RBH Sound 21" Monster 4kwatt Sub First to Meet our Maximus Bassaholic Rating!

[kini]

I can attest from first hand experience spending time with both a JTR RS 2 and a signal RBH-21 measurements aside in the real world they are way closer than you mite think. Now in the SQ department the RBH -21 has that area covered but the RS 2 puts on a very good show, Just not as refined.

As far as the dual 21 not being competitive with a JTR 4000ULF that is Laughable if you have actually spent time with both in the same room you know Immediately, that one is not like the other. Making a statement like that comes off like someone just trying to be a keyboard warrior earing points for there camps instead of actually having real world experience with these subs.

Comparing Monolith to the JTR is no less fair than Comparing the JTR to the RBH they are all just at different levels Why you ask? Because they are made for there target audience nothing more nothing less.

Last time I checked Bentley could care less about the updated versions of the Hyundai Genesis or the Lexus GS480 model coming out this year, it's not in its lane nor will it be no matter how much it's customers wish it to be true

Seems you're in the "I'm going to justify the price because" camp. There's very little to the sound quality debate regarding low frequencies. If all the distortion levels and group delay measurements are below what is humanly detectable then the only consideration would be the output and frequency response desired.

In that regard there are numerous subs that easily compete or better the RBH for a lot less money and some in the same price range that blow it away- Funk/Harbottle for example.

 

[doyleshafer]

Seems you're in the "I'm going to justify the price because" camp. There's very little to the sound quality debate regarding low frequencies. If all the distortion levels and group delay measurements are below what is humanly detectable then the only consideration would be the output and frequency response desired.

In that regard there are numerous subs that easily compete or better the RBH for a lot less money and some in the same price range that blow it away- Funk/Harbottle for example.

You have to understand that distortion in the infrasonic range is repeated in peaks and dips at every harmonic order as you go up in frequency. SQ at low frequency affects SQ across the entire range.

 

[Audionut74]

Seems you're in the "I'm going to justify the price because" camp. There's very little to the sound quality debate regarding low frequencies. If all the distortion levels and group delay measurements are below what is humanly detectable then the only consideration would be the output and frequency response desired.

In that regard there are numerous subs that easily compete or better the RBH for a lot less money and some in the same price range that blow it away- Funk/Harbottle for example.

Well kini actually I have been slowly converted over years to the "I don't care what it cost camp" as long as built well and it does what I looking for it to do and do it well. And No I am not rich by any means or standards, I am just very focused and passionate when I have a hobby I enjoy. Hell I have wasted a lot more money than the price of this sub over the years, testing others in this category or lower as well as other products that were all touted as the next best thing that just ended up more lack luster or just plain over hyped garbage as well as finding some keepers as well. Again to each his own, In hindsight I wish this sub was available a few years ago I could of saved a ton of money in the process, but on the other hand I wouldn't know how all the others actually performed over the years as a reference.

Measurements are great and useful but in my experience that's just a sliver of the story on most products that I have experienced in my room, I don't desire to be like some people on forums by just guessing on how something would sound by their specs or measurements deep inside the chat rooms with there friends playing spec wars. The sad part is some have never even herd said product but they herd from a friend of a friend that herd from a friend that it was terrible so now they spin it to give there option on how much its Inferior to product B and C . Now the other half if they are lucky herd it at a show or friends house. Again that has alot of potential variables for the +/- to me the best way to fourm a solid understanding of a product is in real world personal experience over the typical speculation based on a Spec sheet. You can have subs the measure excellent but they just dont sound rite and some just wouldn't dig deep enough or they just had an odd pitch about them, some to thumpy, some to bloated, it was difficult to find something just right. Plus I needed something that fit in a certain spot in my room. Most of the heavy hitters in this category are shaped in a way that just doesn't work for me or my space.


To say the Harbottle (Yes a killer statement sub no argument here) would devastate the UR-21 or the dual version from top to bottom is just silly they are both, along with a few others are at the top of the mountain they are all masterpieces of sub engineering you just pick which one works best for you. And yes there is a level of risk as with any decision on larger purchases.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Seems you're in the "I'm going to justify the price because" camp. There's very little to the sound quality debate regarding low frequencies. If all the distortion levels and group delay measurements are below what is humanly detectable then the only consideration would be the output and frequency response desired.

In that regard there are numerous subs that easily compete or better the RBH for a lot less money and some in the same price range that blow it away- Funk/Harbottle for example.

With many brick and mortar brands like RBH, you can usually get a good discount with dealers. So the RBH Unrivaled 21" can probably be had for under $8K and the RBH dual 21" can probably be had for under $11K.

Here's the thing - not every subwoofer is for everyone, just like not every speaker or every AVP or amp is for everyone.

