250 WPC amp with Sierra 2?

[PoppaOptic]

I don't have a SPL meter unfortunately. Any recommendations? I admit, it is very loud. I've pushed NHT, OHM, and some old Mach 2 speakers to those levels, but not the Sierras. I've moved since then but the drop ceiling would shake to the point of dust falling down. Clearly not critical listening just enjoying some old rock and metal music. :-)

[mikesiskav]

Unfortunately I can't play it that loud because of neighbors. Besides that, I'm not sure the Sierra-2 could handle it. I think they can get more than loud enough for the average person but their real strength is in their clarity and detail.

Edit: I use a Protek SL-100 SPL meter (now discontinued) I bought of Ebay. I believe Dave uses the same one. Very happy with it.

[RPM]

Be very careful if you go with that amp. I use an XPA 2 and it was to much for the Sierra 's.
After consulting with Dave ( which is the best thing to do first) I switched to Towers and it's
A wonderful match.

[mikesiskav]

If anyone is interested, I took some output measurements of my Sierra-2s. You can see it here:

http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/sho...nts-in-my-room

Maybe Dave can chime in on the "extra power" vs "low power" amplifier discussion.

From my understanding, both a 25 watt amp and a 500 watt amp can safely power a speaker when played at a level where neither the amp nor the speaker is being pushed beyond it's limits. Turn the volume up too loud with either amp such that you are over-driving either the speakers or the amp, can damage the speaker. So in other words, take caution when turning the volume up, and if you hear distortion coming from the speakers, turn it down.

p.s. I'm running the XPA-5 with my Sierra-2 and it works just fine. No damage to my speakers. Then again, I don't turn it up super loud and my ears are very sensitive to distortion or any kind of anomaly coming from my system.

Edit: If I remember correctly, there was a Sierra-2 owner who blew out his RAAL tweeters with two different amps. One was a lower powered amp and then he upgraded to a higher power amp and blew out the tweeters again. My memory is a little foggy on that, but I believe I saw it posted here on this forum.

[davef]

If anyone is interested, I took some output measurements of my Sierra-2s. You can see it here:

http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/sho...nts-in-my-room

Maybe Dave can chime in on the "extra power" vs "low power" amplifier discussion.

From my understanding, both a 25 watt amp and a 500 watt amp can safely power a speaker when played at a level where neither the amp nor the speaker is being pushed beyond it's limits. Turn the volume up too loud with either amp such that you are over-driving either the speakers or the amp, can damage the speaker. So in other words, take caution when turning the volume up, and if you hear distortion coming from the speakers, turn it down.

p.s. I'm running the XPA-5 with my Sierra-2 and it works just fine. No damage to my speakers. Then again, I don't turn it up super loud and my ears are very sensitive to distortion or any kind of anomaly coming from my system.

Edit: If I remember correctly, there was a Sierra-2 owner who blew out his RAAL tweeters with two different amps. One was a lower powered amp and then he upgraded to a higher power amp and blew out the tweeters again. My memory is a little foggy on that, but I believe I saw it posted here on this forum.

With Sierra-2 (or any ribbon based speaker) - I generally recommend having an amp with more power rather than less power as ribbons are more sensitive to amplifier clipping. That said, it all depends on listening distance and how loud someone actually likes to listen. With the ribbon towers, our 70-20 based ribbon is an entirely different beast than the ribbon in our Sierra-2 and can handle much more power and it even handles amplifier clipping with ease - this is due to unique mechanical damping that no other ribbon that I know of has... Unfortunately, I am under contractual obligation such that I can not reveal the technical details of this- but it is quite clever and is what really puts the 70-20 ahead of all other ribbon tweeters.

Mike -- these measurements are great and that is a ridiculously impressive in-room response. How far back was the mic positioned for these measurements?

[mikesiskav]

That is very interesting to hear about the ribbon towers. I'm very happy with my Sierra-2 but it appears that the tower/horizons with RAAL are quite impressive output wise. If I'm not mistaken, they should have about 8dB higher max output capability over the Sierra-2. +5dB sensitivity and +3dB for double the power handling.

[JR123]

I only* have the basic Sierra-1s, but they have been hooked up to a Parasound 2250v2 (275 watts per channel) for two years now with no trouble at all.

When listening loud on certain music the woofers really move but I don't go crazy on the volume and I've never heard a hint of distortion.

Overkill? Probably so. But I like to have lots of power in reserve, and I wanted my amp to be future proof, in case I buy larger speakers at some point.


*Maybe I shouldn't say "only" as I've spent 7 or so years with the Sierra-1s and love the sound. Accurate, detailed, great imaging and soundstage, amazing sound on anything from a solo vocalist seated at a piano to a full orchestra.