Let's try this again... (New Ascend setup)

[kingcrowing]

Dave,

That’s all really good to know! For general TV usage would you say a sub is needed with the Sierra RAAL towers and a Duo center? Obviously it won’t have the big impact for low frequency effects in movies, but otherwise ok? I live in a townhouse so I generally don’t play at very loud levels. My thought is to add a sub or two when I move and have a dedicated listening space.

[natetg57]

Dave,

That’s all really good to know! For general TV usage would you say a sub is needed with the Sierra RAAL towers and a Duo center? Obviously it won’t have the big impact for low frequency effects in movies, but otherwise ok? I live in a townhouse so I generally don’t play at very loud levels. My thought is to add a sub or two when I move and have a dedicated listening space.

I think you'd be very happy with that setup. That seems like a very sensible plan

[davef]

Dave,

That’s all really good to know! For general TV usage would you say a sub is needed with the Sierra RAAL towers and a Duo center? Obviously it won’t have the big impact for low frequency effects in movies, but otherwise ok? I live in a townhouse so I generally don’t play at very loud levels. My thought is to add a sub or two when I move and have a dedicated listening space.

You definitely don't need a sub with the towers, I use my set full range in a large open great room. I only use the subs if we are entertaining and listening to dance music, and unfortunately, that hasn't happened in quite some time. I have found for my music listening and normal volume level movie watching, I prefer no subs (just watched Godzilla vs Kong over the weekend)

[petmotel]

I was reading this thread while listening to my bedroom system which has a pair of Sierra-2EXs powered by a 75 watt Audiolab 8300A. Source is from the analog outputs of an Oppo 83 Special Edition. I was listening to a UB40 CD and marveling at the low frequency extension of the Sierras, no sub required.

I also own 2 pairs of RAAL enhanced Towers and a RAAL horizon. I love a big, powerful sub in a theater system for the visceral chest thumping, room shaking physical properties, certainly not required for the purpose of full range bass extension.

My personal experience is that I would find it hard to believe a better value exists in the market for an ultra high performance speaker solution than what Ascend has to offer. Fully cured me of "upgradeitis"!

Jay

[N Boros]

I just watched Anthony Grimani’s webinar series on room treatments, which has now taken a turn to talk about improving bass. Here is a link.

https://youtu.be/FlyGM5GDcBo

Partway through he shows measurements that he took for full range speakers in the main listening position, if the fronts, center and surround speakers are all full range speakers. There was roughly a 40 dB swing in the bass at some frequencies because of standing waves, overall from one speaker to the next! This means that some frequencies will be inaudible and others will be way too loud. Highly inaccurate, in other words.

Yes, full range speakers can produce bass, but they are not at the proper locations to minimize the effect of standing waves. This is where multiple subwoofers can help to drastically improve the variance in bass in one seat and even multiple seats.

If it were me I’d plan on getting a pair of subwoofers to crossover to. Even if it were just a pair of inexpensive L12s, they likely most likely have more capability below 80Hz and they can be strategically placed across the room to drastically improve the accuracy of the bass, which gets messed up by the room contribution of the sound. Ideally one chooses the subwoofer based on the size of the entire open space that needs to be pressurized, but if the budget is tight and we don’t want subwoofers that are large, a pair of L12s just to improve the bass accuracy, would help a lot.