Quote Originally Posted by davef View Post
It would be impossible for us to achieve the same wide vertical dispersion as the Sierra-1 while using a ribbon - but - this isn't necessarily a bad thing, just different. Higher vertical directivity reduces floor and ceiling reflections and these speakers will perform better in problematic rooms.

That stated, compared to our dome tweeter, the Sierra-2 ribbon has much wider horizontal dispersion and that creates a wider soundstage.
Quote Originally Posted by davef View Post
You are correct in your statements here -- high crossover points in combination with large center-to-center spacing can result in major vertical off-axis issues. It is for this very reason that we were very specific with Aleksandar on what our requirements were for the capabilities of this tweeter. Vertical lobing will occur with any speaker that uses more than a single transducer in a vertical array -- it all depends on vertical off-axis angle. With the Sierra-2, vertical lobing only presents itself at angles that are greater than the vertical dispersion capabilities of the ribbon tweeter itself. The issue you bring up has and always will be a major factor in all of our designs, and careful attention has been given to this with the Sierra-2 as well.

Hope this makes sense!
Dave, does the Sierra-2 design work just as well as a center speaker? I assume the tweeter would be rotated 90 degrees relative to its orientation in the mains (as with the horizon).

Is the more limited vertical dispersion noticeable compared to the Sierra-1 if the center is not aimed at listening height? On the positive side, it would help with floor/ceiling reflections that can be problematic for center speakers that are typically below the screen. Given that the horizontal dispersion is so wide with the Sierra-2, I assume the soundstage would blend seamlessly across the front three speakers. Have you done much listening with an LCR or 5 channel Sierra-2 setup?

Thanks for all the details! Can't wait!