The Tower Discussion Thread!

[steelbolz]

Thanks, Dave. I'm having a more powerful amp delivered to me today. But, out of curiousity, I will swap the speaker cables as suggested in your e-mail.

I swapped the speaker cables behind the amp and the amp became very hot on the rear right corner instead. But I did not play it long or loud enough to make it shut down. Then I swapped the cables behind the speaker and the front right part of the amp became very hot. I tried another set of cables and one channel shut down again. At that point I was certain it wasn't from the cables. Then I hooked up a new xpa-2 amp and the left channel shut down after a few minutes of play. It appears the xpa-2 goes into self-protection mode faster than the xpa-200. For the avoidance of doubt, I swapped the speakers and the right channel shut down. I am convinced its from one particular speaker ending with the 631 serial number. What could be wrong with the speaker? Could it be shipping damage? What should I do to rectify the problem? Will I damage my amp if I continue playing it, even if I play at very low volume?

[davef]

I swapped the speaker cables behind the amp and the amp became very hot on the rear right corner instead. But I did not play it long or loud enough to make it shut down. Then I swapped the cables behind the speaker and the front right part of the amp became very hot. I tried another set of cables and one channel shut down again. At that point I was certain it wasn't from the cables. Then I hooked up a new xpa-2 amp and the left channel shut down after a few minutes of play. It appears the xpa-2 goes into self-protection mode faster than the xpa-200. For the avoidance of doubt, I swapped the speakers and the right channel shut down. I am convinced its from one particular speaker ending with the 631 serial number. What could be wrong with the speaker? Could it be shipping damage? What should I do to rectify the problem? Will I damage my amp if I continue playing it, even if I play at very low volume?

Hi Steelbolz,

Well this is a first but with the way shippers have been handling packages lately, I would not be surprised if something in the speaker is not quite right. Although, the fact that the speakers are functioning and sounding good makes this even more bizarre.

If it is not too much trouble, I want to arrange to get that speaker back for thorough evaluation. I will contact you by email...

[muzz]

Of course Dave wants that speaker to come back for evaluation, they test EVERY speaker before it leaves Ascend.
Something is obviously wrong.

WTG Dave, I'm sure you guys will sort it out.

[Dark Ranger]

Strange indeed. I'd be very interested to hear the diagnosis on this.

Steelbolz, do you have another pair of speakers to listen to while waiting for the Tower to be checked out?

[dazler]

is there a minimum distance from the wall that they should be placed? the back of the speaker to the wall.

Also is the ribbon tweeter specific for 2.0 music, or is just as good for a 5.1 HT setup?

[steelbolz]

Thanks, Dave.

Hi Steelbolz,

Well this is a first but with the way shippers have been handling packages lately, I would not be surprised if something in the speaker is not quite right. Although, the fact that the speakers are functioning and sounding good makes this even more bizarre.

If it is not too much trouble, I want to arrange to get that speaker back for thorough evaluation. I will contact you by email...

[steelbolz]

Thanks for your concern, Jacob. I don't have another pair to listen to. The thought of living without music is not very comforting, especially when this means that I will not get to fully utilize the trial period of my other equipment, some of which were delivered as recently as December 16

Strange indeed. I'd be very interested to hear the diagnosis on this.

Steelbolz, do you have another pair of speakers to listen to while waiting for the Tower to be checked out?

[dazler]

Also can the end user change the tweeter for the ribbon or it have to be done at the factory?

[FirstReflect]

is there a minimum distance from the wall that they should be placed? the back of the speaker to the wall.

Also is the ribbon tweeter specific for 2.0 music, or is just as good for a 5.1 HT setup?

Also can the end user change the tweeter for the ribbon or it have to be done at the factory?

Hi there, dazler! Welcome to the forum

I'm not sure on the ideal distance from the back of the speaker to the wall. The Sierra Tower IS rear ported, so some amount of free air behind the speaker is necessary. Folks typically aim for 2-3 feet of distance from any wall, with 1 foot as sort of a bare minimum. But, it might be fine at a closer distance. I'll leave that for DaveF to say You will get some boundary reinforcement of the bass the closer you move the speaker to the wall, though.

The RAAL ribbon can most definitely be used for both movies and music! There's absolutely nothing about it that makes it "music specific". Unlike a lot of other planar drivers, the RAAL ribbon has no problems with dynamics, loud playback, and loads of power handling. Obviously, it's a substantial price increase, but, if you can afford it, there's no reason to avoid the RAAL ribbon tweeters for movie purposes! It's still the fastest, cleanest treble driver out there. And, personally, I have never agreed with the whole, "some speakers are fine for movies, but not for music" line that I've seen bandied about on some forums and in some reviews. That's just an obscure way to say, "these speakers aren't very good!" It's a bit ridiculous, IMO. I mentioned on the AVRant podcast, that's like saying, "these speakers are good for sound, but not for sound". Speakers are either accurate and clean, or they're not. Quite frankly, these days, with so many music recordings having zero dynamic range (due to everything being dynamically compressed to the maximum recording level, leaving no difference between quiet and loud sounds), movies are actually the more challenging content in a lot of cases, IMO. And there's plenty of very high quality music in lots of movies. So, I think the RAAL ribbons are a wonderful choice for movies! There's just nothing cleaner and more realistic-sounding.

The RAAL ribbons are not an easy end user upgrade, though. They require a different cut out in the cabinet than the standard NrT tweeter. Most folks will want to send the Towers or Horizon back to Ascend to have them recut the cabinet and install the RAAL ribbon tweeter.

But, the actual front face of the RAAL ribbon has the exact same dimensions as the NrT tweeter. So, it is possible for a skilled end user to cut the cabinet and install the RAAL ribbon. You would have to install a new crossover, as well, though.

Bottom line, I personally think it's safest and easiest to just return the speakers to Ascend to have them do the RAAL upgrade if you decide to buy the standard NrT version first, and then want to upgrade to the RAAL later. It is not a simple "drop in" upgrade.

Hope that helps!

- Rob H.

[dazler]

Wow thanks for the super detailed information, that why I asked some people make it sound as if the ribbon are only good for music.

Yes that sound way out of my capabilities to swap out the tweeter. When I order I just get the upgrade from the beginning.