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Thread: Surrounds and in-ceiling suggestions

  1. #11
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    Jan 2019
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    Default Re: Surrounds and in-ceiling suggestions

    Thank for the comment on the Sonance. I need to find a local dealer that carries them.

  2. #12
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    Jan 2019
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    Default Re: Surrounds and in-ceiling suggestions

    Quote Originally Posted by davef View Post
    I always recommend upgrading to the RAAL ribbons, even for home theater. So many of our customers who are "mostly home theater" - end up listening to a lot more music than they ever expected to

    For in-ceiling / in-walls, I have been recommending the Sonance VP60 series (square or round). They perform very well with our products.

    Hope this helps!
    David, thank you for the response. I have a few questions for you:
    1) What should I look for when trying to match surrounds/height speakers to the front LCR? Should the surrounds and heights have a similar sensitivity? Or that doesn't really matter?
    2) As far as efficiency/sensitivity. Have been reading other forums where some say higher sensitivity/efficiency speakers at 97db+ would be a lot better for Home Theater use without external power amps....What are the trade-offs when designing a speaker with a higher sensitivity than say the Sierra Towers?
    3) I'm planning on running these with only the amps from a receiver, whether a denon 6500 or MRX-1120 or Integra R1.... Would these be enough to power the Sierra Towers/Horizon plus the 8 surrounds/heights?

  3. #13
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    Apr 2010
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    Just outside Pearland, TX
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    301

    Default Re: Surrounds and in-ceiling suggestions

    Quote Originally Posted by davef View Post
    For in-ceiling / in-walls, I have been recommending the Sonance VP60 series (square or round). They perform very well with our products.
    So I looked up Sonance, found they are also based in San Clemente.

    They your poker buddies, Dave?
    Luna Duo V2 LR, Titan Horizon V2, and Rythmik L22 & L12 in HT, Sierra-LXs in study, S-2EXs and Duo V2 C in bedroom, S-1 NrTs in dining room, S-1s at work, HTM-200s in kitchen. Brother owns CMT-340s and dad has a pair of CBM-170s.

  4. #14
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    Aug 2003
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    5,538

    Default Re: Surrounds and in-ceiling suggestions

    Quote Originally Posted by SunByrne View Post
    So I looked up Sonance, found they are also based in San Clemente.

    They your poker buddies, Dave?
    Funny thing, they are just up the block from us and I only find about 6-7 years ago.
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    Good Sound To You!

    David Fabrikant
    www.ascendacoustics.com

  5. #15
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    Aug 2003
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    USA
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    5,538

    Default Re: Surrounds and in-ceiling suggestions

    Quote Originally Posted by Mango View Post
    David, thank you for the response. I have a few questions for you:

    1) What should I look for when trying to match surrounds/height speakers to the front LCR? Should the surrounds and heights have a similar sensitivity? Or that doesn't really matter?
    Since placement is so different, I generally recommend keeping the sensitivity withing 6dB of the fronts. You generally want all surrounds/heights to be fairly neutral speakers with wide dispersion.


    Quote Originally Posted by Mango View Post
    2) As far as efficiency/sensitivity. Have been reading other forums where some say higher sensitivity/efficiency speakers at 97db+ would be a lot better for Home Theater use without external power amps....What are the trade-offs when designing a speaker with a higher sensitivity than say the Sierra Towers?
    Our towers have excellent efficiency. Unless you are looking for insanely loud volume levels and in a huge room, there is absolutely no reason for 97dB efficient speakers. The trade-off to achieve this efficiency is huge, very short voice coils, very low excursion, basically little to no bass below 100Hz, use of very different tweeter technology that has shortcomings with regards to linearity and extension... In my professional opinion, you sacrifice sound quality for the ability to play at volume levels that are damaging to your ears. Now, that is not to say they won't sound great for home theater, but when listening to music - differences become obvious.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mango View Post
    3) I'm planning on running these with only the amps from a receiver, whether a denon 6500 or MRX-1120 or Integra R1.... Would these be enough to power the Sierra Towers/Horizon plus the 8 surrounds/heights?
    Absolutely, not even a concern. It would be one thing if you were running speakers in a large room rated at 83dB or lower sensitivity - but our towers are rated at 90dB, this is high. It means at only 1 watt at a distance of 1 meter, one speaker will reach 90dB, which in itself is considered loud.
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    Good Sound To You!

