Which of these speakers (w/ sub) will make The Sundays and The Corrs sound amazing? - Page 2

Originally Posted by Rick88 

Hello, sorry it took so long for me to respond.
In my opinion, the rosenut finish is stunning in person. I am not a fan of black (or lighter finished) speakers, darker cherry and rosenut are my favorites. Also, I very much prefer real wood veneer over vinyl veneer finished speakers. These are among the most beautifully finished and well built speakers I've ever owned.
As far as the midrange is concerned, they are fabulous. Let me give you a bit of background info on me and my musical tastes. I am a 49 year old, lifelong music lover and audiophile. I listen to a wide variety of music, ranging from classic rock/blues/jazz/folk/americana/country (real country, not the newer crap). As you may be able to guess by my avatar, I am HUGE lover of female vocalists. To me there is no sweeter sound on this earth than a good female singing voice. Some of my favorites are Linda Ronstadt, Jewel, Sarah McLachlan, Natalie Merchant, Emmylou Harris, Holly Cole, Diana Krall, Norah Jones, Natalie Cole, etc (I could go on forever). And I'm also a big guitar lover, so while I like as balanced a speaker as possible, the midrange frequencies are the most important to me. The RX1's are perfect for me in that regard (at least as perfect as I've found in their price range). With the female singers I like, many speakers can/do exhibit sibiliance with them, which ruins the listening experience for me. I have not found this to be an issue whatsoever thus far with the RX1s.
I have also wanted to give those Focals a listen, but no local dealers carry them so I have not had the chance to. But, I can't imagine me being more happy with another pair of speakers in this price range, and I can see me being quite content to live with these for a long time to come.
Just curious, what amp and other gear would you be running with them, and what size room would they be placed in? I have listened to mine on a Rotel RA-05 SE and an Onkyo A-5VL integrated amps (both 40 wpc), and I prefer them with the Onkyo. The other gear in my setup consists of an Onkyo C-S5VL SACD player, Music Hall MMF-2.2LE turntable, all plugged in to an APC H15 power conditioner. My listening room is 12' x 18', and they fill it with beautiful music!!
Of course, audio is very subjective, and your mileage may vary. I strongly recommend you go to audition them and your other choices if at all possible. Or at least purchase them from a place that has a good return policy in the event they don't work for your needs.
Good luck and let us know which ones you end up with!!
Here's a photo I just took to give you a general idea of the color of the finish (it doesn't do them justice, they are much better looking in person):

Originally Posted by Rick88 

I am getting ready for bed, but I'll reply to your post quickly before I do so.
I believe the RX1s would be great with the Corrs' music, so far I feel they are great with any type of music that I listen to.
I dismantled my HT setup nearly a year ago to go back to a 2 channel setup. I was not watching movies that often anymore, all I want to do most of the time is listen to music. And quite frankly HT receivers just did not do it for me with music. I am not running a sub either. And I am not a basshead anyways, and the RX1s put out very respectable bass on their own (in a small-medium sized room).
As for speaker wire, this is what I am using:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023901&p_id=2816&seq=1&format=2

Originally Posted by Rick88 

The RX1s are pretty easy to drive, and your Onkyo 609 will have no problem powering them. Like I said, I have tried 2 different integrated amps with them (both 40 wpc), with great results. And yes, if you are using them in an HT setup, you definitely want to use a sub. I would say that if they were to be used in a 2 channel setup such as I am in a small-medium sized room (and you are not a huge basshead), no sub is needed.

Originally Posted by lmyamen 

+1 for the RX1, I demoed them before deciding to purchase the tower versions of them the RX6's. the rx1's were mind blowing good for the price point and I demoed them back to back with the cm5 b&w's and I would of purchased the rx1's over the b&w. I expected the rx1 to be in the b&w cm5 price range of $1,500 + for how good the sound quality was.

Originally Posted by Rick88 

As far as speaker stands go, you will get the best results by placing them on stands that raise the tweeter to ear level when seated in your listening chair/sofa. For me 24" stands were perfect.

Here are the ones I have:

http://www.wayfair.com/VTI-RF-Series-24-Fixed-Height-Speaker-Stand-Set-of-2-RF-VI1166.html

Here's their entire stock of stands:

http://www.wayfair.com/Speaker-Stands-C431590.html?keyword=&sortby=6&itemsperpage=100&curpage=1

I really like VTI products, I have this audio rack as well and I love it:

http://www.wayfair.com/VTI-BL-Series-Modular-Rack-BL304-BL404-VI1005.html

I also filled the tubes on the speaker stands with sand, and it made them sturdier and actually improved the sound a little. Before, you could knock on the tubes and get a ringing sound. And while playing music, if you put your hand around the tubes, you could feel quite a bit of vibration going through them. Now, there is virtually no vibration, and zero ringing. These stands were already pretty sturdy and fairly heavy (the base is heavy cast iron), now they are about 12 lbs heavier with the sand in them, and are even sturdier.

Originally Posted by Rick88 

You'll be fine if you don't fill the speaker stand tubes with sand or another material, but I recommend it highly. It only cost me a little over $3 for a 50 lb bag of sand. It took about half of the bag to fill all 6 tubes, and it made the stands heavier/sturdier, and I actually did notice a slight improvement in the sound. It tightened up the bass a bit, and the mids & highs seem a little cleaner...

It is tough to say which is more important, having the tweeters at ear level or toeing the speakers in. To me, they are equally important. You will definitely get the best results with the tweeters as close to ear level as possible in your seating position. And as far as toe-in is concerned, you will hear more detail in the music and have a more centered image when sitting in the sweet spot if you toe the speakers in. This is somewhat dependent on the speakers, your room, and personal taste. I recommend you do some experimenting to see what you like best...

Originally Posted by james138 

If I'm honest, I have nothing to add about the speakers, but I was interested when you mentioned the Sundays. I too am a Sundays fan, I've seen them and Ivy too in concert. I'm a big fan of Wheelers voice too. That said you should check out the following bands artists...
Hers just a few groups....
Hooverphonic- solid group
Autour de Lucie- Great band! Better than Ivy.
Stars-For the longest time Wheeler was my favorite female vocalist, but Amy Millan of Stars is just as good. Elevator Love Letter is a good song to start with.
jj- One of my favorite newer groups. From Africa to Malaga is an amazing song from a great album.
The XX

However my favorite female vocalist bar none is Neko Case. She as alt country singer for the most part and her music is dark, but I think she's got the best voice I've heard. Literally, the first time I heard the song Star Witness I got chills.

I'm assuming you've head the Cocteau Twins, right?

I could go on and on...sorry.

Originally Posted by Paraneer 

Never had solid wood stands so I cannot comment. The RX-1's is a pretty hefty bookshelf, and I would automatically think metal with some kind of mass filling be it sand, quartz, etc. I would want the most stability I could get along with the damping qualities of the material I filled them with. Again, to reduce resonance as all material, wood or metal, have a resonant frequency. And besides, I just think metal stands look cool!

In a 2.0 system, there would be no center. It is 2.0 only. A good pair of speakers like te RX-1'S, when time is taken to find the optimum position for them relative to the listening position, will image vocals in the center perfectly (if that is what the recording intended the vocals to do). Now in HT application, where soundtacks are 5.1 or higher, there is a dedicated center soundtrack and the use of no center is entirely a different discussion. Good luck in whatever you do - ultimately it is your system; not ours.