RS 2.5 my Revelation

totem

Addicted Member
I have owned the RS 2.5 speakers for what some would consider way to long
before putting them into full use, or even testing thoroughly. Last week I had
commented that I was not to happy with the sound, and I was considering weather to send them on there way.
Fast forward another week, and I find myself listening to at least 2 or 3 tracks of anything I can get my hands on.
You know the feeling, when suddenly all is new and what you "thought" was pretty good, well it simply won't cut it any more.
Anyway, I ended up moving the speakers farther back toward the wall
about 2 feet away, and 3 feet or so from the corners of the room. This also
meant they also did not have an 8 foot window behind them. The separation is now about 9 feet or so, its a large room. I tried 3 different vintage pre amps
settled on the best sounding and then changed the interconnects. Well the
mid range is outstanding, the highs great and now the bass is Tight and
properly balanced. I still have not heard the best that these 2.5s have to offer, but today I can say I am at another level of music appreciation! And as Martha used to say "thats a very good thing"
 
I have a very ragged out (but functional) pair of RS 1.5's. I almost parted them out before listening to them. Glad I didn't. I would love to hear a set of 2.5's.
 
Excellent! Glad you got them working to your satisfaction, they're great speakers. When you can pry yourself away from the music, let us know what amplification you settled on.

David
 
I'm still playing with positioning of my set too. The garage is much more a jumble of hard surfaces, "cathedral" ceilings (tarpaper by Maguel Angel), and reverberant garage door panels. with the rearward firing tweeter, what behind and how far it is will make a lot of difference.

Since I switched amps from the 105 wpc McIntosh to the 270 wpc Sony TA-N80ES, the bass has tightened considerably but the highs are harsher. Maybe I'll try passive bi-amping next week with Mc on top and Sony on bottom.

Still haven't got much in the way of imaging sensation.
 
Whitehall said:
Still haven't got much in the way of imaging sensation.

Don't know exactly what different set-ups you've tried, but just FWIW, for imaging, I have found horizontal separation is the most important factor. I've never gotten good imaging on any of them until the speakers were at least 8 feet apart. Try that and then play with distances from side and back walls.

Just my $0.02 worth.

David
 
So was your revelation that RS2.5s are better sounding speakers than you thought or that speaker positioning (which is an intregral part of a room's acoustical response from the listener's position) is just as important as which speakers you have? The latter, I've come to fully appreciate over the last year as I spared no expense (okay not exactly true, it did have to stay within reason given my budget) in getting my home theater/listening room acoustially 'right'... in fact, I don't see how anyone can begin to evaluate a speaker's abilities without first getting their listening room acoustics right... which also includes proper speaker placement.

I believe using acoustical treatments at all first reflection points is probably the single most important improvement most people can make to improve imaging in their listening rooms.
 
As to your reference re room interactions, I cannot agree MORE. The biggest
influence to tonal qualities and the place to start. So my revelation was at more than a single level, the degree of acoustical change in regards to actual placement and the tonal qualities possible of these 2.5s.The other thing that struck me was that my previous set up was indeed lacking both in overall
clarity and the tightness of the bass. Those recordings I did not care for due to some unknown "quality" are now enjoyable. I am waiting to here the outcome of the crossover that was recently bought by another member who at this time I do not recall.
 
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