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Thread: To RAAL or not to RAAL..that is the question.

  1. #21
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    Jan 2008
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    Dallas
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    Default Re: To RAAL or not to RAAL..that is the question.

    Beautiful!

  2. #22
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    Sep 2012
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    Default Re: To RAAL or not to RAAL..that is the question.

    Very nice! I'll be ordering within the next two weeks, I decided on going nrt for towers and raal for the center, followed by HTM-200s.

  3. #23
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    May 2012
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    28

    Default Re: To RAAL or not to RAAL..that is the question.

    gah just got tv stand so need to decide to raal or not to raal for 100% movie watching lalalalala :O

  4. #24
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    Jul 2012
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    Phoenix, AZ
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    Default Re: To RAAL or not to RAAL..that is the question.

    Don't mean to throw my question in someone else's thread, but since my question is about the RAAL upgrade, thought I'd see what others thought.

    So I am looking for my first HT setup (80% movies/20% music), and I have decided on the towers, horizon, and 200s for surrounds. Now what would be the better option:

    1. Towers with NrT, horizon with NrT, 200s and FV15HP right now.

    2. Towers with RAAL, horizon with RAAL, 200s, AND wait a few months for the sub. Will the towers dig deep enough to keep me satisfied until I buy a sub, possibly 4-6 months.

  5. #25
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    Oct 2012
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    9

    Default Re: To RAAL or not to RAAL..that is the question.

    Quote Originally Posted by atcjeep View Post
    Don't mean to throw my question in someone else's thread, but since my question is about the RAAL upgrade, thought I'd see what others thought.

    So I am looking for my first HT setup (80% movies/20% music), and I have decided on the towers, horizon, and 200s for surrounds. Now what would be the better option:

    1. Towers with NrT, horizon with NrT, 200s and FV15HP right now.

    2. Towers with RAAL, horizon with RAAL, 200s, AND wait a few months for the sub. Will the towers dig deep enough to keep me satisfied until I buy a sub, possibly 4-6 months.
    Honestly, no, IMO. No way the towers can get anywhere close to a Rythmik FV15HP in regards to bass, especially for movies. For music, you would probably be ok. But, that does not mean I am saying not to get the Raal upgrade. Only that, in the interim, the bass will be lacking for movies.

  6. #26
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
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    84

    Default Re: To RAAL or not to RAAL..that is the question.

    I know I promised impressions but I JUST got the raal towers set up and I'm a little superstitious about really cranking speakers until they break in awhile. I'm listening at lowish volume and have a rough idea about the sound. They seem a tiny bit laid back compared to the sierra base model, more even sounding. The bass seems a little gentler but fuller and more textured letting you make out the detail of the bass rather than feeling as much of a snap. The mid and tweeter seem to do a good job of separating sounds to the point that it's noticeably easier to track different instruments if you focus on them. Once I break them in more and get my sub dialed in I'll give my real review.

  7. #27
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    Jul 2011
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    84

    Default Re: To RAAL or not to RAAL..that is the question.

    Hoooly shhhizznyyattttttt I just listened to some tracks off of nostril by Igorrr. YES THE TOWERS ARE BETTER.

  8. #28
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    Sep 2012
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    9

    Default Re: To RAAL or not to RAAL..that is the question.

    hahah nice brannigan.

    I am also seriously thinking about the Rythmics FV15HP.

  9. #29
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    501

    Default Re: To RAAL or not to RAAL..that is the question.

    Quote Originally Posted by Brannigan View Post
    I know I promised impressions but I JUST got the raal towers set up and I'm a little superstitious about really cranking speakers until they break in awhile. I'm listening at lowish volume and have a rough idea about the sound. They seem a tiny bit laid back compared to the sierra base model, more even sounding. The bass seems a little gentler but fuller and more textured letting you make out the detail of the bass rather than feeling as much of a snap. The mid and tweeter seem to do a good job of separating sounds to the point that it's noticeably easier to track different instruments if you focus on them. Once I break them in more and get my sub dialed in I'll give my real review.
    There's no problem cranking the speakers, some people to 'break in' the speakers play it non stop at loud volumes for 48 hours or whatnot in a closet... I find that a bit silly and excessive, but in your case you can play the speakers without worrying!

