The Tower Discussion Thread!

[Peabody]

I've been listening to my Towers w/RAAL for a week now, and wanted to post my initial impressions. Wow! I had pretty high expectations from reading all the wonderful things people have written on this forum, but they surpassed anything I could imagine!

I have the Towers in my living room in a 5.1 setup, and I've been listening to both stereo and multichannel music. For stereo, they are wonderful, with a wide, deep soundstage and incredible imaging. Other qualities I like are the natural timbre and tonal balance. Instruments and voices sound like they should. I have been rediscovering my music collection, listening to everything from rock to jazz and classical, large scale orchestra to solo piano and guitar. Simply wonderful! And absolutely non-fatiguing. I am listening for hours on end. My dedicated stereo system in a small spare room is getting no attention at all right now.

I have also been listening to multichannel music, with a Horizon Center, CBM-170 SE surrounds and a Rythmik F15HP sub joining the Towers. I'm not giving up stereo, but multichannel is excellent with this setup. And movie soundtracks... now I know what others mean by a "seamless" front stage.

I am extremely satisfied! Thank you, Dave!

[steelbolz]

Hello Paddlefoot
Thanks for your response. After assembling my towers, I realised that I did not need outriggers. The speaker looks elegant, the plinth is stable and the spiked feet are well planted and I love the way the cabinet appears suspended on the plinth. And above all, the sound is mindblowing. Nothing prepared me for my first "meeting" with the towers. I now know what Dave means by "good sound to you!"

Steelbolz..I have use outriggers before on another speaker...love them...it was soooo easy to level the speaker...they made the speaker solid..no movement at all...I plan on getting another for the 24 stand that are made for the Sierra...should have the same results as before...I am also using Emotiva gear...Xsp-1 preamp...XPA-2 amp...very good gear...love it..

[steelbolz]

Thank you, Jacob. I got the xpa 200 and hooked it up to my ribbon towers. The towers sound beautiful and I hear the instruments and vocals between the speakers. Its a new experience for me. But the amp shuts down with the left channel led blinking whenever I crank it up to the 1/4 mark on my usp1 preamp for about 45 minutes of continuous play. I intend swapping it for an xpa2 in the hope that it will shut-down no more.

The XPA-200 is an excellent amplifier. I used one for 13 months with my Sierra-1 pair. In fact, I re-tasked the XPA-200 for Zone 2 rather than sell it. I really love that amp. Make no mistake, the XPA-1L does have some sweet features and I have no plans to sell mine. They are the kind of amps I dreamed of for a long time. However, comparing the sound quality of the XPA-1L to, say, the XPA-200, I could not discern much (if any) difference* with most music at normal listening levels. I tried really hard to avoid letting placebo effect and experimenter's bias creep in to validate my purchase.


*the usual disclaimer: with my ears, with my system, and in my room.

[RicardoJoa]

Thank you, Jacob. I got the xpa 200 and hooked it up to my ribbon towers. The towers sound beautiful and I hear the instruments and vocals between the speakers. Its a new experience for me. But the amp shuts down with the left channel led blinking whenever I crank it up to the 1/4 mark on my usp1 preamp for about 45 minutes of continuous play. I intend swapping it for an xpa2 in the hope that it will shut-down no more.

Make sure is not faulty amp. There have been cases when emo gears shuts down on their, and it came out to be afailty standby switch.

[Dark Ranger]

Thank you, Jacob. I got the xpa 200 and hooked it up to my ribbon towers. The towers sound beautiful and I hear the instruments and vocals between the speakers. Its a new experience for me. But the amp shuts down with the left channel led blinking whenever I crank it up to the 1/4 mark on my usp1 preamp for about 45 minutes of continuous play. I intend swapping it for an xpa2 in the hope that it will shut-down no more.

Hmm, that's definitely not normal behavior. The XPA-200 can handle the Sierra Towers with no problem. Double-check that there are no stray speaker cable strands touching the amplifier chassis, the opposite binding post, or anything else nearby.

