Do I have enough power?

[markie]

Just got my RAAL towers last week. Running them with the Primaluna Dialogue HP tube amp. The combination is really good.

Oh, we want more than that! Details!

And what is this - people having brand new spanking Sierra speakers and awesome integrated amps, and no pics? Whaaat?

How would you compared the Sierra RAAL Towers to the RAAl bookshelves, and also to the RBHs you had?

What qualities of the Prima Luna do you like over the Parasound preamp/ ATI amp combo?

nosy in Canada
Mark

[ematthews]

I don't have the best pic but here you go. The Raal towers are great. Here is my honest opinion. Compared to the Sierra 2 book shelves, you can run them with good source material without a sub. I feel that a sub is needed with both. I like my low end punch. If I had to do it all over again, I would buy the Sierra 2 with two subs.. Kinda wish I did. Guess I can always sell and reorder.. Ha
Compared to the RBH. Nothing can compare to the RAAL when you hear voice and upper end clarity... The RBH kills the Sierra in the low end department. I like the overall sound of the RAAL tower. I like the look of the RBH. I would love to morph the two speakers together. But in the end I would be better off selling both sets of speakers and running the Sierra 2 with 2 subs. That's how good the bookshelves are. I'm happy overall with them.
As for the Primaluna HP Integrated. It absolutely rocks. I did an A/B test between my Parasound P5 Pre and the ATI2000 amp and the Primaluna is much better. Maybe not as accurate but the over room filling sound is fantastic. Talk about bringing speakers to life. Everyone should sit down and spend a few weeks with one of these amps... Then try going back to your SS set up. I am at a point of wanting to sell the SS gear, but it will just be merged to my family room. I am running the upgraded KT88 Gold Lion tubes....

[markie]

Thanks for the info and pic, very nice. That's what I call making the most of a smaller room! And great tube choice.
Mark

[wilcat_2000]

IMGP0078small640.jpg
a quick pic of the NrT towers driven by my sphinx...
sweet sound and amazing resolution...
totally satisfied with the domes...I really can't imagine how the RAALs would ever be able to sound any better (at least...not with the material that I'm currently listening to: fm radio, internet radio [128-320 kbps] and a streaming mix of mp3s & ripped cds/lossless files...)
yeah, I know...I need a new couch...thinkin that a rich espresso brown leather might do the trick?

[curtis]

If you can, remove the couch and have a listen.

[Blutarsky]

I second the couch removal. Speaker placement and environment can really affect the volume levels (power requirement) of your system

[GirgleMirt]

But as the couch is pretty much absorbent material and doesn't directly get in the way of the drivers, would the effect be really that noticeable? Ah well there's also the speaker port output which is pretty much boxed in because of the couch.. But then again we can see a sub on the left, so that probably doesn't matter much!

Yeah actually, maybe somewhat strangely, I don't see the couch having a huge negative effect in that case! Pretty weird, but as I noted, since it would mostly act as absorption, and from the different angles of the listener vs couch vs drivers, maybe not as big of a negative impact you'd at first assume, no?

[markie]

It would be interesting to see how a couch like that between speakers effects the frequency response at the listening position, which then makes me wonder how many people here have run REW ..

Anyway, I recall the most articulate and superlative review posted here on the forum by someone listening to his new Sierra 1s (or was it the towers, hmm) maybe two years ago. He posted a picture of his setup, and if I recall correctly the Sierras were pretty far apart and there was a lot of 'stuff' in between the speakers, can't recall exactly what, maybe a tall cabinet of some kind was one of the things. (If I recall he was forced to such an arrangement because of wifely considerations hehe.) But I did wonder at the time whether such an arrangement somehow fortuitously contributed to the good sound he was hearing. I'll try to see if I can find the pic.

Mark

[Beave]

Apologies for being rude and blunt, but the couch needs to be removed. No question about it. Diffraction like crazy at random frequencies, plus some ranges of frequencies being absorbed while others are reflected (to a degree). A single size chair in between the speakers would be much better (but still not ideal).

[markie]

Anyway, I recall the most articulate and superlative review posted here on the forum by someone listening to his new Sierra 1s (or was it the towers, hmm) maybe two years ago. He posted a picture of his setup, and if I recall correctly the Sierras were pretty far apart and there was a lot of 'stuff' in between the speakers, can't recall exactly what, maybe a tall cabinet of some kind was one of the things. (If I recall he was forced to such an arrangement because of wifely considerations hehe.) But I did wonder at the time whether such an arrangement somehow fortuitously contributed to the good sound he was hearing. I'll try to see if I can find the pic.

Mark

Just found the review, but the pics aren't there anymore. It wasn't 2 years ago but 4 years ago! Here is the link to the review, very much worth reading if anyone is interested in the sometimes very unexpected effects of placement and furniture on sound.

http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/sho...w-Sierra-Owner

(Must say: I find it quite weird that a word I used in my last post - 'wifely' - which I'm not sure I have ever used before, is repeated several times in the above thread by the Sierra 1 reviewer Ray Garrison. Que some Twilight Zone music! )

Mark