Who has decided to go with the NrT dome over the RAAL ribbon after hearing both? Why?

[sbrownnw]

Inquiring minds what to know...

Mostly interested in tower listening experiences with the larger 20mm RAAL, which is what I ordered.

TIA

[FirstReflect]

Well...

NOT I.



Perhaps that is not the answer you were looking for, but I most certainly have listened to both the Sierra-1 NrT and the Sierra-2, as well as my custom one-off Sierra bookshelf speakers that have the RAAL 70-20XR tweeter plus the phase plug, dedicated midrange driver, and a custom crossover in them, and after all of that, I found it to be a fairly easy decision to go with the RAAL ribbon tweeters.

The ONE reason I might see someone opting for the NrT over the RAAL ribbon is if they need taller vertical dispersion. The RAAL ribbons do have narrower vertical dispersion - that is a fact. But unlike a lot of other planar drivers, the RAAL ribbons have no problems with dynamics, power handling, or horizontal dispersion. So folks who are painting ribbon tweeters with too broad a brush are missing out in this instance. There are the folks who say, "I want a dome tweeter because ribbons lack dynamics, power handling, and have narrow dispersion." And that is often the case! But not here. Here, the only "drawback" of the RAAL ribbons is the narrower vertical dispersion, but that's it.

- Rob H.

[DougMac]

I recently had a chance to stop by the Ascend headquarters and give a listen to the Sierras. They had limited demo models because they can't keep up with sales!

From what I heard, I think you'll be thrilled with your purchase. I listened to Sierras with the RAAL tweeter and Sierra Towers with the dome tweeter. That's all they had, so I had to interpolate. I found the sound to be very close on the top end. If I had more time and more samples, I probably would be able to hear a bigger difference. I have a pair of Infinity Qe's with the legendary EMIT ribbon tweeter and have always liked the "airiness" ribbons exhibit. The RAAL tweeters carry on that tradition.

From what I heard, I'd be pleased with Sierra Towers in eithre configuration. It I wanted that last degree of openness and clarity, I'd lean towards the ribbon tweeter. If I had a home theater and/or listened at ear bleeding levels, I might play it safe and go with the domes. It's also a question of budgetary constraints; if I had it tight budget I'd get the domes, but I wouldn't feel I was getting a lesser product.