Just curious, is the top right-side of the amplifier hot when it shuts down?

I just think it's premature to throw out the amp without further troubleshooting. Sure, it's possible the amp has an issue, but if so, that's a warranty issue that Emotiva can resolve.

[Icculus]

Hi all, I'd like to try to get some feedback on a Sierra Tower/sub package I am considering. I am somewhat concerned that it seems wasteful to buy a sub to go with the full-range towers. I think for my purposes that a sub would be benefecial, but would appreciate if somebody could help me confirm. I understand it may be personal preference, especially for music listening, but do tower owners usually implement subs in their setups? Would I be better off with a Sierra-2/sub package?

My intended usage of 60% HT, 40% music, room size is around 4000 square feet, and listening position is around 10 feet away. I don't know if I need to have 0, 1, or 2 subs. Currently I am looking at the Rythmik 15" sealed subs (WAF has ruled out the vented subs). If it matters, I intend to add two rear speakers and run everything through a Denon x4000. Thanks in advance for any help.

[Kisakuku]

Hi all, I'd like to try to get some feedback on a Sierra Tower/sub package I am considering. I am somewhat concerned that it seems wasteful to buy a sub to go with the full-range towers. I think for my purposes that a sub would be benefecial, but would appreciate if somebody could help me confirm. I understand it may be personal preference, especially for music listening, but do tower owners usually implement subs in their setups? Would I be better off with a Sierra-2/sub package?

My intended usage of 60% HT, 40% music, room size is around 4000 square feet, and listening position is around 10 feet away. I don't know if I need to have 0, 1, or 2 subs. Currently I am looking at the Rythmik 15" sealed subs (WAF has ruled out the vented subs). If it matters, I intend to add two rear speakers and run everything through a Denon x4000. Thanks in advance for any help.

Yes, two F15HP's will benefit your Sierra Tower setup both for music and HT use. Two optimally placed subs will give you a much more even bass response throughout the room as well as lower extension. Also, you won't have to compromise on the placement of your front speakers in order to get both a good bass response and good stereo imaging at your main listening position. Sierra-2's are an attractive option, but it's hard to give advice without knowing if you're getting RAAL tweeters for the towers. Good call on the receiver, however I would suggest getting a Horizon center before buying rears.

[Icculus]

Yes, two F15HP's will benefit your Sierra Tower setup both for music and HT use. Two optimally placed subs will give you a much more even bass response throughout the room as well as lower extension. Also, you won't have to compromise on the placement of your front speakers in order to get both a good bass response and good stereo imaging at your main listening position. Sierra-2's are an attractive option, but it's hard to give advice without knowing if you're getting RAAL tweeters for the towers. Good call on the receiver, however I would suggest getting a Horizon center before buying rears.

Yes, I am leaving towards raal which is why I mentioned the sierra-2s as opposed to the sierra-1s.

Yes, I wasn't clear but would be getting a matching center too and it would come before rears.

[merrymaid520]

I have to agree with the above post as well. Two rythmiks offer effortless bass which will blend much better with the towers. Running towers full range is great but there are drawbacks as stated above( less headroom, not ideal placement, etc).

I have dual 15" Rythmiks EQed flat with RAAL towers and it's impressive for movies and music! The towers will give you better midrange as well. Running them crossed over at 80hz or so will allow you to really crank them without the fear of distortion due to excessive bass

[Kisakuku]

Yes, I am leaving towards raal which is why I mentioned the sierra-2s as opposed to the sierra-1s.

Yes, I wasn't clear but would be getting a matching center too and it would come before rears.

I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed. Sierra Towers/Horizon w/RAAL definitely have some advantages over Sierra-2, and you will appreciate the higher sensitivity rating if your listening distance is fairly long.

Your room is pretty large and you have ruled out FV15HP / F25 due to enclosure size, so you might want to think about placing F15HPs nearfield or maybe even getting more than two if your budget allows it.