Help me decide on a finish (Sierra's)

[cool_runner]

For the past few weeks, I have been agonizing over which finish I should buy the Sierra's in. Both look very good, but I am interested in why people chose a certain finish over the other.

The piano of course looks better (to me), but dust and fingerprints would be prominent on them. Not to mention that it would reflect light, which will be a negative since I plan on buying a plasma which will be placed on the wall. This will cause the speakers to reflect the images on the screen.

The natural finish is the safe bet, but my TV and speaker stands are all black, and I am afraid they will stick out.

I was hoping people can tell me why they choose a certain finish. Hopefully, this will help me solve my dilemma.

By the way I am in SoCal, so if anyone wouldn't mind me coming over to their place to see them let me know. I would love to go to the factory, but I work 8-5 and I don't think they are open on the weekends.

[Quinn]

You just listed my reasons for going with the natural over the piano black.

[cool_runner]

You just listed my reasons for going with the natural over the piano black.

I was dead set on getting the piano black until I read a post here that mentioned these negatives, maybe that was yours. After reading that post, doubt crept in...:rolleyes:

[Mag_Neato]

Mine too. If you will dust them constantly, or are not bothered by the dust and, possibly, fingerprints they will attract(how many people want to run their hands/fingers on that sexy black finish?), then by all means go with the piano black. As for light reflecting, I think both will, but the black will act more like a mirror where you can actually see the image in the finish.

I personally like the natural bamboo woodgrain appearance. Plus I saved some money going with that!

[debo]

I love the piano black! They did a fantastic job on the finish. Everyone that has looked at mine has said look sweet and no one has touched them. There is also some great products out there that will keep them looking fine and repel the dust. I dust them once a week and there is very little dust on them.
I think your room decor might also come into play.

[ebh]

I just think the natural looks better. I like the look of wood, and I think bamboo goes with black very well. Nice contrast.

I think you ought to just take the plunge one way or another. From everyone's description of the sound of the speakers, you may not even notice the look once you start listening. ;)

[cool_runner]

I was wondering if I should get the magnetic shielding as well since they will be placed ~2ft from a CRT TV (direct-view) and a HTPC. Also, I might burn these in on my desktop system and they will be placed right next to an external hard drive.

While on the subject of shielding, can someone (maybe dave) explain to me why this is not standard. I mean, the 170 and 340 only come with shielding. I would think that, especially at this price, it should also be included.

[ebh]

I think shielding isn't included because it obviously raises costs, and many people have plasmas or LCDs these days and don't need it. It makes business sense not to add however much in cost to every speaker when only some (and a diminishing number) require it.

[davef]

I was wondering if I should get the magnetic shielding as well since they will be placed ~2ft from a CRT TV (direct-view) and a HTPC. Also, I might burn these in on my desktop system and they will be placed right next to an external hard drive.

While on the subject of shielding, can someone (maybe dave) explain to me why this is not standard. I mean, the 170 and 340 only come with shielding. I would think that, especially at this price, it should also be included.

If you are within 2ft of a standard CRT, I would recommend the shielded option...

With the huge popularity of LCD, DLP and Plasma TV's the need for shielded speakers is becoming very rare. Most driver vendors don't even offer the option as it is expensive and often requires additional tooling. When the 340, 170 (and HTM-200) were designed, CRT televisions were still the "norm" so rather than maintain multiple parts skews, we made the decision to shield all the drivers for these models.

With the Sierra's, full magnetic shielding for each driver would have added around $20 *our cost* to each speaker (about $40/pr). This, of course, would have had to be reflected in the final cost of the speaker based on the standard margins we work with. For a pair, it could have added nearly $70-$80 to the retail price of each pair. This is a significant increase in cost which would only be useful for about 3% of every Sierra sold.

This decision was one of the easier ones to make :) ... Rather than shield the speakers, I preferred to keep the overall costs lower and simply offer the option for magnetic shielding at what it costs us....

It is rare to find even the option of magnetic shielding on a pair of high quality bookshelf speakers...

Take care!

[logicology]

And how exactly do you shield the speakers? What materials are used and does it affect the sound at all?