**Official RBH Owner's Thread** - Page 16

I think convention would dictate that the speaker be at least 18" off the floor, and then you could certainly angle it slightly so the tweeters have an approximately direct line of fire to your ears. I don't know where to begin with recommendations for actual stands, but I'm sure the good folks at RBH would be able to offer some advice there. I've definitely seen some pics of setups with your LCR's that had some sort of effective center channel stand, but I don't really know where to find those pics. Maybe check out audioholics.com? They're pretty fond of the RBH line, and at least one of their reference setups uses the /R or LSE versions of the speakers you have. Good luck!

This stand would match the set I recommended for the surrounds.

http://www.provantage.com/wood-techn...5~7WODT015.htm

It's 17.5" tall. Woodtech makes their stands is a large variety of sizes. They are fairly inexpensive for the build quality.

Gingus--
A friend of mine just got some new B&W speakers and VTI stands. He got the stands at www.mercantila.com. I went to that site and searched "speaker stands," and it appears that they have a decent selection at pretty good prices. I certainly haven't done any sort of exhaustive search, so there may be several additional or less expensive options through other merchants. I noticed they have several models for center channels, and you may want to check those out. I'm guessing you may need 2 center channel stands next to each other to accommodate the size of your center channel. The options at the site I linked aren't too expensive, but I'm sure you'd want to search a bit more before buying.

FWIW, I would caution that 17.5" stands for your surrounds will probably be much too short. You're using the 61SE's as surrounds, right? I have these as my front L&R, and in order to get the tweeter to ear height you're going to need stands taller than 24". As I mentioned before, I think 26" or 27" would be perfect--at least in my room. I imagine most couches/chairs have an approximate seated height within 2 or 4 inches of each other, so I doubt there's tons of room for deviation here. Also, placing the speakers on shorter stands will likely have them firing directly into the back of your couch, which is certainly not going to do you any sonic favors. If anything, you may want your surrounds placed a little higher than normal, so that the sound travels over the couch or chairs as much as possible. Remember that furniture can act as substantial acoustic absorbers! Good luck!

I agree. 18" is way too low for your surrounds, which is why I suggested the 30" stands back in post 443. The 17.5" was for the center channel. Here is another WoodTech center channel stand, the CC-18e has a 16"x8" top plate to accomadate the center channel with just one stand. In addition, it angles the speaker up slightly toward the listeners. It has adjustable floor spikes and an isolation pad for the top plate. Moreover it matches the surround stands and only costs around $30. What's not to like?

http://www.provantage.com/wood-techn...e~7WODT00A.htm

I just measured above the center channel. If I go up 18" that will seriously cut into the screen size, more than I would like. I could go up 6 - 7" and the top of the speaker would be a the edge of the bottom of the screen. Would that be enough to bring the center channel up, or would it cause the same problem I have right now, Or, do I need to bite the bullet, shrink the screen down and have it be up the 18"?

I did watch the Transporter 3 sitting on the floor, it made quite a bit of difference in the sound.

6-7" would probably be better than nothing, and you could angle the speaker to fire upward every so slightly. 18ish inches would most likely be better, but we all have to make do with the constraints our viewing/listening environments. Good luck!

I could make the screen smaller. I just have it showing on the wall. I guess I should see what size it would be to be the 18" height.

You could get an acoustically transparent screen, build a false wall and stick all the speakers behind it.

Those 1010 sound great with the T1s. I love em. I haven't listened to them much with music, but for movies they are great.

Kids are too young for that. I thought of doing a fixed screen on the wall, but I'm worried that they might damage it somewhow when my wife or I are not there.

How would these work?

http://afohifi.com/shop/product_info...products_id=82

Would they get rid of the dampning, or would they still be too close to the floor?

Auralex mopads would work better to isolate your center speaker.

I would upgrade to the reference series parts especially if you listen to music. I'm glad I did it. As far as amps just make sure you have enough headroom. 300 to 500 amps per channel.

I agree and thus more revealing. After listening to the the signature series the upgrade to the reference series is well worth it.

So, would I place these on top of a speaker stand, or in place of the stand. If they are in place, wouldn't the T1 collapse the foam pieces?

Sorry, didn't realize you're using a T1. Go to Aurales website and look at the dimensions. The mopads are primarily for monitor/bookshelf type.

