Here's why I like certain products but perhaps also things I don't like about them. As with everything its subjective and my personal opinion, so I don't expect everyone to agree. Feel free to ask questions or contribute but be honest, nothing's perfect. So I'll start with one which has not been reviewed yet by the forum provider ... others to follow;
Rega R3
+ For £500 its a speaker that, given adequate amplification/source, genuinely combines the qualities of a very good small standmount with the benefits of a floorstander. It does imaging very nicely though there are other speakers that do ultra large sound stages better. Where it scores highly is focus. Voices sound 'real' and solid, not phasy as with some others and they never 'tower' over you unnaturally. The same applies to (certain) instruments. Acoustic guitar is 'in room' and live. Plucked strings have real bite and edge to it and slide of hand are heard exceptionally well, no blurring there! Drumkits sound like they should, fast, dry and again focused where they should be, normally towards the back of the stage if recorded that way. Treble has an exquisite shimmer and metal instruments such as triangles retain their metallic 'twang' and decay beautifully into thin air above the soundstage. Piano is beautiful to listen to. It floats in the air with lovely full timbre, not dry and tinckly, and when hammers hit string the initial impact is clearly heard. Bass is tight and very well controlled compared to many other speakers. Its not an overtly warm or fruity bass so the speakers can initially sound leaner than others but the upshot is that its nicely delineated and shows clearly what goes on 'below'. It also reaches deep and can be genuinely felt provided the amplifier is able to explore that aspect. These are fast speakers by most standards. Rega point out in their sales literature that their tried and tested drivers have excellent self damping properties and you can hear it. It really makes a lot of other designs sound slow and muddled. Easy to drive and sensitive, they partner well with valve amplifiers and good quality solid state designs. The R3's, being front ported, are also easy to place and should fill reasonably large room with relatively little power with sound though if yours is exceptionally big you may want to look elsewhere or the larger 5's/9's. Dynamics, because of the two bass and midrange drivers are never lacking and better than most standmounts but a large multi driver floorstander will outplay them in that respect, naturally.
- There are other transducers that sound cosier and warmer but if you are familiar with some of rega's older designs this was probably never going to be high on their design priorities. Soundstage extends outside the speaker boundaries with good though not exceptional height (however, it is there, just listen to well recorded piano and the decay of instruments) and good depth. I was able to hear some unwanted sound from the front port at a certain midrange frequency. It manifests itself as a sudden bloom/honk to a voice or instrument but disappears just as quick. I also thought I could determine very slight boxy colourations, perhaps a result of standing waves feeding back through the paper main driver to the front. I am nitpicking here but I said I would be honest.
All being said, I personally think this is an expectionally musical speaker that will bring a smile to many peoples faces. It looks unobtrusive, is lovely made and is far less of a compromise than many other designs at or above the price. It does'nt highlight deficiencies in partnering equipment as long as you avoid harsh sounding components, think of the companies brio as the minimum but it will shine with good quality stuff. Love it.
Discs I use when listening to gear: Keb Mo (Just like you) Naim (Pure Audio Sampler) Showcase (Opus 3)
Boxes used when listening to this speaker recently: Naim Nait5i system, cyrus 8 system, New Arcam FMJ systems, Denon system
Rega R3
+ For £500 its a speaker that, given adequate amplification/source, genuinely combines the qualities of a very good small standmount with the benefits of a floorstander. It does imaging very nicely though there are other speakers that do ultra large sound stages better. Where it scores highly is focus. Voices sound 'real' and solid, not phasy as with some others and they never 'tower' over you unnaturally. The same applies to (certain) instruments. Acoustic guitar is 'in room' and live. Plucked strings have real bite and edge to it and slide of hand are heard exceptionally well, no blurring there! Drumkits sound like they should, fast, dry and again focused where they should be, normally towards the back of the stage if recorded that way. Treble has an exquisite shimmer and metal instruments such as triangles retain their metallic 'twang' and decay beautifully into thin air above the soundstage. Piano is beautiful to listen to. It floats in the air with lovely full timbre, not dry and tinckly, and when hammers hit string the initial impact is clearly heard. Bass is tight and very well controlled compared to many other speakers. Its not an overtly warm or fruity bass so the speakers can initially sound leaner than others but the upshot is that its nicely delineated and shows clearly what goes on 'below'. It also reaches deep and can be genuinely felt provided the amplifier is able to explore that aspect. These are fast speakers by most standards. Rega point out in their sales literature that their tried and tested drivers have excellent self damping properties and you can hear it. It really makes a lot of other designs sound slow and muddled. Easy to drive and sensitive, they partner well with valve amplifiers and good quality solid state designs. The R3's, being front ported, are also easy to place and should fill reasonably large room with relatively little power with sound though if yours is exceptionally big you may want to look elsewhere or the larger 5's/9's. Dynamics, because of the two bass and midrange drivers are never lacking and better than most standmounts but a large multi driver floorstander will outplay them in that respect, naturally.
- There are other transducers that sound cosier and warmer but if you are familiar with some of rega's older designs this was probably never going to be high on their design priorities. Soundstage extends outside the speaker boundaries with good though not exceptional height (however, it is there, just listen to well recorded piano and the decay of instruments) and good depth. I was able to hear some unwanted sound from the front port at a certain midrange frequency. It manifests itself as a sudden bloom/honk to a voice or instrument but disappears just as quick. I also thought I could determine very slight boxy colourations, perhaps a result of standing waves feeding back through the paper main driver to the front. I am nitpicking here but I said I would be honest.
All being said, I personally think this is an expectionally musical speaker that will bring a smile to many peoples faces. It looks unobtrusive, is lovely made and is far less of a compromise than many other designs at or above the price. It does'nt highlight deficiencies in partnering equipment as long as you avoid harsh sounding components, think of the companies brio as the minimum but it will shine with good quality stuff. Love it.
Discs I use when listening to gear: Keb Mo (Just like you) Naim (Pure Audio Sampler) Showcase (Opus 3)
Boxes used when listening to this speaker recently: Naim Nait5i system, cyrus 8 system, New Arcam FMJ systems, Denon system