This is similar to me too. But I still, don’t have a center and my bookshelves started as NrTs, same as you guys tho, I moved them to rear when I added towers and upgraded them to sierra-2s. But I didn’t like how satin black mains looked with the glossy brown surrounds, so I got custom satin white cabinets made, moved the Sierra-2 bits back into those and then rebuilt the NrTs to gift to my friend :P.
I keep wanting to upgrade the -2s to 2EX (is it worth it for surrounds? I’ve also considered doing the full 1->2EX upgrade and split it with my friend who has the NrTs cause at least imo, the tweeter upgrade is by far the more significant one.) and add a center speaker, but in my current listening environment I can’t tell how much I’d be able to tell the difference.
More specifically the 2->2EX upgrade just cause they ARE just surrounds, I am pretty sold on a v2 Luna lcr or w.e the final name ended up being for a center cause I could actually fit it on my entertainment console or under the tv if mounted without craning my neck. The only reason I REALLY want a center is just to bump the gain on the center channel a ton for much better late night / quieter viewing cause I’m in an apartment and everything is full of explosions/‘dynamic range abuse” for extra shock value or w/e. And boosting the center is a much preferred solution to gross dynamic volume. I really wish that you could raise the level of the center being mixed into the L/R speakers when there is no center, but I’ve yet to see anyone actually implement it as such (though I’m sure like a trinnov probably can, I ain’t got that kinda money… at least not yet lol).
Anyway, these magnetic grills are just tempting because while I do have grills on all 4 ascends now, with white cabinets, the cloth is transparent enough that the face of the speaker is still quite visible. I know I could get them reupholstered but I’m lazy:
I’m just also not 100% sold on the cups being there even if they are at least black. It’s not as if they look bad, I just imagine how sexy they could be without the extra marks on the faces:
I think it’s the bottom and the lip that I don’t like, it makes total sense for the grill, but with cabinets where the contrast is sooooo extreme, the inconsistency in the 4 corners tickles my ocd lol.
If only white was a standard color lol. Instead of buying 2x 1->2EX upgrade kits, then it would be an easy sell for me to just buy another pair instead. Sadly from what I recall getting them done in a custom color was not cheap (understandably since they would do painting/finishing in batches), so then I’m torn between giving up the sexy white speakers to get more bang for my buck (since with upgrades you obviously have leftover parts) to end up with an extra pair of sierra-2 to either gift or use as wides cause #yolo. I could also just get domestic natural bamboo, remove the coating (or potentially wait for the next batch and get them straight unsealed/clear coated) and then stain em walnut to match my entertainment console and subwoofers (funk makes such gud stuff), but of course, that’s much more work.
For the satin black towers, I don’t really care cause you hardly notice them, and the placement around the mid-woofer is nice looking. I just tend to leave those grills in all the time because the faces are noticeable and sometimes the ribbons catch reflections when doing dark room viewing on the OLED. No such problems exist with the surrounds since they are behind my head.
New - Domestic Sierra-2EX w/ Magnetic Grilles
Originally Posted by racrawford65
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