RBH Sound Impression 85-1 Floor-Standing Loudspeaker Review

[AcuDefTechGuy]

What are your thoughts on running them in say< 2.1? LEF/+mains in a 5.1/5.2 surround. assuming one isn't using a Yamaha AVR that has say, one DSP set to on? in 2 channel set with Sub use. (Extra Bass) set to on. assuming.

When I had the Revel Salon2 (XO frequencies 150Hz, 575Hz, 2.3kHz), I set my Salon2 to SMALL and XO in my Denon to 150Hz. They sounded great.

When I had the KEF Reference 201/2 (XO frequencies 145Hz, 2.5kHz) I set my KEF to SMALL and XO in my Denon to 150Hz. They sounded great.

When you had your $2K/pair RBH R-55E (XO 120Hz, 3kHz) and dedicated Sub, didn’t you set them up as Small in your Yamaha AVR?

RBH Sound R-55E Floorstanding Speaker Review

RBH Sound recently upgraded their Impression family of speakers. We reviewed their 6-driver, 3-way R-55E tower speakers to see how they stacked up against competitors in the $2K/pr arena.

www.audioholics.com

Editorial Note by Shane Rich: Regarding Bass Crossover
I’m personally not a fan of a crossover point on the woofer that high, even if it is a 2nd order filter as long as the midrange drivers support lower frequency response (which is the case for the R-55E). There is there is still too much midrange energy from the woofers that negatively affects the imaging. I chose to implement a 1st order filter on the R-55E bass drivers at 120Hz.

Response by Steve Feinstein (Reviewer):
RBH has a valid point about the first-order woofer slope. 120Hz at 6 dB/oct means the woofer is only down 6dB at 240Hz and still only 12dB down at 480Hz--yes, the woofers will still have some audible output well into the midrange. Plus, 1st-order slopes preserve coherent phase, so there is no potentially distracting phase shift right in the heart of the sensitive vocal region of the midrange.

 

[Bobby Bass]

They look like excellent low cost speakers for the right sized room. I had towers with a powered sub and a passive radiator on one side of each Tower They sounded excellent until one of the amps quit. I Like that these are passive so no amp to worry about.

 

[Tankini]

When I had the Revel Salon2 (XO frequencies 150Hz, 575Hz, 2.3kHz), I set my Salon2 to SMALL and XO in my Denon to 150Hz. They sounded great.

When I had the KEF Reference 201/2 (XO frequencies 145Hz, 2.5kHz) I set my KEF to SMALL and XO in my Denon to 150Hz. They sounded great.

When you had your $2K/pair RBH R-55E (XO 120Hz, 3kHz) and dedicated Sub, didn’t you set them up as Small in your Yamaha AVR?

RBH Sound R-55E Floorstanding Speaker Review

RBH Sound recently upgraded their Impression family of speakers. We reviewed their 6-driver, 3-way R-55E tower speakers to see how they stacked up against competitors in the $2K/pr arena.

www.audioholics.com

Andrew, that would be a Big Fat Nooo!!! Lol. Me being me, I'm a BassAholic!! I set (Sub) PEQ (manual). Trimmed that cheap 12" sub to my liking. And Full Range set 2.1 with (Extra Bass) in YAPO> settings to "ON" .
Only use that setting for 2.1 music (Critical listening) with Volume set depending on my mood, sometimes reference level. But then Neighbors start coming out their house. And PoPo comes driving by real slow the first pass by. Second time PoPo passes by with lights on, than I lower volume down to -25dbs. Now to Answer your question, for movie surround I'll use those settings in your post as a starting point in a 5.1.So yes Sir! Towers are dialed in on settings to small. plus I'll take Yamaha A4A out of manual set in PEQ to what Yamaha ARC set to (Flat) when I ran Auto Set with the supplied ("Mic+ stand) that Yamaha supplied with the Aventage. I call it my boomerang stand.

