Best front 3 combo for 2-3 K

N

noclue

Audioholic
I have been looking for some time and finally bought a pair of Ascend Acoustics Sierra towers and a horizon center with ribbon tweeters. the problem i have with them is they sim on the bright side, but good thing is i can listen to them all day with no fatigue or my ears hurting like the older reference Klipsch Towers and center and power and sound 210 tower and center dose.
Would love to get a Dirac live AVR like the NAD but am afraid that they will be brighter sounding than when i use my marantz AVR
I have hear good thing about reveal speakers and JTR speakers would be nice if some one has had experience with these or others types to chime in and give some advice.

Thanks
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
JTRs seem a bit bright. Revels are neutral. If you want something on the easy side, look at SVS Prime Pinnacle speakers.
 
tmurnin

tmurnin

Full Audioholic
I’m a little confused. You say you can listen to the Ascends all day but are concerned about what happens after you run Dirac? Why don’t you buy the NAD, run the room correction and see how they sound before replacing the speakers that you seem to like?
 
I

ichigo

Full Audioholic
You set your own target curve with Dirac, no need to worry about how they sound, they will sound however you like them to.
 
N

noclue

Audioholic
k many thanks what i was saying they seem a bit on the bright side maybe it is the marantz receiver. thanks for the file Ichigo\
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
I’ve seen the raal ribbons described as “laid back” more than “bright.” In fact looking at their measurements, and by the descriptions of many owners, the Ascend Sierra line should be considered pretty neutral. Doing better than those for under 3k for the front 3 seems likely to be a challenge.
It would surprise me too, if you found sound quality in the electronics itself. Perhaps in the way room correction is applied or if you choose to eq in anyway, but in pure direct most with experience comparing the different brands say the AVRs and AVPs sound alike more than different.
At the end, it’s your ears and system though. It strikes me that the best way is to bring some different stuff in for side by side comparison in your room. Or, depending on your room, taking some measurements and looking at adding some treatments with some well placed panels to help absorb and/or diffract at some key points.
 
N

noclue

Audioholic
K would i see much difference going to a Dirac Avr or anthem AVr i have a 5 channel amp from mono price
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Are you using Audyssey with the Marantz or not? I've not heard the Ascends described as bright; I have older Sierra-1s/NrT so no experience with the Raal ribbons, tho. How about a pic of your room so we can see room treatment/speaker placement?
 
tmurnin

tmurnin

Full Audioholic
You would probably hear some difference due to the various room correction technologies. Whether that translates to “much” difference is subjective based on your ear as well as how sophisticated you want to get with RC. You can run Audyssey pretty simply off your Marantz, or you can download their app and adjust target curves, etc. ARC and Dirac allow for greater customization but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are better. I actually have all three in different areas of the home. Audyssey works very well for me in a fairly easy room, I prefer ARC and Dirac in more challenging spaces, but that’s me. I will say that Audyssey is by far the easiest of the three technologies to run as it doesn’t require a separate laptop hookup.
 
N

noclue

Audioholic
there is no room treatment, this room is one for all , wife mac is in there the Xmas tree goes in there and so on once my Daughter and grandson move out in a couple years then we may make that more of a room for watching TV and movies or move the equipment to a smaller room
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
there is no room treatment, this room is one for all , wife mac is in there the Xmas tree goes in there and so on once my Daughter and grandson move out in a couple years then we may make that more of a room for watching TV and movies or move the equipment to a smaller room
Room treatment starts with basic furnishings...but still curious about positioning/setup as the room has a great influence on what you hear. Still curious about how you setup (did you run and continue to use Audyssey for example).
 
N

noclue

Audioholic
Yes i ran Audyssey all the way but put my amp on my fronts this time also the sound is a lot better, but will buy a Anthem MRX70 I been wanting to use ARC or dirac for some time
 
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