I originally sought out the CA S30 to start off my 5.1 system, but then decided to buy the RC-10 to compare as it was only 60 dollars more.
I am no audiophile and this is my first setup I've ever bought. I bought an Onkyo TX-NR509 to pair it with these speakers. I had the speakers set to large and listened to music on stereo with no sub. I listened to classical, R&B, rap, hip hop, country etc. I listened to everything. I mostly listened to classical, country, Adele, and Leona Lewis however. The tracks I listened to most were all flac files.
I listened to these speakers over 3 days. They were placed on my dresser and about 9 inches away from the wall. Toe'd in slightly and sitting back 4 feet away.
I can't describe my feelings and thoughts as well as others on this board, but I'll try my best with my limited speaker vocab.
Right out of the box, I loved the sound of the S30. The bass was punchy, clean, and articulate. It made its quick boom and left none of that residual boominess. As far as clarity and detail, these speakers are not as clear as the RC-10. Some instruments were not as audible and felt hidden and veiled, especially if there were vocals. This did not matter much to me however, because most of the time these instruments didn't add much to the song anyway.
I felt that these speakers were more forward sounding compared to the RC-10. It was like I was up close to the singer. The vocals stood out more than the instruments and the bass. This is a characteristic that I like however. I want the vocals to stand out, because if a singer has a good voice, I want to hear more of it.
The RC-10 had vocals that felt recessed. Very much like it was "laid back" - like I was seated in the middle of the concert. This is a quality that I really noticed immediately. It was like the vocals blended in too well with the instrumentation that I could not hear it as well. This took the emotion away from a good song. I had to turn the treble to +8 compared to +2 for the CA S30 to get the vocals to shine out a bit.
Detail on the RC-10 was better than the CA S30 IMO. Those little background instruments that tagged along with the vocals were more clearly heard. I also noticed that notes on the piano sounded much more realistic than the S30. I would rather use these speakers for classical music instead of the S30.
Bass on the RC-10 was more boomy than the S30. I toned to bass down to +2 compared to +4 for the S30. Anymore bass than that on the RC-10 and it was boomy.
Al in all, both of these speakers are very good for the money. I would pick the RC-10 for music such as classical and jazz, whereas I would pick S30 for music with good vocals and to those where bass is imporant.
Anybody have any insight on how to let the voice out a little bit more on the RC-10? If I could figure out how besides turning the treble up, I would definitely keep the RC-10. DAMN what a wall of text. If nobody responds I will know why, LOL.