This 21" RBH beast would kick my ass in terms of weight and size, so I'm 100% good with just using 10 smaller passive subwoofers in my HT room.

But for anyone else who desires these RBH single-21" (that goes down to 5Hz @ -3dB in Gene's Room) or dual-21" subs (or another brand to their preference), that's cool.

Everyone can have what they desire. Not everyone needs to buy the same subwoofer.

As I've said before - I am just glad to see that the RBH 21" and dual 21" subs (as well as their dual-12", dual-8", single 10" subs) can be powered with EXTERNAL amps, instead of built-in amps.

 

[Tankini]

33" Subs!! Two of them!T-Rex Bass! There's another video were his wife is sitting in front of one of the subs. He's running 3K rms through it and her hair is waving all over. I believe on his meter it showed down to 11.5 hz? Wonder what Shady J, thoughts would be on something like those subs. It's gotta be an acoustic nightmare. But hey he loves him some T-Rex bass.

 

[Jim84]

RBH Sound’s Unrivaled 21-SF/R is a 300+ lbs. monster that uses a 21” carbon fiber driver powered by a 4,000 watt amplifier. This bruiser is so powerful that it forced us to create a whole new category of performance for our Bassaholics room rating called Maximus. This 21” behemoth uses a carbon fiber cone that attaches to a massive cast aluminum basket with a correspondingly large half-roll rubber surround. It has a staggering 38mm of Xmax (one-way linear travel) and 50mm of Xmech (one-way mechanically limited travel). The motor uses eight neodymium slugs for the magnet since iron ferrite would have been too large and heavy to support within the enclosure. Even though neodymium is very expensive, RBH did not want to compromise on their performance targets for the 21-SF/R, and the resultant magnetic flux is tremendously powerful at 35 Tesla Meters.

I just got this beast integrated into my theater room and getting flat 10Hz in-room bass response with little boost needed. I am literally measuring bass down to the limit of my microphone (5Hz).

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Read: RBH Sound 21-SF/R 4kWatt Subwoofer Overview

Note: This is the official thread for the RBH 21-SF/R subwoofer and I will be showing measurements and linking up the formal review once completed. Bassaholics will want to bookmark this thread.

This is truly a great product.
Kind of like Wilson Audio's Thor's Hammer at a more realistic price point.

 

[Peter-endgame]

What's the XMax of the 21" driver? Thanks

 

[gene]

What's the XMax of the 21" driver? Thanks

38mm

 

[Kingnoob]

This is truly a great product.
Kind of like Wilson Audio's Thor's Hammer at a more realistic price point.

That’s a a beast sub just a monster… makes my 15” diy look like a cheap car sub although I can’t use it because it won’t fit in my tv room. I’ll probably never be able to afford or carry it …
Rbh has a super super sub for 11k!!!!+ amazing . Need a moving crew to move a 300+ pound sub.

 

[gaby95]

Seems you're in the "I'm going to justify the price because" camp. There's very little to the sound quality debate regarding low frequencies. If all the distortion levels and group delay measurements are below what is humanly detectable then the only consideration would be the output and frequency response desired.

In that regard there are numerous subs that easily compete or better the RBH for a lot less money and some in the same price range that blow it away- Funk/Harbottle for example.

Yep dual JTR 4000 for will blow away the RBH and with the advantage of dual subs for about the same $$$ But of course, JTR is not part of the "team" here so wont get anyone to admit that

 

[shadyJ]

Yep dual JTR 4000 for will blow away the RBH and with the advantage of dual subs for about the same $$$ But of course, JTR is not part of the "team" here so wont get anyone to admit that

There isn't a "team" as you imply, and we have had close association with JTR and have recommended many of Jeff's terrific speakers and subs.

 

[Golfx]

Yep dual JTR 4000 for will blow away the RBH and with the advantage of dual subs for about the same $$$ But of course, JTR is not part of the "team" here so wont get anyone to admit that

I have read some very positive reviews of JTR products on this website plus recently Jeff’s new RTJ 18 inch woofer package. Perhaps you do not visit here often?

 

[Danzilla31]

Yep dual JTR 4000 for will blow away the RBH and with the advantage of dual subs for about the same $$$ But of course, JTR is not part of the "team" here so wont get anyone to admit that

This isn't a di$'ck measuring contest. Both companies have been hyped on Audioholics and the comments section equally. I've heard both companies speakers and subs they are both some of what I consider the elite of the elite among audio companies especially in bang for the buck.

We just had a home theater tour in the Austin San Antonio group and one of the rooms had 2 dual cap 4000's. They were epic but dang those beauties are behomeths. Bigger than some people's fridges