How different tone: Energy vs. Ascend?

[Tushar]

Hi! Happy Ascend owner but trying to find a way to shoe-horn a Surround Left and Right into my living room and Energy RC Mini looks like one of the few choices that is tiny and cheap enough for me to consider right now.

I currently have Sierra's LRC and HTM200SE as Surround LR but placed along back wall barely outside the outermost ears, so it really doesn't create as immersive of effects as it should. Currently my Sierras are crossed at 60Hz, the 200SE at 80Hz on a Denon 988. I have VTF3.3 w/1 port plugged. My room and seating positions are far from ideal. I think moving to 7.1 will help out quite a bit.

My Denon allows separate crossovers for each set of speakers within 7.1.

I'm curious of a few things if anyone owns Energy and Ascends:

1. How good of tonal match Energy vs. Ascend. My impression from what was posted on internet is the tonal match was actually pretty okay between RC-10 and Sierra-1, differences were dramatic in detail. RC Mini seems to use same tweater as RC-10.
2. The RC Mini says it goes to 80Hz in specs (+/-3dB), but the only pro review implies it sounds like it is dropping out at 150Hz or so. What should I believe. What is good cross-over to use to integrate it?
3. Where does a Denon receiver put what is below the cross-over if it has different cross-overs? Does it send it to the sub or does it send any of it to other channels?
4. How hard can you drive the RC Mini before they sound strained?

My listening space is an 18'x 14' wide section of an 18' x 38' great room.

Thanks for any help.

Regards,
Tushar

[alphaiii]

Hi! Happy Ascend owner but trying to find a way to shoe-horn a Surround Left and Right into my living room and Energy RC Mini looks like one of the few choices that is tiny and cheap enough for me to consider right now.

I currently have Sierra's LRC and HTM200SE as Surround LR but placed along back wall barely outside the outermost ears, so it really doesn't create as immersive of effects as it should. Currently my Sierras are crossed at 60Hz, the 200SE at 80Hz on a Denon 988. I have VTF3.3 w/1 port plugged. My room and seating positions are far from ideal. I think moving to 7.1 will help out quite a bit.

My Denon allows separate crossovers for each set of speakers within 7.1.

I'm curious of a few things if anyone owns Energy and Ascends:

1. How good of tonal match Energy vs. Ascend. My impression from what was posted on internet is the tonal match was actually pretty okay between RC-10 and Sierra-1, differences were dramatic in detail. RC Mini seems to use same tweater as RC-10.
2. The RC Mini says it goes to 80Hz in specs (+/-3dB), but the only pro review implies it sounds like it is dropping out at 150Hz or so. What should I believe. What is good cross-over to use to integrate it?
3. Where does a Denon receiver put what is below the cross-over if it has different cross-overs? Does it send it to the sub or does it send any of it to other channels?
4. How hard can you drive the RC Mini before they sound strained?

My listening space is an 18'x 14' wide section of an 18' x 38' great room.

Thanks for any help.

Regards,
Tushar

I owned the Sierra-1, and still have the RC-10 and RC-Mini, and I wouldn't say they Sierra and RC-10 are a great tonal match. I think the RC-10 has a slightly warmer signature, whereas the Sierra is more transparent in the mids and a little more controlled down low. The RC-Mini doesn't have any really low end, so it doesn't have the upper bass energy of the RC-10, and therefore maybe sounds a bit more neutral when properly integrated with a sub.

The RC-Mini seems to roll off a good bit higher than 80Hz, based on user reports of Audyssey setting the crossover between 120-150Hz. I would guess the roll-off is right around the 120Hz mark, so Audyssey sets the next higher crossover, which is 150Hz. I would say 120Hz is still probably a safe bet for them, especially if using as rear surrounds.

While not the best match, after Audyssey calibration, the RC-Mini might work just fine in your setup. I wouldn't mix RC-10 and Sierra fronts...but in your case of using the RC-Mini as surrounds, I think it'd be fine.

Given the price of the RC-Mini at Vann's, and their return policy...why not give it a try? You'd have 2 weeks to decide after getting them, and if you don't like the mix, send them back. They're small speakers, so return shipping wouldn't be all that much - even if you live on the east coast like me. I returned a pair of cherry RC-Mini and don't recall it being expensive.