Paulo…just toe in to get a feel of how the soundstage changes…
With finding the best place for your new speakers …1st rule: experiment
a little at a time…2nd rule: listen for the changes…3rd rule: repeat rule 1…
rule 4: adjust to taste…your ears will be the best judge…
Bringing speakers out further from wall will open up the soundstage …
If your speaker stands will allow to tilt your speakers back away from you
1-2 deg…can further help “open up your soundstage”
Rule 5: your ears will tell you you… don’t get locked into it has to be
a certain way…as every listening environment is different…
When you find your speaker’s happy spot…you won’t be able
to wipe the grin of satisfaction off your face…
And find it you will…
Best wishes Paulo
Looking forward to read about your speaker placement
journey !!!
Hey Ted,
This is in response to your message about considering the Sierra Towers.
I posted on the Ascend forums about upgrading to Sierra Floorstander. If Dave F. doesn’t see my post by Monday, I might give him a call.
My concern with the tower is that I will be listening mid-field, 6-7 feet away from the speakers, with the back wall 8 feet from the speakers. Just wondering if that’s too close and too much speaker for the room.
Before knowing all the audiophile “rules” I happily used a Paradigm floorstander from as close as 5 feet away, against walls, off-axis. You name the rule and I broke it!
But yeah, the concern is at almost 3k, is this optimal for my listening situation.
Thanks for your time in all your previous replies.
It’s a 16’ x 12’. I’m locked in to the listening distance of 6’-7’ feet due to furniture. It’s a studio cottage so the room doubles as my bedroom and living room.
If I get rid of the behemoth media center, I could increase listening distance.
You are Welcome, Paul! Just trying to assist you in getting the full capabilities you expect and “I know” can be achieved with the 2EX! Although outside of speaker systems, the listening environment we put them in is always very challenging!!
Speaking with Dave directly should certainly get qualified answers you are searching for! Provide him with the pic you posted and details of your other equipment and listening room criteria. With his “34” years in the speaker business, I’m confident he’s seen it all and would be the best source to get where you want to be!
A couple of you were interested in my journey with those Sierra 2EX’s I was trying out, so I thought I’d give an update.
Well…I sent them back.
Don’t get me wrong. They were amazing, impressive speakers but they just weren’t doing it for me on an emotional, visceral level. $1,650 is a good amount of coin for me even if it’s still considered budget level. For that amount, I want speakers that make me want to dance, laugh, and cry.
I knew I had to send them back when listening to the 3rd movement of Mahler’s 4th Symphony, There were lots of details coming at me but they never seemed to unify in a coherent way. I played with toe-in, distances, all that stuff. This movement usually brings me to tears, but not with these speakers. These speakers were keeping me in my left brain. That’s when I knew I needed to send them back. When going back to my Elac UB5’s, they were obviously inferior in terms of accuracy, muscularity etc, but they kept me in the music more than did the Sierra’s.
Don’t get me wrong…there’s nothing wrong with these speakers!..Just like there’s nothing wrong with a certain dish. It just depends on taste. By trying them out, I learned more about what I like and prefer. It seems that my preferences lean to the warmish side of neutral.
Thank you to Ted for recommending these and thanks to Dave for a generous trial policy! I learned so much from having them in my system.
Hey Paulo…thanks for your update…sorry to hear
you had to return your Sierras…
Previously I had demoed the raal Sierra towers
and had a very similar experience as yours…
in my case my 15x25’ room was way to big for the
diminutive 5" woofers of the towers…these small drivers
simply could not fill my room nd left me wanting…
Lots of detail but no drive…compare to my former
Infinity Beta 50 (not Arnie Nudell’s design) with twin
8" drivers.
So acquired a pair of Focal Aria 948s…these are amazing
to put it mildly…and am very happy with these…
In the Aria 900 line Focal does offer the 906
book shelf if that is the size you are looking for…
An emotional connection to the reproduced presentation is paramount…your willingness to achieve that goal is certainly appreciated and understood! Sorry they didn’t quite work out for you, but glad you were able to gain that knowledge and experience. Going forward you might find Harbeth, Focal, Sonus Faber or KEF monitors more pleasing to your taste and room acoustics. Keep us informed as you go along that journey!
I haven’t been on the forum for a while and thought I’d bump this thread so as to update all the kind folks who chimed in. After returning the Sierra 2EX’s, I decided that I actually craved the presence and scale of floorstanders. My choice…a pair of vintage Kef 104/2’s. As of a couple weeks ago, they are fully restored minus cabinet cosmetics. This includes a total recap of the crossovers.
They are glorious…wonderful tonality, sound stage, and dynamics. They don’t image like my Elac UB5’s but it’s a trade-off I’m willing to make.
I took them to someone in Oakland to do the work. It’s really hard to find people who do this stuff but through the San Francisco Audiophile Society this guy’s name came up.
