The Official Reaction Audio Speaker thread.

[jbrown15]

Speakers
So some of you have probably heard of Reation Audio and know of them from the subs that they build, but recently Jeremy from RA has released a line of loud speakers. All of which use Radian coax drivers with custom crossovers, and all of the cabinets are finished with a nice satin black paint finish.

They started out with the CX-10 monitor using a Radian 5210 coax driver in a ported cabinet, which is priced at $699ea but currently on sale for $599ea including shipping. And they have just released two new speakers, the first being the CX-15T which is a ported tower speaker using a Radian 5215 15" coax and is priced at $1099ea shipped. And then there is a really cool looking CX-8 bookshelf/surround speaker, that again is a ported design that uses a Radian 5208C coax. It's a really cool design that can be used as a bookshelf speaker or can be flipped upside down and the back of the cabinet is angled so when you flush mount it to the wall it becomes a downward firing surround speaker. And that speaker is only $499ea including shipping, which I think is a really good deal considering that it's using a $240 coax driver and a $100+ custom crossover, magnetic grill cover and a nice satin black finished cabinet.

 

[GranteedEV]

Cool stuff. Radian makes nice coaxes.

 

[its phillip]

I'm excited for Reaction Audio. I hope they can stick around for a long time and maintain the affordable pricing they've got

 

[jbrown15]

I have two pairs of the CX-8's on order and will also be getting a pair on the new CX-15T towers and once I get those I'll be hosting a small GTG where we'll be comparing them directly to my JTR 228HT speakers. So it'll be pretty cool to get a chance to compare them in a double blind listening test.

Here's a rendering of the CX-8's. From the first rendering you can see how the speaker will point down toward the listener when wall mounted. It'll be slanted down 22.5 degrees.

 

[jbrown15]

Here's a 3D rendering for the CX-15T's.

 

[jbrown15]

The second rendering shows an optional design if someone couldn't accommodate a tower for a center channel.

 

[GIEGAR]

Thanks for starting the thread and the info jbrown15!

To me these look to be great value high performance speakers... particularly for a dedicated HT.

Just for fun I loaded a 7.2 Reaction Audio system into their shopping cart (CX-10 LCR; CX-8 surrounds/rears; PV 15X subs) and with the 5% system discount comes to $5320 (shipped).

Add a refurb'd or discounted Denon AVR-X4000 or ONKYO TX-NR1010 7.2-Ch THX Certified Network A/V Receiver | Accessories4less and feed it from something like a Samsung BD-F7500 3D Blu-ray player with 4K upscaling and Wi-Fi®, and you can have a complete reference capable system for under $6500 that's very tough to beat (IMO).

Compare that ^ to this > $6,500 7.x Channel Recommended Home Theater System | Audioholics. No contest?

 

[jbrown15]

These are some extremely high value/high performance speakers. There's not too many companies spending over 50% of the sell price of the speaker on drivers. At least not really any that I'm aware of.

Clearly Reaction Audio is a new speaker company and trying to make a name for themselves, so I would assume the pricing at the moment reflects that. I would not expect this pricing to stay this way for ever.

 

[theJman]

Clearly Reaction Audio is a new speaker company and trying to make a name for themselves, so I would assume the pricing at the moment reflects that. I would not expect this pricing to stay this way for ever.

Nothing lasts forever of course, but based upon the conversations I've had with Jeremy I suspect his business model will remain what it currently is. In other words, RA wants to continue being a high-value option. He seems intent on being a bang-for-the-buck manufacturer. When you consider he's using Radian drivers in his speakers, and custom Pierce Audio drivers in his subwoofers, it's evident RA is not cutting corners.

 

[jbrown15]

Agreed Jim, sorry what I meant was that the current price for the CX-8 of $499ea and the CX-15T is $1099ea are intro prices. And the current price of the CX-10 of $599ea is just a sale price, and I would expect it to go back up to the regular price of $699 at some point and the intro prices for the CX-8 & CX-15T to go up at some point.

 

[Steve81]

Compare that ^ to this > $6,500 7.x Channel Recommended Home Theater System | Audioholics. No contest?

To be fair, that's meant to be a relatively high WAF system, at full retail to boot. The $5,000 5.2 system would be a bit more competitive.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Speakers designs remind me somewhat a blend of JTR and late eD speakers. I would be mildly interested, but first I would want these to be third party tested.
As for RA's subs - these are much more interesting, but without CEA2010 results they are hard to compare to existing alternatives.

 

[its phillip]

@BSA - I believe they have sent some units to Ricci to be tested. Hopefully we'll see them on data-bass soon

 

[zieglj01]

The Reaction Audio speakers because of the Radian drivers, look good to me - and I will continue to suggest
and recommend that people look into them.

The reports on their subwoofers have been positive so far.

This company does look promising and seems a good deal for a lot of people - plus they do have a return policy.

 

[jbrown15]

Reaction Audio is just waiting for Josh Ricci to publish the tested measurements anytime now on their subs that he tested. Josh has just had a full plate as usual
As to the speakers, I can't wait to hear the CX-15T's and directly compare them to my JTR 228HT's which I hold in very high regards.
Coincidently there is another audio company that uses the same driver as the CX-15T in the same configuration and that speaker sells for 4-5 times the price of the CX-15T. So it should be really interesting to hear these speakers. It is a rather large speaker though at 18" wide and 40" tall and weighing in at just over a 100lbs.

 

[jbrown15]

Some of the specs for the new CX-15T floor standing tower speakers have been released.

-15" full range floor standing loudspeaker
-Size: 40H x 18W x 16D
-15"coaxial woofer, dual-concentric with 4" voice coil and a center mounted 2" compression driver horn
-cast aluminum basket
-custom crossover with compression driver crossed at 950hz to the compression driver
-99.2dB efficiency and 8ohm impedance
-frequency response 35-18,000hz+/-3dB with in room extension down to 29hz and a max SPL of 133dB
-90 degree conical high end dispersion
-smooth satin black finish with black magnetic cloth grills
-5 year warranty and a 30 in home trial period

 

[jbrown15]

And the specs on the new CX-8 are:

-8" coaxial driver with a 3" voice coil & 1" compression driver
-slanted back for wall mounting as a surround or is suitable to use as a LCR monitor/bookshelf speaker
-size: 14H x 11W x 9.5D
-custom crossover with compression driver crossed over at 1300hz
-cast aluminum basket
-frequency response 70-18,000hz
-95dB efficiency, 8ohm impedance with a max SPL of 123dB
-90 degree conical high end dispersion
-smooth satin black finish with black magnetic cloth grills
-5 year warranty and a 30 day in home trial period

 

[jbrown15]

I received a couple new pictures from Jeremy at RA of the 15" coax drivers in the CX-15T's, I'm really loving the look of the no dust cap. I should be getting my two pairs of CX-8's and a pair of CX-15T's to try out the week of the 20th.

 

[jbrown15]

I had a small GTG at my house today and got a chance to really open up the new CX-15T speakers and hear what they can do. I have to say that so far I'm extremely impressed with these new speakers, it has me considering selling my JTR 228HT's.

 

[jbrown15]

In case anyone missed it, Reaction Audio's Black Friday Sales are up on their website!
http://reaction-audio.myshopify.com/blogs/news/15529249-fall-2014-2015-subwoofer-line-up-is-here