Considering going from Towers RAAL to Sierra 2 - Big Change?

[RRT-NPS]

It looks like I am going to have to give up my listening room aka dining room and create a formal dining room. I don't really have anywhere else that can accomodate towers. If I go to the Sierra 2, other than bass, what else will I lose? My only other options are to move the towers to my master bedroom, which I think would be overkill, or put them in my living room, a tower on each side of the sofa, which is not ideal.

Opinions?

[Mag_Neato]

Those who have had the opportunity to directly compare the Towers to the Sierra-2's have commented on how much they were more alike than different. The most notable thing was that the towers put you in the 1st-2nd row of the venue whereas the -2's put you 5th row. This is referring to the clarity I believe. The dedicated midrange driver of the towers couple with a larger RAAL tweeter and two dedicated woofers will give them greater dynamic capability as well.

I've never heard the towers. My Sierra-2's are crossed at 60hz to a single 12" Rythmik sub. I power the Sierra's with 200 watts per channel from a dedicated amp. I can crank the system far beyond what I consider a safe listening level for my ears without signs of distress from the speakers. I imagine one advantage of the towers would be more punch in the midrange creating a more tactile presentation, but like I said......I've never heard them.

[rsmt2000]

It looks like I am going to have to give up my listening room aka dining room and create a formal dining room. I don't really have anywhere else that can accomodate towers. If I go to the Sierra 2, other than bass, what else will I lose? My only other options are to move the towers to my master bedroom, which I think would be overkill, or put them in my living room, a tower on each side of the sofa, which is not ideal.

Opinions?

Not sure I completely understood where you want to place the sierra 2's but they almost occupy the same floor space as towers where ever you place them( as you would need stands to place them on). In addition to fill in the lower end you may also need to place a subwoofer.

FWIW, I am using my towers in a family "area" too ( without a sub). My wife is waiting for the kids to grow up a bit and claim that space for them selves. I either need to dump my set up or move to a bigger single family home:-)

[N Boros]

The most notable thing was that the towers put you in the 1st-2nd row of the venue whereas the -2's put you 5th row. This is referring to the clarity I believe.



I think what they are referring to here is the depth of the soundstage. The soundstage in the towers comes more out into the room, than with the Sierra 2s. This really just makes sense, since comparing two way to three way speakers from other brands I have heard this phenomenon as well.

They have also talked about how there is a touch more detail in rare instances on the towers. Obviously they can be more dynamic. I too have the Sierra 2s and they can go plenty loud for me. I like the idea of having a slighly larger soundstage and a touch more detail. But, many have said the differnce we are talking about here in both cases can be quite subtle, yet it is about double the price to go with the towers. Personally I would rather spend the extra money on some serious subs, since I think the difference there will be much larger.

Now, if I was listening to the speakers much further away than I am now, or money was no object, then by all means the towers would begin to make more sense for me. But I am only about 8 feet away from my Sierra 2s and I very rarely listen at reference volume.

[ematthews]

I have owned both. I had the Sierra 2 first and always thought something was missing. Granted I have always owned towers in the past. I have now picked up the RAAL tower and feel everything that was missing is now where it should be. I guess it was somewhere in the mids to me, not sure. Don't get me wrong, the Sierra 2 with the Rythmik sub is fantastic and better than most anything I had a chance to hear. But the RAAL tower is better to me. I miss the bookshelves and will most likely pick up another set in the future. To me the bookshelves on my stands were much better looking to me. Just thought it looked really cool.