What about NRT Towers with a Sierra-2 center? The 2 will be a little clearer for dialog and will still blend well with the towers.
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What about NRT Towers with a Sierra-2 center? The 2 will be a little clearer for dialog and will still blend well with the towers.
Nate
I could definitely consider that, but my thought was the NrT tweeter & woofer of the S1 center would match the timbre of the towers better?
True, it would be the same tweeter, but the S2 is clearer sounding in the midrange which I would think would match the towers midrange better.
Nate
Here's my experience at Dave's shop. I don't have a lot of audio experience btw. My buddy and I listened to the S2 and the sound was so natural and real. Then Dave put in the NrT towers. They had a bigger soundstage and more bass than the S2, but it sounded as if I had ear muffles on (sorry I can't think of a better analogy). The music didn't sound as detailed or natural compared to the S2. I knew right then that only RAAL will satisfy me.
My setup has two S2, and after eight months of living with them, I still have moments when I think the sound is coming from outside. That's how real they sound to me. Can't wait until I get the Horizon and Lunas for a complete setup. Thank you Dave for your great service and products. I hope this helps in your decision.
It really sounds like the RAAL towers are the best I just don't think I can quite justify the price! I'm already going past my budget!
With good loudspeakers, centers are overrated imo. I replaced Polk rt800i towers + center with 2 ascend s2s and just use a phantom sub. I think the new setup is better. The center never really made it sound like the sound was more from the tv, just under the tv. With the imaging and sound stage of the s2s it sounds like voices are coming from the tv. Just my opinion, but the raals are great and if you really want towers go with towers and skip the center. If you really want I'm sure you could add one latter, but you may be happy without.
Hmm, that's actually worth considering. The towers with RAAL are about as much as towers with NrT + S1 NrT center. I could do that and maybe be totally happy and if not I could add an S2 center in the future.
It's a good idea. I've seen a lot of people going phantom center these days. Hopefully it sounds natural in the room that you have, but since it's secondary to music I'm sure it'll be fine. When I have to run my setup in stereo it still sounds great and the voices are totally centered, the Horizon just gives them more presence and oomph, but that's not worth it to everyone.
-Alex
PS4/Nvidia Shield --> Emotiva XMC-1 --> Emotiva XPA-5 --> Ascend Acoustics Sierra Towers and Horizon Center w/ RAAL tweeters (L/C/R), HTM-200 SE (Surrounds), 2x Rythmik F12 subwoofers
Phantom center is fine as long as you sit in the middle. If your seating position is to the left or right of the TV, then the voices will sound like they are coming from the side instead of the middle.
The heart wants what it wants, and it's clear you really want the towers foremost.
In that case, just go with the RAAL towers and forego any center for now. As long as the set up is primarily for your use you can fairly easily get a centered image for HT/video needs, even if your seating is off axis.
Not necessarily.
If the OP is the only one who uses it 90% of the time, then all you need to do is orientate each speaker to hit your MLP. One will be toed in dramatically and the other closest to you almost not at all. Then run the room correction software or, if you don't have any, adjust the individual speaker levels so that the one closest to you is balanced with the farthest.
It may look aesthetically a little off as the set up won't be symmetrical, but it should be the sound that counts anyway.
The only real problem with a phantom center is when you have multiple people viewing and the seating is spread out. In those situations someone will always get stuck with a bad seat.
Last edited by Mose Harper; 01-23-2017 at 03:35 AM. Reason: further elaboration