Any opinions on these Hi end speakers

[ematthews]

These are truly high end to me. Any opinions on these? Any owners of these that want to give some feedback?
I am looking at these three and leaning towards the RBH..
RBH SX-6300/R
Atlantic Technology AT-1
Phase Technology PC9.5

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I am sure Gene can tell you a lot about RBH. He owns their flagship 8T speakers that cost about $50K. Before that he owned their T30 speakers that cost about $15K. I've heard RBH speakers and love their sound also. I love their SX-1010N subs.

The RBH SX-6300/R has an MSRP of about $3300, so it falls in the price class of the Revel F206 ($3500) and KEF R900 ($3600).

 

[ematthews]

Found out last night that Phase Technology is here in my home town... About 25 minutes away. That might be play a big part in which way I go.

 

[crossedover]

What will the purpose of these speakers be?

 

[ematthews]

2.0 OR 2.1 Music system only... MAYBE down the road this room might be converted to add video as well.
Front R and L.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Found out last night that Phase Technology is here in my home town... About 25 minutes away. That might be play a big part in which way I go.

Definitely check them out.

Phase Technology has the DART system, which is pretty big. I heard some people say it is one of the most impressive systems. Of course, DART uses Audyssey XT Pro.

 

[zieglj01]

The Atlantic Technology AT-1 still look real interesting to me, the reviews
have been good on them.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I think it is a tough call among the 3 - RBH, Phase Technology, and Atlantic Technology.

If I didn't have any speakers, any of these would make me happy as long as I can get some passive subs to go along.

 

[cschang]

All of these speakers are supposedly very linear in their FR's. Judging by your experience with the Sierra-2 (over on the Ascend forum) with the Rythmik sub and how you prefer to run the setup together without a crossover, I don't think any of them are going to provide the "hump" in the bass response that you like....unless you get another sub and run it along with them.

 

[ematthews]

You guys want to know a funny story.. This is a little frustrating to me. I did an A/B test last night with some very old Polk RTi-8 speakers that are in my garage system. I put them inside last night. Played a few songs on the Ascends with sub. Then I listened to the same song from Steven Wilson twice. I pulled the speakers wire off the Ascends and plugged them into the Polks. Still using the same exact song, volume, settings and sub.. The sound in the room got really full. It filled the room with a really big sound.. I was like. Wow. This is great... BUT... The mids and highs can not even come close to the Ascends. Yes the Polks were filling a void that I am missing, but at the same time they Polks can not touch the accuracy of the Sierra 2's with RAAL tweeter.
So I know now that I need a tower with the top end of the Sierra and the full room filling sound of the Polk.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

You guys want to know a funny story.. This is a little frustrating to me. I did an A/B test last night with some very old Polk RTi-8 speakers that are in my garage system. I put them inside last night. Played a few songs on the Ascends with sub. Then I listened to the same song from Steven Wilson twice. I pulled the speakers wire off the Ascends and plugged them into the Polks. Still using the same exact song, volume, settings and sub.. The sound in the room got really full. It filled the room with a really big sound.. I was like. Wow. This is great... BUT... The mids and highs can not even come close to the Ascends. Yes the Polks were filling a void that I am missing, but at the same time they Polks can not touch the accuracy of the Sierra 2's with RAAL tweeter.
So I know now that I need a tower with the top end of the Sierra and the full room filling sound of the Polk.

So it was Polk towers + sub vs. Ascend monitor + sub?

Perhaps the extra bass in the towers (double bass) helped smooth out the bass response and made the overall sound fuller.

I could never get my system to sound completely satisfyingly full until I used Audyssey Dynamic EQ, which EQ the bass in the subs and made the sound nicely full. This is the only reason why I have been emphasizing DEQ so much that it sounds like a broken record. Almost embarrassing.

 

[ematthews]

True that..... I WILL be going to a full AVR set up with Aud EQ.... And towers...
I decided last night to just make the room a small HT/Music room.

Some stuff might be sold off in order to make way for some new items.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

True that..... I WILL be going to a full AVR set up with Aud EQ.... And towers...
I decided last night to just make the room a small HT/Music room.

Some stuff might be sold off in order to make way for some new items.

Yeah, one room is all you need. I listen to music and watch movies & shows in the same room. Since AVR or pre-pros sound as good as or better than any separate analog component, there is no need to have 2 rooms IMO.

 

[ematthews]

And it's too bad that I will need another TV. I have two Panasonic Plasma's in the other rooms and we all know what happened to Panasonic. I will need to find a different Plasma brand around the 46 to 50in size.

 

[cschang]

Room EQ/Audessey will make things even more linear...that doesn't seem like what your preferences lean towards.

 

[PENG]

Room EQ/Audessey will make things even more linear...that doesn't seem like what your preferences lean towards.

If he keeps everything the same, runs Audyssey correctly and then engage DEQ plus bump the sub level up by several dB he may just like the result better. That's assuming he typically listens at SPL well below 80/85 dB.

 

[cschang]

If he keeps everything the same, runs Audyssey correctly and then engage DEQ plus bump the sub level up by several dB he may just like the result better. That's assuming he typically listens at SPL well below 80/85 dB.

Definitely something to try. But on the Ascend forum he said he likes to listen at pretty loud levels.

 

[ematthews]

Yes loud levels... Not to loud however. My wife says I listen to elevator music.... I keep telling her it's Prog Rock. But she does know my hero is Steven Wilson.

 

[sharkman]

You guys want to know a funny story.. This is a little frustrating to me. I did an A/B test last night with some very old Polk RTi-8 speakers that are in my garage system. I put them inside last night. Played a few songs on the Ascends with sub. Then I listened to the same song from Steven Wilson twice. I pulled the speakers wire off the Ascends and plugged them into the Polks. Still using the same exact song, volume, settings and sub.. The sound in the room got really full. It filled the room with a really big sound.. I was like. Wow. This is great... BUT... The mids and highs can not even come close to the Ascends. Yes the Polks were filling a void that I am missing, but at the same time they Polks can not touch the accuracy of the Sierra 2's with RAAL tweeter.
So I know now that I need a tower with the top end of the Sierra and the full room filling sound of the Polk.

Hey matthews, A big reason why your Polks sounded louder is because their efficiency rating is 3.5db louder than the Sierra 1's. I didn't see anyone else with this observation(may have missed it) but it's pretty obvious if you're knowledgeable on some of the speaker specs. So you need to be doubling the wattage to the Sierra's to get the same volume as the Polks, or thereabouts.

 

[ematthews]

It was louder. Yes the Polk's are more efficient. But I was stressing the fuller sound coming out of the tower vs the bookshelf. Guess the comparison is common since and I should have thought of this before going to a smaller bookshelf system..
In any case. I think I am about to pull the trigger on the RBH Towers.