RSL Speakers
Hello,
I’m new to Audioholics. I founded RSL Speakers and have responsible for designing and manufacturing the speakers over the years. Yesterday I was surfing around on the forums and noticed this page with comments on our new line of speakers. First, I want to thank Audioholics for providing a place for these comments and for me to be able to respond. Second, I want to thank those who posted their comments. Even though they may not be all positive, it is beneficial to us to know what people think who are passionate about audio.
With that, I’d like to share a few thoughts regarding the issues that have been raised. I can really understand why somebody would be skeptical and don’t blame that person. We lived in an over-hyped age. When it comes to speakers, every manufacturer uses glowing adjectives to describe their products (we do that ourselves).
First, let’s discuss the idea of “small speakers” with limited bass response selling for $500 per pair and whether larger speakers would be a better alternative. Those who have followed the history of RSL know that over the years we’ve built speakers of all sizes, most of them large. We spent 3 years developing our current line. Prior to that, I was using 2 very large RSL Speakers for my own system. Our goals, which should be the goals of every speaker, is to reproduce the entire range for bottom to top smoothly and without undue emphasis in any particular range. Another goal would be clarity, transparency (and probably a bunch of other audio terms). A third goal should be proper soundstaging and imaging.
The RSL CG4 should really be thought of as a satellite/subwoofer system that is combined with our RSL Speedwoofer 10. As such, we are talking about a stereo speaker system that sells from us for $1,250. I think we may not have done a good job in communicating that. So, then the question is: how does it compare to other alternatives? That is how we’d like it to be judged. We are saying that it provides a seamless response from the mid 20 Hz region to beyond 30 Khz. Is this what large speakers are supposed to do? Therefore, I don’t see any advantage to larger cabinets. Some may like the larger speakers, because often with larger woofers in larger cabinets, there is added warmth. Personally, we don’t like the speaker to add anything that isn’t there.
It’s true you can get a good set of speakers in large cabinets for what we sell 2 of our CG4s for. Of course you are all aware of some of the small cabinet speakers sell for $2,000 per pair or more. That is who we are targeting. We spent a lot of time taking our prototypes to home theater stores comparing ours to these speakers before we made the decision to produce ours (I would prefer not to mention brands, because I don’t like to disparage anyone).
And we have determined that the best imaging and soundstage can be achieved with the smallest possible drivers. The big requirement here is that they match the subwoofer without any gaps, which the CG4s do. These speakers image better than any larger speaker we’ve ever made. Another advantage of having the subwoofer separate is that the best spot in a room for a subwoofer may not be the best place for the satellite speakers. We also like the fact that the bass volume can be controlled independently. Even those few tall column speakers with built in subs can’t be independently placed and their bass response does not extend to the mid 20’s.
Early in our product launch, we sold a set to a local person, so I went along to see how they would install. The person had just spent $1.500 per pair for a large very well known brand of speakers. His intent was to use our CG4s for surrounds and our subwoofer. We brought extra speakers and asked if we can hook up CG4’s for the fronts. After listening, he said he wanted to use ours as the fronts as was very sorry he purchased the big speakers.
One last comment. Regarding the 1000Hz tone exciting the cabinet resonance, I beg to differ. This is easily proven and is acknowledged by every speaker designer I know of. You can tap on a woofer cone and hear the resonance. It’s why acoustic guitars have cavities that affect any sound that’s strummed. In all the years of building speakers, I have always believed that resonance is the enemy of good sound in speakers, but I respect your right to your opinion.
As this posting is probably too long already I will close by saying, yes, I agree we make some bold claims on our site. However, unlike most other speaker companies, we back it up. Our guarantee is simply. If you’re not thrilled with our product, we will refund your full purchase price and pay shipping both ways. Your out of pocket cost is zero. I don’t know of too many companies who are willing to do this. Fortunately, so far people have been very happy and have sent us a lot of praise.
If any of you would like to speak with me in person, I’d enjoy meeting you. Feel free to call the number on our site and ask for Howard.
Again, thank you Audioholics and thank you for reading this long post.
Howard
PS. Compression Guide is not like the old BIC Venturi Also, I’ve been a big fan of transmission line speakers since the 1970’s.
