TK-5C Conclusion
It was a pleasure spending more time
with the RBH Sound TK-5C and Usher Audio S-520s speakers. I’d like to be able
to declare a definitive winner as to which product was better, but to be honest,
my original conclusions from our 2007 Bookshelf Face Off review remains the
same. Both of these products have their own associated strengths and
weaknesses. I often found my preferences between these two speaker systems
changed depending on the source material I was listening too and at what volume
levels. The RBHs clearly shined in dynamics and boldness, especially with kick
drums and lead guitar solos, while the Usher’s shined during delicate
acoustical music passages and female vocals while not being taxed to produce
slamming bass at high SPL levels.
The RBH Sound TK-5Cs proved to be a top notch performer in the $499/pair bookshelf speaker category. Their ability to sound BIGGER than they looked without faltering at high SPL levels even when not bass managed was most impressive. Make no mistake however that, as most bookshelf speakers, these are not full range and should be mated with a subwoofer to extend the low end frequency response and better balance the entire sonic spectrum. While they didn’t score big points with me in the looks department (the Ushers were the clear winner here), they did so in the category that matters most to me – performance.
It seems RBH Sound has once again produced a solid offering with their new
TK series of loudspeakers, from these little but bold bookshelf speakers to
their $850/pair TK-5CT wonder towers that have literally turned the budget
tower speaker market upside down. One thing is for certain, RBH Sound is
serious about winning your business at any price point you are shopping
at.
RBH Sound Loudspeakers
http://www.rbhsound.com
382 Marshall Way
Layton, Utah 84041
801-991-1308
phone
801-543-3300 fax
About RBH Sound
RBH Sound is one of the oldest speaker companies in the USA still run and operated by the original founder - Roger Hassing. In 1976 RBH Sound produced its first loudspeaker. RBH soon began to OEM for McIntosh, (back in the days of Gordon Gow), providing cabinets for their speakers. This set the stage for doing a superb job since McIntosh didn’t worry about how to cheapen the product, but to make it better and, at least at the time, lead the class in performance. Later on RBH Sound began producing loudspeakers for a retailer in Los Angeles called Northridge Audio. They didn’t advertise or market these products to avoid a conflict of interest with their other OEM customers (i.e. McIntosh, Parasound, Fosgate, etc). People nonetheless sought them out because of their high performance, which lead to a good success story and response for their products. Over the years RBH Sound was successful at helping other companies in achieving their goals. Based on their strong engineering background and sourcing ability, they took it upon themselves to enter the market under their own banner.
The Score Card
The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:
Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating
Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.
Audioholics Rating Scale
— Excellent
- — Very Good
- — Good
- — Fair
- — Poor
| Metric | Rating |
|---|---|
| Build Quality | |
| Appearance | |
| Treble Extension | |
| Treble Smoothness | |
| Midrange Accuracy | |
| Bass Extension | |
| Bass Accuracy | |
| Soundstage | |
| Dynamic Range | |
| Performance |  |
| Value | |
silversurfer;368922No, he means you can't always hear the coloration.
Depending on source material? It either colorizes the signal or it doesn't.
Josuah;368602
I have a hard time reconciling a 4.5 performance rating with the individual scores which never exceed 4....
Something with no weaknesses is darn good to have.
The overall scores aren't mathematically derived, they're subjective, but even if mathematically derived it wouldn't have to work by simple averaging. If you did something like percentile rank within a price range for all the sub-scores, then converted to a star score, 4.5 is probably about dead on (90th percentile).
A bit of lower midrange coloration present depending on source material
Depending on source material? It either colorizes the signal or it doesn't.
Was that a typo in the review or just a mistake in pricing? I'm curious to know if that would effect the ratings considering that the costs were off by 25% ....
It was an error on RBH's part as I was originally told they were $400/pair. I was on the fence about giving them a 4.25 for value but since we only rate in 1/2 point scales now, I rounded down to 4 stars. The price adder would drop them to 3.75 but in that case I round up to 4 so it stays around the same.
While I believe you can find speakers at $500/pair that blow these away in aesthetics, I am still confident they perform up to par with some of the best speakers in their price class.