I've been on this forum for several years and just now finding this thread. Glad to see there are some other members w/RBH speakers; very rare indeed but the best speakers I've owned hands-down, and one of the few expensive items that actually delivers over-and-over.

I've been thinking lately about upgrading all my SE speakers to SE/R, and after getting an upgrade price from RBH it's quite tempting; but I wanted to ask the Q here as to who has done the upgrade, and what are your thoughts. I am an audiophile so I understand the language; and I also see that this thread is not very active, but I'm not ready to upgrade just yet anyhow.

Here is a pic of my setup [66 SE's not shown]:

It's been a few years since I listened to the SE vs the SE/R, but my impression was that the SE/R was slightly smoother, more detailed, and less fatiguing. If you listen to music with vocals and/or acoustical instruments, I think you will readily hear a difference. I didn't listen very long, I just know I preferred the SE/R and the price difference was not significant for something that I view as a long term investment (I upgrade equipment regularly except for speakers).

Like you, I find these speakers just keep on giving great sonic thrills.

What is the upgrade price all about. Do you just pay for the upgraded drivers, or is it a whole new purchase?

Do you need the 2 floorstanding speakers when you got dual subs? Maybe you can downsize to 661's?

There are 2 options: retorfit and replacement to which I'm going for the replacement as it makes more sence to me.


Never a questions of need, but I prefer floor standing mains over speakers on stands.

Hmm - wish I could listen to them, but I assume that the upgrade to SE/R would be subtle at best. However, I think that gains from the 1010SEP---> 1010SEP/R would be more dramatic.

I have 61SE's as my front L and R. I've twice passed up the opportunity to upgrade to the 61SE/R's at very reasonable prices (mostly due to the disapproval of a girlfriend who's no longer in the picture ). Unfortunately, I've never heard the SE/R's, so take what I'm offering here with a grain of salt. The second guy from whom I almost purchased a set of 61SE/R's used to be an RBH dealer, and he said he was so impressed with the SE/R's that he stopped selling the SE's altogether. Now, granted, he was trying to sell me his speakers, but his opinion was that the difference between the two lines was pretty substantial. According to him, EVERYTHING was better in the SE/R's: imaging, soundstage, depth, range, space highs, lows--you name it. There's a few reviews out there if you're into reading them.

Incidentally, I'm not so sure you can just upgrade the drivers/crossovers. I called RBH and spoke with Jared directly about this, as my SE's are piano gloss finish and the SE/R's I was considering were the standard black oak grain finish. My plan was to disassemble the speakers, swap out the drivers and crossovers, reassemble them, and my girlfriend would never know the difference! Unfortunately, Jared said the ScanSpeak tweeter used in the SE/R's has a slightly larger overall diameter than the Vifa V27's used in the SE line. He said it would take some awfully careful routing or sanding to make the ScanSpeak drivers fit properly, and there would be a bit of a gap when the Vifa's were put in the old SE/R cabinets. I hope this helps. Good luck!

My bad, didn't read your post carefully--you said you're planning to replace the speakers rather than retrofit them. Either way, enjoy!

Yes again, I would be sending all my speakers back to RBH and getting new SE/R replacements including the 2 1010's. The $$$ seems right, but do know that RBH is planning a cosmetic upgrade to the SE SE/R line sometime in the next yr or so, but the hardware would be essentially unchanged. It’s not that I dislike my current setup either, quite the contrary. I like the current look so I would not be bothered by the change, more so just do not want to spend $3K+ and not here a difference - but a-lot depends on the listener’s ear.

Tx for the responses as I’ll have to give it some thought – but we all know how that goes [cha-ching].

If you were planning on a vacation to UT, you could stop by the factory and listen to them there. They are a great bunch of guys.

Also, RBH are selling a limited run the of the Status acoustics, bookshelf speaker through EMP. Can't remember the name, but they are going for ~ $2,800 / pair.

So, how much, ballpark do they charge for replacement vs. retrofit?

I have the T1s 1010SEP and 61SE.

[$1,700+ -vs $3,400+], so about 1/2 the price.

Here is the link:

It is the Decimo
It is on the lower right of the page:


http://www.emptek.com/

IMHO I feel that there is a substantial difference between SE and /R. The best way to describe it to you is the same jump in quality from the MC Series Freestanding to the SE is what you get when you go from SE to /R. I hope that makes sense. Another example is my wife. When I sat her down and had her listen to both, she immediately recognized that the /R was the better sounding speaker.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.