Are the Sierra Towers acoustic suspension?

[VonHess]

I cant seem to find a photo of the rear of the sierra tower. I know the bookshelf speakers are rear ported but not sure about the sierra tower. I prefer the sound of acoustic suspension- I have some Boston Acoustic HD8s that are 25 years old and sound fantastic but they are a smaller speaker and I would like to step it up a notch with a bigger speaker. As with the Bostons, I would be using them with a diy 12" downfiring sealed sub. thanks

[sludgeogre]

The Sierra Towers have a port on the bottom of the tower on the back side, but the midrange is in it's own, sealed chamber. I think people are a little overly obsessive about loudspeaker designs, but there is so much more that matters which can make speakers of the same overall design sound completely different. The Sierra speakers are unlike any other ported speaker I've heard. I think one of the big differences is that the woofers only play up to 200 Hz, so there isn't excessive sound coming from the port, it just couples to the room better this way to my ears. The sound from the port wraps around the cabinet and seems to even out the low end dispersion, which better matches the intensely wide dispersion of the tweeter.

[Beave]

I don't know of any companies today that still make true acoustic suspension speakers. Sure, some make speakers with sealed cabinets, but that isn't quite the same as acoustic suspension. Acoustic suspension speakers require really compliant surrounds on the woofer, meaning the surrounds are made with something like foam rubber. And as a former owner of Boston HD8s (bought them when I was in college around 1991), I know that the foam rubber tends to dry rot over time.

Anyway, ported speakers have come a long way since then, and the advantages of acoustic suspension speakers are less than what they were 25 years ago.

[VonHess]

I don't know of any companies today that still make true acoustic suspension speakers. Sure, some make speakers with sealed cabinets, but that isn't quite the same as acoustic suspension. Acoustic suspension speakers require really compliant surrounds on the woofer, meaning the surrounds are made with something like foam rubber. And as a former owner of Boston HD8s (bought them when I was in college around 1991), I know that the foam rubber tends to dry rot over time.

Anyway, ported speakers have come a long way since then, and the advantages of acoustic suspension speakers are less than what they were 25 years ago.

Yes, I just refoamed them. It just surprises me how good they sound even compared to much more expensive and highly thought of speakers that I have and have had over the years. I'm thinking that everyone's ears are different and maybe the combo of the soft dome tweeter and the sealed box may be what appeals to me the most.

[Beave]

Yeah, they were/are nice speakers, and especially given their age and their price at the time. Mine served me well for 15 years.

But I'm not convinced there is anything magical about the sealed box and soft dome. I've heard metal domes I like a lot, and ported boxes I like a lot. I think the implementation has more to do with it than anything.