Introducing the Sierra-LX!!!

[pawsman]

Dave,
Could you match the big RAAL (70/20XR) with the LX Seas Mid/bass in a 2-way?
Would this be worth considering?

pawsman

[Mag_Neato]

Dave,
Could you match the big RAAL (70/20XR) with the LX Seas Mid/bass in a 2-way?
Would this be worth considering?

pawsman

I don't think the Titan woofer would cooperate with the higher crossover point needed to blend well with the RAAL, which is why there is a dedicated mid driver in the tower. The EX woofer would work for sure. Dave, correct me if I'm wrong.

[curtis]

I don't think the Titan woofer would cooperate with the higher crossover point needed to blend well with the RAAL, which is why there is a dedicated mid driver in the tower. The EX woofer would work for sure. Dave, correct me if I'm wrong.

But the big RAAL can be crossed a fair amount lower than the smaller one.

[muaddib]

I was there with mziegler, and this was enlightening for me.

While i have heard the Tower/RAAL many times, i don't recall actually A/B'ing it with another speaker. I had A/B'd the standard Tower with another speaker. My primary interest has been in the bookshelf speakers, and Ascend has more models/versions of those.

The dedicated midrange driver and big RAAL made a very noticeable difference in detail when compared to the LX. When previously comparing the LX to 2EX the differences were almost imperceptible to me in regards to detail. Very enlightening. I mentioned it to Dave, and he basically said the big RAAL and Seas Diamond were the best tweeters.

One thing to consider before assuming the topology is the reason for the increased detail, could it not be related to the relative differences in response between the speakers? The towers are slightly more mid-centric than the EX or LX.

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I've been listening to the LX for a couple of days, and am hesitant to wax poetic about them right away (although I really want to). Just want to make sure that my shiny new toy syndrome is gone. But I do notice that the LX are very detailed, but the details are not emphasized or in your face like some other detailed speakers I've owned previously.

[curtis]

One thing to consider before assuming the topology is the reason for the increased detail, could it not be related to the relative differences in response between the speakers? The towers are slightly more mid-centric than the EX or LX.

Attachment 2382

Attachment 2383

Attachment 2381

I've been listening to the LX for a couple of days, and am hesitant to wax poetic about them right away (although I really want to). Just want to make sure that my shiny new toy syndrome is gone. But I do notice that the LX are very detailed, but the details are not emphasized or in your face like some other detailed speakers I've owned previously.

You attachments are not working.

That said, I know what you are trying to say. You needed to be there to hear what and how we were comparing the speakers. It was not what you are implying.

[pawsman]

I don't think the Titan woofer would cooperate with the higher crossover point needed to blend well with the RAAL, which is why there is a dedicated mid driver in the tower. The EX woofer would work for sure. Dave, correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm pretty sure the RAAL 70/20 XR is happy with a low crossover point; it also handles oodles of power, probably as much or more than the Titan Tweeter. But let's let Dave settle this-

pawsman

[davef]

My system sounds great right now. I had the subjective feeling of being more lost in the music this week, which I attribute to how big these speakers sound.

Excellent. I have experienced the same sense of getting more involved, more emotionally involved listening to the LX. I attribute this to an overall smoother response combined with better coherency, and of course - the remarkable dynamics and big full range sound of the LX.

Today I treated myself to listening to the new release of one of my favorite bands, Porcupine Tree. Steven Wilson is known to produce fantastic recordings where sound quality and dynamics are critical. The new album did not disappoint, and at times, listening was very intense and gave me that coveted "hair-raising / goosebump" experience, otherwise known as Frisson. An experience that words really can't describe too well, but when you experience it - you know it.

This was our goal with the LX, and I will likely do it again before I leave for the day

[davef]

I was there with mziegler, and this was enlightening for me.

While i have heard the Tower/RAAL many times, i don't recall actually A/B'ing it with another speaker. I had A/B'd the standard Tower with another speaker. My primary interest has been in the bookshelf speakers, and Ascend has more models/versions of those.

The dedicated midrange driver and big RAAL made a very noticeable difference in detail when compared to the LX. When previously comparing the LX to 2EX the differences were almost imperceptible to me in regards to detail. Very enlightening. I mentioned it to Dave, and he basically said the big RAAL and Seas Diamond were the best tweeters.

One thing to consider before assuming the topology is the reason for the increased detail, could it not be related to the relative differences in response between the speakers? The towers are slightly more mid-centric than the EX or LX.

I've been listening to the LX for a couple of days, and am hesitant to wax poetic about them right away (although I really want to). Just want to make sure that my shiny new toy syndrome is gone. But I do notice that the LX are very detailed, but the details are not emphasized or in your face like some other detailed speakers I've owned previously.

I too did some A/B comparisons today (towers vs LX). muaddib does bring up a valid point. The towers are a bit more forward sounding, which does indeed give the perception of more detail. In addition, the LX do have a ton more midbass output and the lesser output in this frequency range with the towers does make the towers sound more detailed.

Here is the predicted in-room response comparison.

Estimated In-Room Response LX and Ribbon Tower.jpg


You can see that the towers do have a slightly boosted response 700-3kHz range, while the LX are more neutral. You can also see the very large difference in midbass output.

Once I compensated for that difference by setting a crossover frequency of 150Hz for both speakers, the differences in perceived detail nearly vanished. I state "nearly" because there is a level of detail with 70-20 RAAL, in both attack and decay, that I have not figured out how to capture in a measurement (other than in the time domain) that is indeed audible. In summary, yes - the ribbon towers are still the more detailed speaker, but once you accommodate for the differences in low frequency energy, the detail differences become more difficult to detect.

Curtis - Mitch, we should have done this while you were at the shop like we did when we were comparing your S2 with the LX. Let me know if you want to come down again.

[davef]

Dave,
Could you match the big RAAL (70/20XR) with the LX Seas Mid/bass in a 2-way?
Would this be worth considering?

pawsman

Yes - we can do this, and the 70-20xram matches up very well with the Titan woofer. We are, of course, then discussing a speaker that would retail for around $3200 / pair, but we are happy to offer this as a custom build.

[SunByrne]

In addition, while we are not officially advertising it just yet, we can now offer the Horizon with the LX tweeter for the same price as the Horizon with NrT dome.

What about Duos with the Titan tweeter?

For space reasons, my HT needs to be Duos L&R, but in a future upgrade, I might be able to fit a Horizon center. Would love to have Titans all the way across the front...