Audio-fool needs help from audiophiles

[JustaSheep]

That logic is sound to me. Had I know about that site, I would have bought a refurb AVR for sure. The ones listed really aren't even that old, so I don't think you have any worries about being outpaced by technology or codecs, especially for a 2.1 setup...and you have room to grow.

[mapmn006]

So I had a little time to think, and check some things out while I was up in MN over the last 6 days. Financially I think my mid July purchase will need to be pushed back a month. I'm ok with that so I have more time consider my options even though I think I like where I'm at with things. The Denon 3312ci from accessories4less for $550 seems like what I will go with. As far as room treatment goes I ordered a thick 5'X8' persian style area rug today. And by “I” I mean the wife. Also I think acoustic paneling behind the speakers on the front wall might fly with her at some point. Not to totally throw a money wrench into things, but I did look at the Salk Songtowers again. I know...please don't throw digital rotten vegetables at me...but given the price I just need to be sure on what I go with. I'm still planning on the Sierra Towers, but I do have a few questions that someone might help me with...

*The standard Songtower uses a Hiquphone OW2 tweeter. How would that tweeter compare to the Nrt? Also for $100 more they offer OW4...how would that compare to the other two? I'm leaning towards ribbons, but just for fun I would like to know. I tried to Google the info, and what I found was just technical info that meant nothing to me. Not sure if there is a simple way to explain their differences, but if there is I'd love to hear it.

*I've seen acoustic paneling in pics on the wall behind the main speakers. Could someone explain why this is helpful. Seems like they would not be very useful there. I guess the speakers are ported out the back, but is that all there is to it? On the side walls and far wall that makes sense to me...but behind on the front wall? Also any thoughts between diffusors vs. absorbing panels behind the main speakers? I've read people say diffusors on far wall with absorbing panels behind. Is this standard? I get that every room is different, but just wondering if there is a general rule.

*Also comparing the Songtowers to the Sierra Towers the biggest difference seems to be 3-way vs. 2-way. I know both are great and “better” is in the eye of the beholder, but is there one generally seen as more often preferred for home theater or music. I've read many threads comparing the 2 so I get that there is no right answer on which is better, but does anyone have any thoughts on 2-way vs 3-way?

Again...I'm leaning heavily towards the Sierra Towers. That is why I'm here on this site. I have a month to pull the trigger so I just thought I'd keep the thread going with some questions for all who are interested in reading/participating in educating me/others...thx again!

[mapmn006]

So I called Ascend the other day, and like others have posted they are 2-3 months out on their towers. They are waiting on cabinets. I guess the last batch was 90% preordered, and the other 10% went quick. I talked to them about listening to the Nrt vs Raal, but seems they only have Nrt in listening studio right now. So I will not be making a trip over. Getting close and leaning towards the matte black, but satin dark cherry looks real nice too!

[Kisakuku]

Getting close and leaning towards the matte black, but satin dark cherry looks real nice too!

Personally, I think that the cherry and the espresso stains are the most attractive, as they show just the right amount of the natural bamboo grain (a lot less than the natural finish, a lot more than the black bamboo and obviously matte black).

[JustaSheep]

I personally love the naturals, but SAF was low. I also really like the black bamboo, but the lighting would have to be perfect to show them off.

I have the espresso and like them a lot, too. They are easy to decorate around so the SAF is pretty high.

[curtis]

I love the naturals...but beggars can't be choosers, so I'll take any of them.

[mapmn006]

Yeah your right about seeing the grain in the satin finishes vs the matte. Our concern is that we have so much brownish wood it might be too much. I was on a “natural” kick for a while thinking the contrast in woods might look nice. She likes the black as a simple minimalist look, and at $200 cheaper than natural who am I to argue? Here are a couple pics of the room to show the wood colors, and It might help show what I was talking about when describing what an acoustical nightmare the room is. I had to resize the pics so I hope they upload correctly. We since got the area rug (not in any pics) and it looks good but unfortunately did only a little to kill the echo. Progress over time I guess...

ps: notice the space above the cable box for the avr - all ready to go...can't wait!

IMG_0152.JPGIMG_0162.JPGIMG_0172.JPG

[JustaSheep]

I like how you slipped in that pic of your Rottie! Good lookin' dog!

The house looks great, too, but I see what you mean about tile, walls and such.

[mapmn006]

There is actually two pics of him...the second one is more of a "Where's Waldo" though...he he

[FirstReflect]

Nice-looking place! I like your wall colour But, my goodness, yes, that is less than ideal for acoustics!

In terms of cabinet colour first, I think you should go dark. Either espresso or black. You've got very little black in that room. Only the TV bezel and the picture frame, really. But that should be enough to tie in a black pair of towers. I'd opt for the black bamboo rather than matte in your room, though.

Speaking of the picture frame -- so long as you can stomach the cost, you can definitely bring a good amount of acoustic treatments into that room without them looking the least bit out of place! You could replace that large piece of artwork on the wall with a printed/dyed set of panels. Heck, you could have the exact same image replicated, if you'd like. You could also quite easily put some art panels on the front wall behind the speakers. And I'm sure the other walls could hold art panels, too.

Given your tile floor, I'd actually go a bit nuts on the ceiling. You could solve a lot of your echo problems with ceiling treatments. Easiest thing would be to just cover as much of the ceiling as you can afford with plain white absorption panels! You wouldn't even notice them up there.

The other thing you could use would be wood diffuser grids. Auralex has some really nice ones: http://www.auralex.com/sustain/default.asp

Diffusers keep the sound energy in the room, but they scatter then sound waves, rather than allowing them to bounce back and forth in straight lines. So they break up the echoes, but do not deaden the room in any way. Frankly, though, you could mostly do with plenty of absorption

Having all the treatments look really pretty and more like decoration than acoustic products is awesome. But it ain't cheap. However, as long as you are aware of your options, you can always plug away at it a little at a time as funds allow. The way to come at it, IMO, is to simply always opt for an acoustic treatment any time you are going to add a bit of decoration anyway. Just always kill two birds with one stone! Any picture or artwork can be an art panel instead. Rather than painting the ceiling or texturing it, put panels or diffuser grids up there. If you always keep the acoustics in mind, it's much easier to "hide" the treatments in decorations that you would have added to your room anyways!

Oh, and you need a BIG, and well damped/decoupled subwoofer. You've got loads of open air space. To get really satisfying deep bass, you need a sub that can pressurize that entire volume of open air! And damp the heck out of the space between the bottom of the subwoofer and the floor. The last thing you want is a big ol' sub literally vibrating the whole house and creating a bunch of distortion and a crazy amount of "bass bleed" into every room of your house, and probably into your neighbor's house, as well! haha

Seriously, though, rather than an end table, you should get yourself a nice, BIG sub. It could live next to the love seat, and literally act as an end table for it. Could look really nice, actually. See? Audio hidden everywhere