A new pair of Sierra Towers in Florida!

[BZ58]

Yesterday I received a pair of Satin Espresso Sierra Towers with the RAAL tweeter. Nicely packaged and easy to set up. They are B stock, and I haven't looked for the flaw in the finish, and I'm not going to look for it. Wherever it is, it's not obvious. Thanks to Dave for the nice offer!

I have an AVR to hook them up to. It's a Marantz SR 6013. I also have an SB 2000 subwoofer. I wish I would have chosen the subwoofer that Ascend offers so it all fit together, but the one I have sounds fine with the Sierra Towers. The speakers I had before weren't measuring up to the subwoofer, and the Sierra Towers blend right in with it. I calibrated it with the Audyssey MultEQ XT32 Pro application on the iPad. I eventually will experiment listening to the speakers without any calibration, but wanted to get the process done initially.

So I watched some YouTube videos first that I was going to watch anyway. An old Genesis live video, something from Yes live, then I watched an entire movie on YouTube called "Hare Krishna! The Mantra, the Movement, and the Swami Who Started It All". It was fascinating. This guy was 70 years old and got this movement going after starting in NYC with nothing.

Anyway, then I moved on to the music. The high points were Jean Guillou's Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; Stravinsky: Three Dances From Petrouchka. That was the first piece I listened to. I use Qobuz for streaming and found it on there a few months ago. Hot Rats from Frank Zappa sounded great. Roxy Music's Avalon sounded amazing on the Towers.

I really like their design. Very happy with them!

[audiohead]

awesome! funny, i got the rhythmic that ascend sells but looked hard at SVS 1000-2000-3000.

were running @ the same power, you got me by 10w mine is 100 and you stepped up to Marantz.

what kind of SPL are you getting? i never set mine up with the microphone yet but will soon. I have a Power,cable,ethernet line conditioner coming when the big brown truck arrives today then i will do my set up .

[BZ58]

Exactly what do you mean, SPL? I set mine up with an app and I don't go a lot further with it. I set the crossover to 80Hz, set the Towers to small. Other than that, I haven't edited anything. Some people feel that it's best not to use any calibration because these towers don't need it. So we can experiment and see what sounds best.

Also, what kind of "conditioner" did you get? Glad you mentioned it, I should upgrade my surge protector. I don't know exactly what to get. I live in the lightning capital of the world, so it's a very important component to consider.

[audiohead]

SPL - Sound Pressure Level , measured in db aka Decibels

I got a Line Conditioner form Crutchfield they have many kinds.I got a Panamax M8 - AV - Pro , it cleared up my TV picture , no doubt about it!

[white_darren]

Some people feel that it's best not to use any calibration because these towers don't need it.

I always love it when people state that they don't want to compromise the integrity of the recording or the sound reproduced by their expensive speakers that they are so proud of when they have already compromised that sound by simply placing the speakers in a room! Perhaps these people all have dedicated, acoustically perfect listening rooms? I certainly don't.

People are entitled to their opinions and preferences but the thing to keep in mind is that the calibration you refer to isn't necessarily about correcting deficiencies in the speakers. The sound waves generated by even the most "perfect" speakers are subject to the same laws of physics as every other speaker and will be influenced by the listening environment causing audible peaks and nulls to develop at various frequencies. Things like Audyssey and ARC are compensating for those room effects.

[racrawford65]

I always love it when people state that they don't want to compromise the integrity of the recording or the sound reproduced by their expensive speakers that they are so proud of when they have already compromised that sound by simply placing the speakers in a room! Perhaps these people all have dedicated, acoustically perfect listening rooms? I certainly don't.

People are entitled to their opinions and preferences but the thing to keep in mind is that the calibration you refer to isn't necessarily about correcting deficiencies in the speakers. The sound waves generated by even the most "perfect" speakers are subject to the same laws of physics as every other speaker and will be influenced by the listening environment causing audible peaks and nulls to develop at various frequencies. Things like Audyssey and ARC are compensating for those room effects.

Good post! that's why some add acoustic panels, etc. to treat the room to improve the listening environment. Further, many just use the room correction to help integrate sub and mains -- eg correction only up to 300 Hz, give or take.

[curtis]

Good post! that's why some add acoustic panels, etc. to treat the room to improve the listening environment. Further, many just use the room correction to help integrate sub and mains -- eg correction only up to 300 Hz, give or take.
Ditto!

I will add that even proper speaker placement needs to be understood and considered.

For me, right now, I am room correcting (probably a better term than EQing) below 400hz or so.

[racrawford65]

Good point, Curtis. Completely agree about speaker placement.

[BZ58]

Here’s the layout of the room where the Sierra Towers have found a home.

1909

[BZ58]

I don’t understand your statement about room correction “below 400 Hz”. How do you determine this?

I only change the crossover to 80 Hz and set the Towers to small. I’ll need to read these forums more to see how others have ser theirs up.

[racrawford65]

I don’t understand your statement about room correction “below 400 Hz”. How do you determine this?

I only change the crossover to 80 Hz and set the Towers to small. I’ll need to read these forums more to see how others have ser theirs up.

You can set the maximum frequency for room correction/eq, at least in Anthem's ARC Genesis. Focus is on bass / sw integration with main speakers.

[curtis]

You can set the maximum frequency for room correction/eq, at least in Anthem's ARC Genesis. Focus is on bass / sw integration with main speakers.
Yup!
You can do this in the full version of Dirac too, and I also think this can be done with the iOS/Android apps for Audessey.

[BZ58]

Here’s the layout of the room where the Sierra Towers have found a home.

1909


The room is usually much darker with warm white Christmas lights draped along the top of the walls. I work nights so when we’re listening at home it’s in the middle of the night.

1912

[BZ58]

Ditto!

I will add that even proper speaker placement needs to be understood and considered.

For me, right now, I am room correcting (probably a better term than EQing) below 400hz or so.

This is probably what you’re referring to. This is my screenshot from the Audyssey MultEQ Editor

1913

[davef]

The room is usually much darker with warm white Christmas lights draped along the top of the walls. I work nights so when we’re listening at home it’s in the middle of the night.

1912

Wow - they look fantastic! I'm saving this pic :)

enjoy!!

[BZ58]

Thanks, Dave! Very happy with them!