    Don't mean to throw my question in someone else's thread, but since my question is about the RAAL upgrade, thought I'd see what others thought.

    So I am looking for my first HT setup (80% movies/20% music), and I have decided on the towers, horizon, and 200s for surrounds. Now what would be the better option:

    1. Towers with NrT, horizon with NrT, 200s and FV15HP right now.

    2. Towers with RAAL, horizon with RAAL, 200s, AND wait a few months for the sub. Will the towers dig deep enough to keep me satisfied until I buy a sub, possibly 4-6 months.
    Honestly, no, IMO. No way the towers can get anywhere close to a Rythmik FV15HP in regards to bass, especially for movies. For music, you would probably be ok. But, that does not mean I am saying not to get the Raal upgrade. Only that, in the interim, the bass will be lacking for movies.
    There's no question the subs will dig deeper but if the question is whether the towers can satisfy until sub purchase, no question in my mind they can... The Sierra bookshelve bass is impressive for it's size and it sounds better than many floorstanders of similar price. So the towers should definitely be able to do the job with the twin optimized bass woofers...

    If you want to go with numbers, the Sierras go down to around 40hz if I remember correctly, the towers go down to 34 ... So no, you're not losing a whole lot, in the sound frequency spectrum, you've got from 35 to 40000 hz covered. You're just missing 20-35hz, and any sane person will be able to enjoy a movie without 20-30 hz content... (and there will be some <35 content just less loud..)

    RAAL vs NRT, tough question... My basis is usually price/performance ratio. It's 2k for towers and around 2.7k for RAAL I think, so about 35% extra for RAAL. The NrT is a very good tweeter and from what I remember Dave saying about it is that it would satisfy the needs (needs.. lol) of the majority of customers... But audio people are strange, and good enough often isn't. Hence the RAAL. If budget is important, the highest bang for the buck is probably going to the NrT. If performance is more important, then RAAL is the better tweeter.

    In what camp are you? I'd say I'm halfway in both. Bang for the buck is usually what I go for, but if I can spend a little more to make a purchase more bullet proof (last longer, least risk of buyer remorse), I might fork a little extra for the extra performance... In the case of RAAL, hard to say since I've not heard the towers...

    I have compared the NrT tweeter to a Fountek NeoCd3.0 ribbon tweeter and to my ears they didn't sound that different for the high end in terms of performance. Maybe my ears aren't very sensitive to that area nor discerning... Fountek isn't RAAL though, so the differences might be more significant with RAAL. So forking 700$ for a upgrade for the already excellent NrT tweeter may not be the smartest thing to do with the budget oriented. If money is burning a hole in your pockets though...

    imho, if 700 is nothing, go for it. If it's a significant chunk of money for you and/or you're not anal about audio, go NrT. Just 80/20 movie/music for me = go NrT ... Or maybe not automatically... Mostly depends on budget, also I think the RAAL is more 'polite' than the NrT, NrT can be a little bit more in your face, so if you prefer 'velvet' top end, maybe RAAL is the way to go.

    IMHO, for normal folk any is fine, no 'regular folk' would notice RAAL vs NrT for just regular movie watching... Both great tweeters. RAAL is still RAAL though, so if you want the best...

  10. #30
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
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    84

    Default Re: To RAAL or not to RAAL..that is the question.

    Sadly there's no way for me to know the difference between the tweeters because I don't have both types of speaker but I can say there doesn't seem to be a drawback to the raal that I can find. Good sound is good sound and some blurays have some really high definition audio so go for it if you can but don't get depressed over it if you can't afford them. I heard the normal towers for about 10 minutes at the ascend office when I picked up my raals and they sounded great but I didn't have any of my own music and the room was way different than my living room, also didn't have a sub. Plus, the room was treated, had a different source, different amp etc. I'm sure the nrt is great but I'm glad I spend the extra dough on the best. Pretty damn impressive. I can pick out pretty much any piece of a tune and home in on it. They go way high, sound sparkly, shimmery, whatever you want to call it, without being piercing at all. Just perfect.

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