    Quote Originally Posted by Pianist718 View Post
    so future upgrade would be to ...... spend $4,000 on towers and center speaker and place Sierras-1 NRT (L/R) as surrounds. And sell Sierra-1 NRT center channel speaker.

    result .... dream set up?
    I dont think the tower is going to be overkill.
    The tower should through out a more realitic and consistant sound base on the raal review and the polar response. The vertical coverage should be larger as well.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Sierra-1 NRT vs Towers. No comparison??? A friend got me thinking.

    Another option would be to wait and see what uber-upgrade Dave is cooking up for the Sierra-1 & NrT. Should be much cheaper than buying the towers. We don't know what this is truly going to be, but it may offer another viable alternative. If it is worhwhile, you could upgrade your L/R Sierra's, replace the Sierra-NrT center with the Tower center, then just pick up some CBM-170's or HTM-200's for surrounds(maybe even the 340's!).

    I'd estimate the upgrade will be available around Spring, but what do I know!
    Ed

    * Sierra-2EX's W/V2 crossover upgrade
    * (2) Rythmik F12's
    * Parasound Halo P6
    * Audio by Van Alstine DVA-M225 Monoblock Amps
    * MiniDSP 2x4HD For Sub calibration
    *World's Best Cables Canare 4S11 speaker cables

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Sierra-1 NRT vs Towers. No comparison??? A friend got me thinking.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mag_Neato View Post
    Another option would be to wait and see what uber-upgrade Dave is cooking up for the Sierra-1 & NrT. Should be much cheaper than buying the towers. We don't know what this is truly going to be, but it may offer another viable alternative. If it is worhwhile, you could upgrade your L/R Sierra's, replace the Sierra-NrT center with the Tower center, then just pick up some CBM-170's or HTM-200's for surrounds(maybe even the 340's!).

    I'd estimate the upgrade will be available around Spring, but what do I know!
    You think it could be an additional section making the speaker look like a tower? I doubt it.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Sierra-1 NRT vs Towers. No comparison??? A friend got me thinking.

    Quote Originally Posted by Pianist718 View Post
    My question is .... in terms of quality of sound, volume, depth, etc .... is the sound from the Sierra Towers (with RAAL) in a different ballpark when compared to Sierra-1 NRT?

    My room is just 13x18 with 8.5 ceiling and ....I am thinking that in this situation Towers may be an overkill.

    I had L/C/R Sierra-1's and upgraded to Sierra Towers w/NRT. And I am 100% with Curtis and Merrymaid on this - the Towers really are a whole new ball park of game above the Sierra-1's. As Curtis said, that dedicated midrange makes all the difference, plus they punch deeper. After only a few moments of playing them, I immediately noticed the improvement and thought it was *well* worth the money invested.

    I put the Sierra-1's on surround duty (7.1) and I eventually picked up the new monster Sierra Tower Center...which is amazing. I don't know how or why, but it is more cohesive and impacts cleaner than even the standard towers. Must be Dave's black magic.

    So, I have exactly the system you describe (plus a pair of D-15SE subs)...my room is roughly 17x24ish (one corner is closed) and I sit about 12 ft from the speakers. I enjoy it so much I'm considering a RAAL upgrade And tempted to upgrade the subs to F25's. What else to do with tax returns, right? In my opinion, it's not overkill. I could still use more headroom (heh).

    Anyhow, where are you located? I'd be happy to demo the system if you are in my neighborhood (Nebraska).

    Also, "kwarny" (nickname on this forum and AVS) came over to check out my system recently so you can ask him for thoughts - he's heard a lot of gear I think. Same goes for "tesseract67" on AVS, he had very positive things to say about my overall setup.

    Edit - call me crazy, but I do love having the Sierra-1's as surrounds. It's a bit of a guilty pleasure, but between them and the monster STC, I *really* enjoy multichannel music...even just CD's hopped up on Dolby PL-IIx. I also think that Sierra-1's for surrounds are awesome with a medium (50-60hz) crossover for movies...get things a bit more punchy all around. I'm very happy I have it all set up that way.
    Last edited by Jonnyozero3; 09-05-2012 at 04:28 PM.
    Jon O.

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Sierra-1 NRT vs Towers. No comparison??? A friend got me thinking.

    Unrelated question. How big of a difference did having 2 D15SE subs versus one make for you if you have tried it this way? I have just one with a now larger room and need more headroom and impact. I'm hoping adding a matching Rythmik will be enough?


    I also agree with you that sierras make great surrounds and the STC is amazing


    Quote Originally Posted by Jonnyozero3 View Post
    I had L/C/R Sierra-1's and upgraded to Sierra Towers w/NRT. And I am 100% with Curtis and Merrymaid on this - the Towers really are a whole new ball park of game above the Sierra-1's. As Curtis said, that dedicated midrange makes all the difference, plus they punch deeper. After only a few moments of playing them, I immediately noticed the improvement and thought it was *well* worth the money invested.

    I put the Sierra-1's on surround duty (7.1) and I eventually picked up the new monster Sierra Tower Center...which is amazing. I don't know how or why, but it is more cohesive and impacts cleaner than even the standard towers. Must be Dave's black magic.

    So, I have exactly the system you describe (plus a pair of D-15SE subs)...my room is roughly 17x24ish (one corner is closed) and I sit about 12 ft from the speakers. I enjoy it so much I'm considering a RAAL upgrade And tempted to upgrade the subs to F25's. What else to do with tax returns, right? In my opinion, it's not overkill. I could still use more headroom (heh).

    Anyhow, where are you located? I'd be happy to demo the system if you are in my neighborhood (Nebraska).

    Also, "kwarny" (nickname on this forum and AVS) came over to check out my system recently so you can ask him for thoughts - he's heard a lot of gear I think. Same goes for "tesseract67" on AVS, he had very positive things to say about my overall setup.

    Edit - call me crazy, but I do love having the Sierra-1's as surrounds. It's a bit of a guilty pleasure, but between them and the monster STC, I *really* enjoy multichannel music...even just CD's hopped up on Dolby PL-IIx. I also think that Sierra-1's for surrounds are awesome with a medium (50-60hz) crossover for movies...get things a bit more punchy all around. I'm very happy I have it all set up that way.

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