**The Official Seaton Sound Speaker Thread** - Page 13

Originally Posted by millerwill

.......Together with a SubMersive HP (only 1--my room is only ~ 2100 cu ft) I am firmly in the Seaton camp, and am sure this is where I will stay.

......(And man, are these things are heavy (~65 lbs)! I sure that handling the big brother Cat12's could not be a one man job.)

Originally Posted by calentz

My current temp HT is ~2200 cu ft & I have two subMs. A Cat12 is aprx the weight as the SubM (And I have three)

Originally Posted by millerwill

I'm replacing my 3 Ascendacoustics Sierra-1's--a superb speaker in its price range--with 3 Catalyst 8C's, and the first 2 of them arrived today. They are of course in quite a different price range than the Ascends, but they are also in a totally different league in audio performance. With only 2 Cats at present I'm omitting the center speaker. Listening to some music cd's (the Eagles--I'm an oldtimer!), the level of dynamism and detail--without any hint of harshness--is amazing. I am no audiophile by any stretch, but even I can tell the higher level of sound quality.

Together with a SubMersive HP (only 1--my room is only ~ 2100 cu ft) I am firmly in the Seaton camp, and am sure this is where I will stay.

I should also re-enforce what we all know, i.e., that Mark is a perfectionist. The Cats arrived later than I expected, but Mark doesn't send anything out until it is thoroughly checked out, and for this I am grateful. (And man, are these things are heavy (~65 lbs)! I sure that handling the big brother Cat12's could not be a one man job.)

Originally Posted by millerwill

Well, this afternoon my 3rd Seaton Catalyst 8C arrived, completing the trio for my L/C/R speakers (to go with a SubMersive HP and 5 Ascend HTM200's for heights and surrounds). I haven't yet done anything but balance them with the RS SPL meter, but man, they are awesome. They're quite a splurge, but they do deliver incredible audio. Anyone interested in the 'next level' of audio performance owes it to themselves to try to hear some Catalysts. (And mine are the 'baby brothers' of the Cat 12's!)

Originally Posted by htwaits

I'm looking forward to hearing some very soon.

Unfortunately we didn't win Mega Millions tonight so I won't be ordering any at this time. I hope that hearing them won't do too much damage to my satisfaction with life.

I saved up my 20k post for something special, and your new front speakers are the perfect occasion.

Originally Posted by millerwill

I'm looking forward to your visit! I should have them dialed in (at least as well as I can do), so will be fun.

Don't think I'm ever going to catch you in the post count, though.

Originally Posted by millerwill

One question for others with Catalysts (I have 3 8C's). As has been discussed, these speakers typically emit a slight hissing sound which is totally inaudible when any significant sound is coming through them, but which one would nevertheless like to minimize. This can be done, of course, by turning down the output knob on the back of the speakers, and correspondingly turning up the output in the AVR, but this can go only so far.

But I've discovered another wrinkle that (for me anyway) greatly diminishes the hiss, and this is connect the short adapter cable (XLR-RCA) that Mark sent with the speakers directly to the speaker, and then use a RCA-RCA to go however long is necessary to the AVR (which is no more than ~ 6 ft for me). I had originally understood (or may have misunderstood) Mark to say that it was best to connect his short adapter cable to the AVR (RCA end to the AVR) and use a longer XLR-XLR cable from this to the speaker. In my case though, I get significantly less hiss (for the same output level) by connecting the short adapter cable to the speaker and using a RCA-RCA as the extension cable, i.e., the first procedure described here.

I wonder if others of you have observed similar behavior. ???

Originally Posted by calentz

There is a hiss that can be heard by putting my ear right next to the speaker. It measures ~4db above ambiance. I am using XLR only.

Originally Posted by fugueness

Get a prepro with true, balanced outputs and run 100% balanced XLRs to the Cats. Problem solved

Originally Posted by Blackdevil77

Those of you with the Cat 12Cs as Left/Center/Right speakers, what are you using as surrounds? I know JTR has slanted 8s which is the perfect design for my room with low ceilings to help keep the sound from reflecting off the ceiling. Does Seaton offer a similar speaker?

Originally Posted by raylover79

How does the cat12c and 8c compare to the salk veracity Ht2tl and Ht3. Though I haven't heard any of these, I still believe that the cats will win hands down, when it comes to Hometheater performance. But How do they compare for music? I am a big fan of seaton, and I love the submersives, so I am planning on import 2 of the submersive Hp's after they become available in 240volt versions and once I have accumulated sufficient fund.
I have heard a lot of very good comments about both Cat's and Salk. So I just want to know how they compare (irrespective of their active and passive nature).

Originally Posted by calentz

I have no knowledge about the Salks, but I own 2 SubMs & 3 Cat 12Cs. I listen mostly to music. I, like you am waiting for the 240v HP upgrade.

Originally Posted by calentz

I have no knowledge about the Salks, but I own 2 SubMs & 3 Cat 12Cs. I listen mostly to music. I, like you am waiting for the 240v HP upgrade.

Originally Posted by Blackdevil77

I remember Mark saying something like the 240 volt version isn't really an "upgrade," its just so it can be used in countries like Europe etc.

Originally Posted by supercop

I am planing to go either aerial sr3 or mk 150 tripole for side and rear surround.

Still not sure is it a good idea.

Originally Posted by fugueness

Well, it's not. Both are only 85dB sensitivity. The Aerial SR3 is definitely a bad idea. I owned several back in my Aerial days.

Originally Posted by supercop

Hi Fugueness..

I have multiple seat and role that is why I go with bipole tripole speaker.

SR3 is praised in my country as one of the best bipole speaker.

For Mk speaker, some says that they sound somehow like Cats.

What would you be buying then, if you were me?

Originally Posted by fugueness

Neither of those are going to keep up with the Cats - it won't feel very balanced.

If you want bipole/dipole, consider these:
http://www.klipsch.com/ks-525-thx-su...-speakers-pair

Originally Posted by supercop

Hi fugueness..

If you said so, I will go with Klipsch.

May I ask why you suggest Klipsch?

Should I go for the top version (Palladium P-27C surround)?

Originally Posted by Blackdevil77

He's suggesting the Klipsch because the speaker has a sensitivity rating of 96db. That's 11db MORE efficient then the then the Aerial SR3. The Klipsch would be better able to keep up with your other speakers and won't get "drowned out." The dynamics should be similar also.

The sensitivity ratings of both the Klipsch and Aerial are at 2.83Volts/1 meter, so this isn't completely accurate number wise because I'm using a 1W/1meter calculator, but this should more or less, still show the difference between the two. To give you an example of how drastic the differences in sensitivity are, with 100 watts, the Klipsch speaker would be able to hit 106.3 db from 10 feet away (actually lower due to the way the sensitivity was rated on both speakers). The Aerial SR3 would need 1,250 watts to reach the same level the Klipsch would reach with only 100 watts.

So basically, you need a more efficient speaker then the 85db efficiency Aerial SR3s to keep up.