Edit @AcuDefTechGuy those Elite towers, R-55E are a very Special RBH tower, give them room to Breathe for the lack of a better word. One will understand the full meaning of why RBH will not stamp a unworthy speaker won't stamp the RBH name badge on the grills. That's the only pair of RBH towers I've ever owned. I can only imagine what your RBH towers sound like. Gene has Flagship RBH towers. To use an analogy of RBH speakers, think high Octane fuel for Pro Funny car 1/4 mile drag. High performance high quality sound with ungodly amount of bass accuracy and clarity. If you ever been to a drag race, you know how loud it can get well that's RBH speaker's, and still sound great at reference levels.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Andrew, that would be a Big Fat Nooo!!! Lol. Me being me, I'm a BassAholic!! I set (Sub) PEQ (manual). Trimmed that cheap 12" sub to my liking. And Full Range set 2.1 with (Extra Bass) in YAPO> settings to "ON" .
Only use that setting for 2.1 music (Critical listening) with Volume set depending on my mood, sometimes reference level. But then Neighbors start coming out their house. And PoPo comes driving by real slow the first pass by. Second time PoPo passes by with lights on, than I lower volume down to -25dbs. Now to Answer your question, for movie surround I'll use those settings in your post as a starting point in a 5.1.So yes Sir! Towers are dialed in on settings to small. plus I'll take Yamaha A4A out of manual set in PEQ to what Yamaha ARC set to (Flat) when I ran Auto Set with the supplied ("Mic+ stand) that Yamaha supplied with the Aventage. I call it my boomerang stand.

Edit @AcuDefTechGuy those Elite towers, R-55E are a very Special RBH tower, give them room to Breathe for the lack of a better word. One will understand the full meaning of why RBH will not stamp a unworthy speaker won't stamp the RBH name badge on the grills. That's the only pair of RBH towers I've ever owned. I can only imagine what your RBH towers sound like. Gene has Flagship RBH towers. To use an analogy of RBH speakers, think high Octane fuel for Pro Funny car 1/4 mile drag. High performance high quality sound with ungodly amount of bass accuracy and clarity. If you ever been to a drag race, you know how loud it can get well that's RBH speaker's, and still sound great at reference levels.

Oh, so in 2CH mode, you can set the Yamaha front speakers to LARGE + EXTRA BASS and still get LFE output (2.1CH)?

But for 5.1CH+ modes, you need to set speakers to SMALL to get LFE.

 

[Tankini]

Oh, so in 2CH mode, you can set the Yamaha front speakers to LARGE + EXTRA BASS and still get LFE output (2.1CH)?

But for 5.1CH+ modes, you need to set speakers to SMALL to get LFE.

From my understanding, 2.1 (Extra Bass)set to on in 2.0 Yamaha calls that setting (Extra Bass) filtered at 120Hz? According to Gene & PENG. I never called into Yamaha CS, who knows what one will get speaking to a first Yamaha CS rep. I do not believe LFE is out putted using 2.0 than activating (Extra Bass) in the setting 2.0 without activating .1Sub will not receive a low pass signal. But I believe you know that already. Assuming since in your dedicated HT room with those, what 12-12" passive subs you have.

 

[Tankini]

Hey, nothing wrong with Polk.

Well, comparing Polk speakers to RBH speakers, is like comparing an Mercedes to Ferrari.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

From my understanding, 2.1 (Extra Bass)set to on in 2.0 Yamaha calls that setting (Extra Bass) filtered at 120Hz? According to Gene & PENG. I never called into Yamaha CS, who knows what one will get speaking to a first Yamaha CS rep. I do not believe LFE is out putted using 2.0 than activating (Extra Bass) in the setting 2.0 without activating .1Sub will not receive a low pass signal. But I believe you know that already. Assuming since in your dedicated HT room with those, what 12-12" passive subs you have.

Well, I have always set all my speakers (Salon2, B&W 802D2, Linkwitz Orion 3.2.1, RBH, etc.) to small.

For Denon/Marantz, I could always get Sub/LFE output whether I set my speakers to Small or Large or even use Pure Direct mode. This is one of the best things about Denon/Marantz.

I did experiment on my Yamaha using Extra Bass. I recall getting extra bass, but can’t recall the exact conditions (Small vs Large). I do know I couldn’t get Extra Bass or LFE in Pure Direct mode. Not a big deal for my HT system since I always set my speakers to small.

 

[panteragstk]

I'd be curious to see how different the ribbon version of this speaker is.

 

[Tankini]

Dang man sorry to hear that. Hey ride it out put back money after you get past this in a year flip the polks and buy these speakers!!!!!

I do believe my days of chasing the audio ghost are nearing its end. My age, my life's choices have come knocking me into a reality check. Much more important issues have come upon my plate. There's this ole saying, when life comes knocking one must put aside the things that can weigh a person down. As much as I've enjoyed my time spent with audio/video, ole father time has come knocking. Medicines, doctors, specialist are the utmost important factor in my life as of now. Everyone believes in more time, when in fact time waits for no one.