Hi everyone,

It has been a while since I last posted here. I have been enjoying the Sierra Towers with RAAL for a few years now without any complaints whatsoever. Recently, I went into some audio shops and upon listening to speakers even up to $10K, I felt the Sierra Towers with those RAAL tweeters outperformed them all in the mid to upper ranges (which is really incredible to me). The only area that I want to get more is the lower range where I feel the Sierra lacks. Here is my setup:

  • Speakers: Ascend Acoustics Sierra Tower with RAAL
  • Amp: Line Magnetic 805ia Tube Integrated
  • DAC: PS Audio Directstream Junior
  • Subwoofer: Hsu Research VTF3 Mk5


I spend most of my time listening to music (jazz, soul, blues, hip hop, various female vocals, etc). I've been trying to fiddle around with my sub and haven't been able to get the results that I want. Instead of that dynamic and tight low end punch, the bass sometimes feels a little disconnected and boomy. The VTF3 works great for HT but I'm not finding it to provide the right sound for me in my stereo listening experience.

Maybe it is the placement or the settings in the sub? I currently have the high level inputs connected to the tube amp's speaker outputs. The sub is located currently in the corner of a rectangular room (mainly due to constraints with space and aesthetics (WAF)). Would a different sub work better (ie a servo sub from Rhythmik)?