Help on if I need towers or if a book shelf will work

[loopy]

I have a 25 x 20 room , with paneling and a 6 foot opening on one side. I have a PB 2000 and I am sure I will need at least one more or have to get two 15 inch subs instead.

I am really looking to get the Sierra-2 or the Towers but don't want to spend the extra for the towers unless I have to' I have seen a lot of post in the AVS for saying that it is better to use a sub or subs and then use book shelf's over getting a tower.

This may be true but with a room my size I am worried that book shelf's won't work.

I will be using this for mostly TV and movies. but my wife can't work so I am sure there will be a lot of music played on them also.

If I went with the book shelf's it would be three Sierra-2 's across the front.

Also wanted to find out what AV receiver is best for these speakers.

Thanks

[Blutarsky]

Depends on how loud you play your system, and how much LFE you like.

I am using Sierra-2 speakers LCR and a medium sized sub in a 25 X 22 X 12 room with an atrium, Everything sounds good, Concert levels will never happen though.

In a large room, => 7000 cu ft., an argument can be made for larger speakers than the Sierra Towers if you want loud, especially with large subwoofers. Good luck if you are married.

B.

[N Boros]

loopy,

It really depends on your expectations and personal preferences. I have a huge open basement that I have my home theater in, probably 10,000 or 12,000 cubit feet. For fronts I have Sierra 2s. I went with Sierra 2s because I am sitting quite close to them, only about about 8 or 9 feet away from them. So for most frequencies my Onkyo receiver can make it louder than I could possibly want it to be.

If I was sitting further away from them, say 15 feet or more, then the case for towers would make more sense. That might be where I need the extra output of the towers. However, there is a little bit more to it than just that. To pressurize the room in the bass region, say 200 Hz and below the size of the entire open space if very important. So because I have over 10,000 cubic feet I need a serious subwoofer. The Rythmik FV 15Hp may or may not be enough. So I am planning to put up a wall to cut down the space that the theater is open to, in order to get the cost of my subwoofers I want down. I am thinking it can be down to around 6000 cubic feet, if I do this. But, most folks will want to cross over to the subwoofer at about 80 Hz and the main speakers are helping to pressurize this space. It should be pretty convincing that the tower speakers will likely do a much better job of this in the 80 Hz to 200 Hz region than the Sierra 2s. It is possible to crossover the subwoofer higher, but even if you have a pair of subwoofers, there are drawbacks to setting the crossover as high as 200 Hz.

According to a recent Audioholics article the 100Hz to 200 Hz range is bass that you can feel and can be more tactile bass as the overall impression: http://www.audioholics.com/room-acoustics/bass-the-physical-sensation-of-sound I encourage you to read through this article, as it will likely help you determine what you are looking for in the bass region.

Currently, I have an Outlaw LFM 1 subwoofer in my enormous open basement and it is severely lacking. I can hear all the frequencies down to around 25 Hz, even at volumes I prefer for action movies. But, it is almost like listening to it on a good pair of headphones. You hear it but, don't really feel much. I'm planning to get a pair of Rythmik FV 15hps, once I put up that wall, to get the size of my listening space down. Then I can play around with the crossover to see if towers would be better for me to get more tactile bass, in addition, to the bass coming from the subs. If so I may be moving my Sierra 2s to the surround position to make room for some Sierra towers. I'm hoping I can avoid this, since that is quite a bit of money to spend on surrounds, but we will see.

[curtis]

It should also be pointed out that the Sierra Tower is not a Sierra-2 with more bass.

The dedicated midrange driver in the Tower does make a difference.

[loopy]

ok thanks all. may be best to wait until my daughter and son move out in year or two I would hate to spend the money on the the Sierra two with two subs and still not be able to get good sound. I could have a dedicated room for movies once they move out. Just would of been nice to have one room that could be good for all.
I am no base head. I just want it to sound good when a stock care makes it's way around the track in shows like Days of Thunder or hear nice low tone of the dragon talking in the Hobbit. I also want crystal clear dialogue that is wear the ribbon tweeter comes in.
I can use a 10 x 10 room for dedicated movies after my Daughter moves out. Just not what I was hoping to do but I don't want to spend a small fortune and then still not get a good sound for the other room

[MusicHead]

Uh, oh, 10 x 10 room. Almost a cube. Get ready for some serious learning about room modes :)

[N Boros]

You can try to build your system in stages, in the larger room. Get some 340s for left and rights and some 170s as surrounds and a pair of subwoofers. This will be considerably less than getting the Sierra towers and a pair of subs. If you are happy with that system in a couple years then get a 340 center and maybe some 200s as surround backs. If not, then get the Sierra towers and a horizon center and move the 340s to surround position and 170s to surround back.

[davef]

ok thanks all. may be best to wait until my daughter and son move out in year or two I would hate to spend the money on the the Sierra two with two subs and still not be able to get good sound. I could have a dedicated room for movies once they move out. Just would of been nice to have one room that could be good for all.
I am no base head. I just want it to sound good when a stock care makes it's way around the track in shows like Days of Thunder or hear nice low tone of the dragon talking in the Hobbit. I also want crystal clear dialogue that is wear the ribbon tweeter comes in.
I can use a 10 x 10 room for dedicated movies after my Daughter moves out. Just not what I was hoping to do but I don't want to spend a small fortune and then still not get a good sound for the other room

I think what our members are telling you is that Sierra-2 + 1 or 2 subs is fine for your size room. I would definitely not consider a 20x25 ft room too large for a set of 2's. I often use a pair of Sierra-2's in the "great room" in my home, which is 18ft wide and about 40 feet long.