Giorgino
Ex Member
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Right, at home now...FIRST IMPRESSIONS - POSITIVE
They sound big. There is an air of authority about the RL3s. The soundstage is big and deep. They have a laid back lets you relax into to music. At first I thought that they sounded slightly recessed but on reflection, and like my Ack dAck, they pull and spread the soundtage depth further back whilst holding the frontstage where it is.
Piano and bass sound very full and and fleshed out. I was expecting the precision to be compromised with a multiway driver but this hasn't been massively noticable. The treble is lovely and smooth - again, unexpected with a tweeter. It sounds very "grown up" . The sensation is the difference between being in a small nippy car and then driving in an executive car. There is a sense of solidity and control.
FIRST IMPRESSION - NEGATIVE
There is some very deep bass going on but it sounds a little strange. Every now and again a deep bass note comes out of nowhere that I'm sure instrument that was part of. It sounds slight diembodied and unruly. Almost like a subwoofer with the volume turned up. My buddy confirmed this when he visited me today. Whilst my interpretation was that the RL3 over emphasied the sub bass (below 80hz), he was of the opinion that the sub bass was fine but there was no bridge between that and the mid/upper bass (ie a dip between 80 - 120hz?)
These are early days yet and it may be due to placement and setup issues. Will keep you posted in due course...
INTERESTING POINTS
IMHO, I think that my 17'x11'x8' (L,W,H) should be considered to be the minimum size for the RL3 to work effectively for the following reasons: 1) The need space to breath (minimum 2' away from walls) 2) Sitting nearfield gives a strange sensation of the sounds being separated. I am sitting about 10' from them now but I suspect I would benefit from being another 5 - 10' further back. 3) Sufficient space for the bass notes to work in. (I think I'll need need some room bass treatment)
In my 3 years experience with the Horns, I've set them up to a sound that I really enjoy. My guess is that I'll be spending the next few months optimising my setup for the RL3s.
An example is with the CSP preamp. The Horns/F1/ack dAck/CSP combinations sounds a little strident. Replacing the CSP with a passive NOS carbon pot preamp made the system really mysical and relaxed. This combo with the RL3 just sounded too recessed. Putting back the CSP brought out the sparkle and life in the system. It gave the system a little PRAT into the system without the edginess I got previously. Who knew...? ;)
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