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Thread: Sierra 2 - Understanding REW Results

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
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    SoCal
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    265

    Default Re: Sierra 2 - Understanding REW Results

    Consider re-thinking the current placement that is so close to the sidewalls.

    You might be better off with one speaker in the corner on a little stand on top of the subwoofer, and the other speaker on the right top of the piece of furniture that holds your receiver. Or put *both* speakers on that piece of furniture, with one on the left edge and one on the right. They'll be too close together, but that's probably better than now - too far apart and too close to the sidewalls.

    If you must leave them where they are now, then toe them in considerably, pointing toward the center of the room. And then consider getting a center channel speaker, which is a must if movie/TV watching is involved and your L/R speakers are so far apart.

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
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    360

    Default Re: Sierra 2 - Understanding REW Results

    The speakers are definitely going to have issues being so close to the side walls. If you could somehow get them moved away from the walls it would be better. That being said, the nearfield measurements show less roll-off in the high frequencies so I don't see any issue with the speakers themselves.

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
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    27

    Default Re: Sierra 2 - Understanding REW Results

    I tried a more aggressive toe in (say 25 degrees?) to get the face of the speaker further away from the sidewall and it produced a more 'present' treble. Not fatiguing, just more pronounced. My initial amount of toe in was preferred for it's balance. I'm going to split the difference and see if I can find a happy medium, or just go back to how it was.

    Going back to Dave's point, it all sounds great so I may be worrying about it on principle more than practical need. And it is intriguing that I can fine tune my treble response to my taste without falling back on eq, so some experimenting to be done there.

    Regarding addition of a center channel, the center image with just the LR is nothing short of amazing. Defies physics that I can sit anywhere on my 4 seat couch and still have a pinpoint image center of the room. I'm not in any rush to purchase a center as I feel I'd be trading off AVR watts and more difficult EQ just for the ability to raise or lower the voices against background. If the image is already anchored to the screen is there anything else to gain?

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Central NC
    Posts
    133

    Default Re: Sierra 2 - Understanding REW Results

    Quote Originally Posted by Agd View Post
    I tried a more aggressive toe in (say 25 degrees?) to get the face of the speaker further away from the sidewall and it produced a more 'present' treble.
    Getting your speakers off the walls isn't so much about frequency response as it is about the timing of reflections. So-called "rapid reflections" smear the stereo image among other artifacts. And the fact that your setup is so susceptible to toe-in is an indicator of this due to the heavy amount of side wall reflections you're current speaker placement creates.

    I'm not saying it's bad. If you like the results, it's by definition good. But understanding what's going on can only help you obtain the results you want.

    Quote Originally Posted by Agd View Post
    Regarding addition of a center channel, the center image with just the LR is nothing short of amazing. Defies physics that I can sit anywhere on my 4 seat couch and still have a pinpoint image center of the room. ... If the image is already anchored to the screen is there anything else to gain?
    I used to think this too. Used to watch movies with just my two stereo speakers forming a "phantom center" like you are doing. Did this for years. Was perfectly happy.

    Until... I tried a Sierra S2 center. Holy Cats! What a vast improvement! Made placement of dialog much more solid and centered with the video image (and stopped what little wander it had in the stereo image also). Increased intelligibility of the dialog quite a bit, especially low volume level dialog like whispers. Unloading the L/R pair of the dialog made the music and effects cleaner (similar but different to how adding a sub unloads the L/R of the heavy lifting and therefore cleans up the L/R sound). And most important of all, had my wife asking why I hadn't done this sooner.

    Of course, YMMV. But I'm not going back to a phantom center. Instead I'm looking to upgrade from my current S2 center to the Horizon center.
    "If it sounds good, it is good." -- Duke Ellington

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