Worth it to choose Sierras over 340SE for HT?

[bmw583]

Hey all, I'm a recent graduate from KU with a degree in aerospace engineering. I got some money to spend from my signing bonus and I'm thinking about going with Sierras for LCR and HTM-200 for surrounds. A little about me: I have an HK AVR 225 receiver, Fluance AV-HTB speakers and SVS-PB10 subwoofer and listen to nearly 100% HT (TV & DVDs). I also live in an apartment.

My question: I know that the width and depth of the soundstage in addition to dynamic performance are very important to HT so will I notice large benefits by going with Sierras for LCR than 340SE? I ask this b/c I have looked in the forums and see a lot of discussion about the Sierras in regards to music but very little about HT. It seems people buy them for 2-channel music listening. Even the Audioholics review said nothing about HT performance. Are there any people who have had both Sierras and 340SEs and can compare their performance in HT? Thanks for any help you guys can provide.

[theophile]

bmw583,

The 340's are 5 db higher in efficiency...a big margin for HT playback of THX reference audio levels! I'm looking at the 340's and 200's for a 5.1 setup with 90-95% HD-DVD movie views in a big romm (5kcf), so believe the 340's will work better for me!

However, with a smaller room than mine and using a beefy amp with plenty of dynamic headroom, you may find the Sierras's playback levels perfectly fine for HT!

Ted

[bmw583]

are there any sierra owners out there that can comment on the home theater performance? thanks.

[harsubs]

are there any sierra owners out there that can comment on the home theater performance? thanks.

I have the Sierras (just got them a few days ago) and I am very impressed by their HT performance. My room is fairly small (24x12x7) and I have to turn down the volume on my Emotiva quite a bit (I sit 9 feet away from the fronts). Imaging and soundstage (so far) have been excellent (based on the limited number of DVDs I have watched). I'm planning to watch a whole bunch over the next few days and will post my impressions. If there is any particular movie/scene you'd like me to watch regarding speaker performance, let me know.

[bmw583]

do you happen to have LOTR:FOTR? Can you watch the beginning battle scene where the elves and humans are fighting sauron the first time? I always liked that scene.

[harsubs]

do you happen to have LOTR:FOTR? Can you watch the beginning battle scene where the elves and humans are fighting sauron the first time? I always liked that scene.

I'll check out FOTR tonight. I watched the second half of The Two Towers and in particular the Battle for Helms Deep and it was awesome. From the slightest of sounds -rattling of a belt buckle, water drops falling in a cave to the sounds of battle (swords, axes, arrows) the speakers delivered. Needless to say, dialogues are crystal clear - even the ones that are whispered. I found myself marveling at the sound encoding and the ability of the Sierras to reproduce that sound. The VTF3 helped too, with couch shaking bass!

I don't think you'd go wrong with either the 340s or the Sierras.