Was this too good to be true? - RBH R5Bi

[2channel lover]

As some of you know I'm building a new system...call it 70/30 music/HT. Still saving up funds for the subs and LCR, but this seemed like a steal.

I just bought 2 rear speakers RBH R5Bi for $112.50 ea.

Now I'm almost certain they are closing this speaker out for something new soon, but I've seen these as much as $250 ea!

Have I been taken? Or great timing?

They haven't shipped yet so I can still kill it, but I'm thinking...why would I?

 

[Swerd]

Good timing and good price!

While you save for other front speakers, those should do well as small front speakers. When you do purchase others, those should make excellent rear speakers.

I don't know what your overall plans are, but those R5Bi speakers are small enough (7" W × 13" H × 8" D) and light enough (7.5 lbs) to think about mounting them on a wall when used as rear speakers.

 

[2channel lover]

Good timing and good price!

While you save for other front speakers, those should do well as small front speakers. When you do purchase others, those should make excellent rear speakers.

I don't know what your overall plans are, but those R5Bi speakers are small enough (7" W × 13" H × 8" D) and light enough (7.5 lbs) to think about mounting them on a wall when used as rear speakers.

Thanks...I've heard good things about them and the price was a no brainer.

Overall plans...I kind of went at this backwards I suppose, but it's a total rebuild from a near 20 yr old 2 channel system. I bought the pre-pro and all the amps (Emo 5 ch for whole house, 3 outlaw monoblocks for the LRC, emo 7 ch for the surrounds) already.

Now working on the speakers. I have an old pair of B&W 804s that are holding down the fort for the mains...I'd given thought of just adding a center from B&W. Options were buy a used center...I'll give the B&Ws to my son or see what I can get for them.

Hopefully June all the funding will be in place for the LCR and the subs. I had thought about speaker stands for the rears. I have attic space over the listening room and will be running at least one pair of ceiling speakers above for Atmos so when I do that I will drop wires down the wall for the rears.

Do they have wall mounts?

Oh...just noticed your equipment...Salks...OMG.

Ordering the Song3-A.

 

[zieglj01]

I just bought 2 rear speakers RBH R5Bi for $112.50 ea.

Now I'm almost certain they are closing this speaker out for something new soon, but I've seen these as much as $250 ea!

Have I been taken? Or great timing?

You have not been taken

$225 a pair has been the price for a long them -- they recently changed it to pricing as each -- because many were interested in buying a third one for use as a center channel

AVS forum continues to rave about the speakers

Several times I have considered buying them -- however, it remains to be seen. They should work out for you.

 

[Swerd]

Do they (RBH R5Bi) have wall mounts?

No, but there are many wall mount brackets that can easily work for a small speaker like them. If you search for wall mount speaker brackets, you should find several that could work for you. Just a thought.

Overall plans...I kind of went at this backwards I suppose, but it's a total rebuild from a near 20 yr old 2 channel system. I bought the pre-pro and all the amps (Emo 5 ch for whole house, 3 outlaw monoblocks for the LRC, emo 7 ch for the surrounds) already.

Now working on the speakers. I have an old pair of B&W 804s that are holding down the fort for the mains...I'd given thought of just adding a center from B&W. Options were buy a used center...I'll give the B&Ws to my son or see what I can get for them.

Hopefully June all the funding will be in place for the LCR and the subs. I had thought about speaker stands for the rears. I have attic space over the listening room and will be running at least one pair of ceiling speakers above for Atmos so when I do that I will drop wires down the wall for the rears.

I haven't heard B&W 804 speakers, but I haven't been impressed by B&W in general. The 600 and CM series have problems and are expensive, and the 800 series (at least the models I've heard – can't remember which it was) can be very good, they are also very expensive. The up side is that they have wide brand name recognition and good resale value. You can sell them. Your son would probably be happy to get them.

Ordering the Song3-A.

Excellent . I've been a complete Salk / Murphy fan boy for 10 years, so I applaud your choice.

I haven't heard any of the new Song3 speakers, but they have been the focus of Jim Salk and Dennis Murphy's efforts for much of the past year. From what's been said about them, you won't be sorry with your choice.

Have you placed the order yet? What veneer? What center speaker? There is a significant wait time to build Salk speaker cabinets, but I think it's well worth the wait.