    David Fabrikant
    www.ascendacoustics.com

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
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    7

    Default Re: Surrounds and in-ceiling suggestions

    Quote Originally Posted by davef View Post
    Since placement is so different, I generally recommend keeping the sensitivity withing 6dB of the fronts. You generally want all surrounds/heights to be fairly neutral speakers with wide dispersion.




    Our towers have excellent efficiency. Unless you are looking for insanely loud volume levels and in a huge room, there is absolutely no reason for 97dB efficient speakers. The trade-off to achieve this efficiency is huge, very short voice coils, very low excursion, basically little to no bass below 100Hz, use of very different tweeter technology that has shortcomings with regards to linearity and extension... In my professional opinion, you sacrifice sound quality for the ability to play at volume levels that are damaging to your ears. Now, that is not to say they won't sound great for home theater, but when listening to music - differences become obvious.



    Absolutely, not even a concern. It would be one thing if you were running speakers in a large room rated at 83dB or lower sensitivity - but our towers are rated at 90dB, this is high. It means at only 1 watt at a distance of 1 meter, one speaker will reach 90dB, which in itself is considered loud.
    Thank you Dave. I truly appreciate your responses here.

    I got a little lucky with the surrounds, but I was wondering how would these match. My brother moved into a house where the previous owner left his 4 surrounds mounted on the wall. He is giving me those as they look brand new and work fine (he tested them). They are Revels S16 models.

    I'm planning on just using these as the 4 surrounds. It looks like the specs show the same efficiency as the Sierra Towers at 90dB for this But I'm not sure how the 1" aluminum Tweeter would match/work with the Raals on the Towers and Horizon?

  7. #17
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    Aug 2003
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    USA
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    Default Re: Surrounds and in-ceiling suggestions

    Quote Originally Posted by Mango View Post
    Thank you Dave. I truly appreciate your responses here.

    I got a little lucky with the surrounds, but I was wondering how would these match. My brother moved into a house where the previous owner left his 4 surrounds mounted on the wall. He is giving me those as they look brand new and work fine (he tested them). They are Revels S16 models.

    I'm planning on just using these as the 4 surrounds. It looks like the specs show the same efficiency as the Sierra Towers at 90dB for this But I'm not sure how the 1" aluminum Tweeter would match/work with the Raals on the Towers and Horizon?
    My apologies for missing this. The Revel S16 will be great as surrounds with our ribbon towers as fronts. No concerns at all...
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    Good Sound To You!

    David Fabrikant
    www.ascendacoustics.com

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Minnesota
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    165

    Default Re: Surrounds and in-ceiling suggestions

    I just got my Sonance VP62R SST/SUR speakers installed yesterday. These ones have the dual tweeters, not sure if they are better than the standard ones, but this is what my buddy recommended. I also put them in Dynamat Dynaboxes.

    They sound amazing with my S’2s and Horizon. Blend very nicely. I have been only running a front stage for many years and getting back to a 5.1 again is awesome. Crazy how much more ambience is added to movies and concert dvds.
    Last edited by diesel79; 03-29-2019 at 06:59 AM.

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Posts
    35

    Default Re: Surrounds and in-ceiling suggestions

    How well do the Dynaboxes work with low frequencies? Did you also look at the retrofit enclosure that Sonance sells? They claim 20 dB sound reduction although don't specify frequency range, then again Dyanamat doesn't make any claims so it's hard to differentiate.

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Minnesota
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    165

    Default Re: Surrounds and in-ceiling suggestions

    Quote Originally Posted by bcg27 View Post
    How well do the Dynaboxes work with low frequencies? Did you also look at the retrofit enclosure that Sonance sells? They claim 20 dB sound reduction although don't specify frequency range, then again Dyanamat doesn't make any claims so it's hard to differentiate.
    I didn’t even consider the Sonance enclosures. Didn’t realize they had them until after I bought my stuff. They are quite a bit cheaper(looks like $45 msrp for a pair) and appear to be a little easier to install, although the Dynaboxes were pretty easy to work with too.

    I guess I’m not sure how the Dynaboxes are with low frequency sound reduction. To be honest I never even went upstairs to check and see if any sound came through. I run everything crossed at 80hz so nothing real low going through them. I will have to check this tonight but just going by feel, not much should get through them if anything especially just using as a surround speaker.

    The boxes are a fairly thick rubber material and the inside is fully wrapped with foam. The foam that wraps the inside perimeter of the box is pretty dense/heavy and is 2 layers separated by some sort of rubber strip/divider. The back flat portion is the typical eggshell type foam.
    Last edited by diesel79; 04-17-2019 at 06:34 AM.

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