Sierra 1 NRT upgrade vs supertweeter

[Iowa]

Hi all,

I have had my Sierrra 1's for a couple of months and am really enjoying them, I moved from a pair of Klipsch Heresy 1's.

I'm looking ahead to my next steps. While I am pleased with the Sierra 1's, they seem a little laid back on the top end. Budget is really limited to about $400 so the NRT upgrade would work. Upgrading to the 2 or 2ex is a no go.

I also recently ran across these for approx the same price (with cables) as the NRT upgrade
https://www.aperionaudio.com/products/aperionaudio-planar-magnetic-ribbon-super-tweeter-speaker
Has anyone had experience with the Aperion or other supertweeters with the Sierra?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[Qman]

The integration may seem simple and straighforward, but I would not. People like Dave F integrate drivers into systems for a living and spend many hours, drivers, crossover components, etc to get things to work together. This is what we pay for when we buy a speaker "system". I've tried putting my own speakers together, even with pre-designed kits. They just did not work...and I ended up spending a TON on drivers and cabinets. Those projects are either in the trash or collecting spider webs in my basement! (Anyone wanna buy a gorgeous set of Raven R2 tweeters?)

[curtis]

Exactly what Qman said!

[davef]

I highly recommend against a "super tweeter" option.

You would be adding an additional transducer that would be playing the same frequencies as the Sierra-1 tweeter, this will cause destructive wave interference. To make matters even worse, the 2 sources that will be playing the same frequencies have very different dispersion patterns.

If you are looking for more top end "sizzle" - the best option is our NrT upgrade. I was actually rather surprised at Aperion when they started retailing this.

[SunByrne]

If your main complaint with the S-1 is they are too laid back and you want a little more zing in the high end—something more like a metal dome but less fatiguing—the NrT upgrade is indeed the way to go.

Back when they were pretty new, some lunkhead did the NrT upgrade and wrote a fairly detailed review that you can find here:

http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/showthread.php?4694-Sierra-1-NrT-Upgrade-Review

[Iowa]

Thanks for the replies, all. I guess I'm not surprised, but I appreciate the info. I'll keep saving my shekels for the NRT upgrade. The good news is, they sound great the way they are.

[Pogre]

Noooooooo... nope, lol.

Definitely better to go with the NrT upgrade and let the pros do it right. Tho I do think it's worth it to skip right to the RAAL tweets, be it the 2 or EX kits. I'd try to save up a little more and go that route.

That's because I know me tho. This is how it would play out; The NrT would sound better and I'd be thinking "If the NrT sounds this good, then the RAALs must be amazing! Man, I shoulda woulda coulda...". Then I'd start scheming a way to get them anyway. I learned from my sub shopping experience. Get the best I can the first time, even if it takes a little longer. I spend a lot less that way in the long run, lol.