 

[2channel lover]

Have you placed the order yet? What veneer? What center speaker? There is a significant wait time to build Salk speaker cabinets, but I think it's well worth the wait.

Brackets...thanks. I'll look into that. My space is an upstairs loft area....kind of man cave area, but the wife will be coming up to watch movies and my daughter when she comes over loves this space so there is some WAF in play.

B&W...I bought these in '98, right around the time when the 800 series was transitioning to Nautilus. At that time, imo the 804 was actually a better speaker than the 803 for jazz. Midrange and tweeter were so much better than most speakers I heard back then.

We're pretty much empty nesters now, so I felt maybe it was time to reinvest in the hobby again and decided to build a new system. I've heard several B&W models...imo, the 800 series is where you want to invest your money in this brand. I paid $3500 for my 804s 20 yrs ago...the 804D3 is now $9k. As you might imagine, it's a better speaker, mids are better, but the diamond tweeter is clearly better than my speakers. Doesn't have the bottom end imo to warrant that kind of money. The 803D3 does have the bottom end, but I wouldn't spend $15k on speakers. B&W imo makes wonderful speakers in the 800 series, but don't offer much value now...I've listened to recently Revels F206/208, Golden Ear Tritons 1, 2, Monitor Audio Gold 300s...I would buy any of those over B&W now.

Salks...I 1st heard out in Colo...now even sure what model. Not ordered yet. I expect to place the order in June. Jim really seems to like his new 3-way designs and me having 3 ways now it was an easy sell for the price. The upgraded midrange in the 3-A seems like a natural fit for jazz vocalist that are becoming a bigger part of my collection.

Supercharged SongCenter

Medium Curly Cherry is the finish I expect to get.

Yeah, Jim said, he's running about 90 days from order to ship. That's fine...early fall I would assume to have this build completed and the bleeding stopped...lol. Fun though.

 

[Swerd]

Brackets...thanks. I'll look into that. My space is an upstairs loft area....kind of man cave area, but the wife will be coming up to watch movies and my daughter when she comes over loves this space so there is some WAF in play.

I did a quick & dirty Amazon search for "speaker mounting brackets" and found several that might work for a 7.5 lb speaker:

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=speaker+mounting+bracket&rh=i:aps,k:speaker+mounting+bracket

This one requires a threaded insert in the back of the cabinet.
https://www.amazon.com/VonHaus-Black-Universal-Speaker-Brackets/dp/B00OCGC7G8/ref=pd_sbs_23_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00OCGC7G8&pd_rd_r=CZV4TJDN8SR45QTCT2WE&pd_rd_w=HkU2j&pd_rd_wg=WXO7U&psc=1&refRID=CZV4TJDN8SR45QTCT2WE
If your speakers don't have a threaded insert, they are easy to install yourself. Find out how thick the cabinet wall is, and use a threaded insert that's shorter so it won't go through the cabinet wall.

They come in wide variety of lengths, diameter, and thread sizes.
https://www.amazon.com/E-Z-Threaded-Hex-Flush-Internal-Threads/dp/B00DCFIFPW/ref=sr_1_17?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1493315220&sr=1-17&keywords=threaded+inserts+for+wood

Salks...I 1st heard out in Colo...now even sure what model. Not ordered yet. I expect to place the order in June. Jim really seems to like his new 3-way designs and me having 3 ways now it was an easy sell for the price. The upgraded midrange in the 3-A seems like a natural fit for jazz vocalist that are becoming a bigger part of my collection.

Supercharged SongCenter

Medium Curly Cherry is the finish I expect to get.

Yeah, Jim said, he's running about 90 days from order to ship. That's fine...early fall I would assume to have this build completed and the bleeding stopped...lol. Fun though.

In my opinion, I think you'll find the Song3-A an improvement over the B&Ws.

The Supercharged SongCenter is what I think would go well with your Song3-As. You must have been speaking with Jim .

I'm a curly cherry man too. My Veracity STs (new last summer) have Ropey Cherry veneer. See photos here
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/a-salk-fan-boy-takes-action.104028/page-6#post-1148112
That's unstained cherry and they have darkened to a warmer redder tones since last August.

