Which Tower & Horizon - concerned with vertical dispersion - RAAL or NrT?

[Natural1]

Hello everyone,
I'm hoping that you all can point me in the right direction here. I've read through most of the tower discussion thread, and it seems like (all things being equal) the RAAL version is almost always the way to go. However, unfortunately I think I might fall in to one of the NrT categories.

Location: Great room / den
Dimensions: 20w x 14L, vaulted ceiling, open to the dining area, kitchen, foyer, and hall leading to the bedroom & office. speakers along the wide wall
Use patterns:
1. I work from home and almost always have music playing on the stereo in my office as well as out in the den.
2. Nightly use for TV/Music/Movies
3. Almost always have music playing while I'm making dinner
3. Music ranges from classic rock, ambient, jazz, and a fair amount of slightly crappy live recordings from various jam bands (Widespread Panic, Black Crowes, Gov't Mule, Phish, etc...)
4. I often have friends over for BBQ, Football, etc... and in those situations there's a fair amount of folks milling around - some standing, some sitting, hanging out in the kitchen, etc...
Background info:
About 5 years ago, when I was still living in an apartment, I had a set of Magnepan MMGs. The only reason I sent them back was I simply didn't have the proper space for them in the apartment. But I learned 2 things from that experience...
1. Ribbons are just awesome with respect to smoothness, clarity & imaging when you are in the sweet spot
2. As soon as you move out of the sweet spot, the whole thing crumbles to pieces. The sound is very diffuse & weak, no impact, no imaging, etc... I would never want to use full planar speakers in an party/entertainment situation.
Concerns & questions:
What I'm not so sure about is whether or not the majority of those problems are due to the fact that the entire speaker (Bass, mids, treble) is planar. What I'm getting at is... The Sierra Towers have traditional bass and midrange drivers, and only have a ribbon tweeter. Is that enough to cause problems similar to full planar speakers, or is it really just a case of having a slightly smaller vertical listening window with the RAALs (10 degree) vs NrT (15 degree)? I know that the RAAL actually has better horizontal dispersion vs the NrT.

Obviously, the question is... am I "probably" safe with the RAAL or am I better off with the NrT? I really want the RAALs because I know what a ribbon can do, but just not sure if that is the right decision because I also have some experience with their limitations.

Thanks for your time everyone, and sorry for being so wordy here. I just wanted to make sure I explained my situation fully.

Also - if anyone else has experience with moving from Energy RC-70s to the Sierra Towers, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Pics from all 4 corners of the listening area (these are also being sent to GIK Acoustics for room treatment advice):

[Natural1]

Also, just for completeness, here's the equipment...

Mains: Energy RC-70
Center: Energy RC-LCR
Surrounds: Energy RC-10
Subs: SVS SB12-NSD
Receiver: Marantz SR-8002
Amp for mains: Emotiva RPA-2
DVD/SACD: Oppo DV-980H
Blu-Ray: PS3
Home-built music/file server (also used for REW purposes)

The little black box next to the cable box is a MiniDSP Balanced unit that I'm using as a parametric EQ for the subs as well as an electronic crossover for the mains/subs - currently at 75Hz. The receiver can't handle stereo subs, and I prefer to bypass all the Audyssey stuff for music purposes anyway. For about $150 shipped, the MiniDSP is a lot of fun to play with.

[natetg57]

This isn't exactly what you're looking for, but I recently upgraded to Sierra-2's. I can notice a little bit of a difference in the treble when I stand up but it doesn't sounds bad. What I found surprising was how natural and good it sounds in the next room over. The Raal ribbons have good Horizontal dispersion so you'll still get some reflections from hard surfaces. The limited vertical dispersion is probably ideal in your room with the hard floors.

[Natural1]

I can notice a little bit of a difference in the treble when I stand up but it doesn't sounds bad. What I found surprising was how natural and good it sounds in the next room over.

Thanks very much for the reply! Very interesting... that's exactly what I was hoping for, particularly the "next room over" statement. That's the kind of behavior you definitely do not get with full planar speakers.

A few more comments like that and I might be sold on the RAALs

Of course, dissenting opinions are welcome as well.

[Natural1]

Hi all,
Just to add some additional information for others that might have similar questions... I got an email back from Dave on this subject, and he basically echoed Nate's comments above. The dispersion characteristics of the RAAL towers are not similar to full planar speakers, and in my situation I should be absolutely fine with the ribbons.

Nice!