 

[Swerd]

On the Amazon page for R5Bi speakers, I found this photo, where the Amazon reviewer said he wall mounted his speakers with SB03's from Mount-it.

https://www.mount-it.net/home-entertainment/speaker-mounts-stands/speaker-wall-mounts.html

 

[2channel lover]

Brackets...thanks for the search links...I have a Prime account...those may ship free...will look into those and the Mount It option. Maybe they all do it, but on first thought, swiveling seems like what I want so I can mount them higher up on the wall and tilt them down towards the listener.

My HT system is planned for 5.2.2...it's possible to put 2 more rear or side surrounds for a 7.22 system...is there much

Your Salks...VSTs...just beautiful and I really like the ropey texture!! Standard or upgrade? Those are natural cherry huh...we have natural cherry furniture...I like how it ages.

Just reading thru that thread after you got them has me drooling!!!...and I haven't even placed an order yet!!

Soon enough.

The cabinets or racks I'm looking buying.

Rack...http://www.salamanderdesigns.com/products/details/91d2e024-a66c-f20a-9cb5-5125e28270f2

Open cabinet...http://www.salamanderdesigns.com/products/details/cdb08d0d-0618-e065-b7b2-5125e399891e

The open cabinet with 6 shelves is my preference so I can put the center channel on top. They only have it in dark cherry which will match the only other wood furniture in the space which is two end tables and RBH speakers are also in that vein. So I've leaned towards medium curly cherry.

Sound better...if I'd just never left the house my B&Ws would still sound great!...lol. I can believe it, actually I know the Song3-A will sound better than my current speaker. Based on 33Hz measurement and low end punch he's described, I have a feeling they will exceed the $9k B&W 804D3 as well.

My speakers still sound pretty good, but just from my local demos sessions...you can hear the advancements in speaker designs today from from those 20 yrs ago...it was time.

Jim...yes, I spoke to him twice. Most recently to find out the differences in the 3A and his new entry Song3 Encore...I told him I'll have 2 subs...he said the biggest difference is how low they go...stay with the 3-A and the Supercharged Songcenter is a great match for it.

 

[Swerd]

All that stuff will be very nice once you get it all in place.

I think those Mount-it SB03 brackets might work better if you hang the R5Bis on the wall. Their 'stalk length' allows the speaker to stand away from the wall just enough to permit tilting them.
Amazon does have them https://www.amazon.com/Mount-Anti-Theft-Universal-Adjustable-Articulating/dp/B00CSAZM8U/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1493330356&sr=1-2-fkmr1&keywords=Mounit-it+SB03

Those Salamander shelves look nice. I wouldn't worry too much about matching the speakers to the shelves. If the speakers are natural cherry and the shelves darker cherry, the speakers will stand out a bit, but because both are cherry they will have similar tones.

As far as sub-woofers go, don't buy two right away. I'd get one for now and see how well it does or doesn't work in your room. Move the sub around to various places in the room (do the sub woofer crawl), and give yourself plenty of time to make up your mind. If you're lucky, your room acoustics will let you get by with one sub. If not, getting a second sub is always an option.

All that electronic gear should do a lot more than what may be just enough. You wouldn't be the only one guilty of over-kill in that department.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[2channel lover]

Thanks again.

Electronics...6 shelves may have tipped you. I do have a lot of boxes I guess.

Marantz AV7702Mkii - prepro
Outlaw 2200 mono x 3...LCR channels
Emo A700...surround channel amp
Emo A500...whole house..zone 1 & 2 speakers
Cable Box/DVR
CD Player

Subs...this space is a trainwreck compared to your ideal 4 walls and a door HT space..., it's got 3 openings to larger areas that can't be closed off...most I think I'll need two. At the same time the "buy two" incentive is not really that enticing, so I'll likely heed your advice.

Brackets...the rear speakers are due to get here next week. Once I have them I figure out the brackets, in the meantime I will check out the Mount It option.

 

[Pogre]

Very nice speakers for the money. They even look nice, not cheap.

 

[2channel lover]

Very nice speakers for the money. They even look nice, not cheap.

Thanks...they arrived last night...as mentioned in the 5.1 vs 7.1 thread, I'm going to let them take the main role for a day or two to break in and this weekend fish the wire and move them into the side surrounds on stands assuming this wire fishing allow me to get down the wall with no major headaches, else they will be wall mounted.

Good I read thru that thread...I was gathering thoughts on a 7.2.2 setup until reading that....I think I'm going to keep it 5.2.2 for now.