RBH T-2 Listening Evaluation

I was most impressed with the uniformity of bass response throughout my entire speaker system in this configuration. In my reference system, with large main speakers and a dedicated subwoofer near the left corner of the room, most of the bass energy emanated from that corner. Thus when I ran the Avia set-up disc for checking bass levels, I found it nearly impossible to maintain a similar bass response for each channel. This was no longer the case with the T-2 System implemented in my room and configured as previously noted. When I ran the same test sweeps I found bass energy from channel to channel to closely track within a couple of dB! I was beginning to really see the benefit of properly integrating multiple subwoofers in a listening room. For competitive purposes, before disconnecting my reference speakers, I made some quick listening position LMS measurements and adjusted the bass levels of the T-2 System to closely match the response as illustrated in Figure 5 . Upon further on the fly tweaking and using my trusty handheld Sencore SP295C Audio Analyzer, I honed in a more optimal response as seen in Figure 4 . At this point I felt I reached a good stopping point for measuring bass response and thus it was time to do what ultimately matters most, a critical listening evaluation.

When gazing upon the RBH Sound T System for the first time at my listening position, I recalled a paper I once read authored by Dr. Floyd Toole. In this paper, he stated human perception of sound can be influenced by appearance or first impression of the product before any sound is actually outputted. I tried to be mindful of this realizing the physical stature of the speaker system to me conveyed power, presence and dynamics but at the expense of loss of subtle detail and imaging due to a large baffle area. Being mindful of my preconceived stereotypes of this system, I began my listening session, starting with some critical two-channel listening.

I began with a familiar disc from Mike Oldfield titled " Tubular Bells 2 ". I choose this disc because it was the exact disc I was listening to on my reference system prior to changing out my speakers for the new T-2 System. I wanted to gauge just how well the bass integration of two subs crossed over at 100Hz in my room would compare against my reference bass capable speakers mated with one powered 1010-SEP subwoofer. I skipped to track #8 " Weightless ", then sat back listening to the opening melodic keyboard and choir ballad waiting for the bass to kick in. About a minute into this song, a very deep and extended bass plays that wimpy speakers have no place even attempting to reproduce. This track always played well on my reference set-up so I had high expectations for the T-2 System. It certainly did not disappoint in this respect. In fact, this was the first time I actually had goose bumps listening to this song. The bass was well extended, tight, and full.

I was certainly reaching new lows that I was unable to with my reference set-up. The T System produced a quality of bass that was both felt and heard with equally unobtrusive delight. I found myself in such envelopment of the sound, that I unwittingly listened to the remainder of the CD, which is surprising since I am not particularly fond of two of the songs. Nonetheless, the sheer sonic enjoyment persuaded me to continue listening. I wasn't sure what sounded more grand, the bass extension, or the depth of soundstage and unstrained sound quality I was hearing in the instruments.

Next up was SACD. Patricia Barber's Modern Cool SACD is a great example of what SACD is all about. In my opinion, Premonition Records (premier record company for Patricia Barber), makes some of the highest quality recordings I am familiar with, and this one was no exception. The song " Company " from Modern Cool contains a drum ballad unheard of in today's Smooth Jazz realm, welcome in a world where two chord rock and prefabricated lyrics seem so commonplace. Again the T-2 Signature System was unyielding in its performance. The snare drum snapped and the cymbals crashed without hint of compression or distortion commonly heard in lesser designed systems. While my reference speakers were by no means compressed or lacking in dynamics, the T-2 System simply unveiled a level of realism in the music that I have never heard in any speaker system before, regardless of price. The trumpets were right in your face and the separation of instruments was unreal. Bass was hard hitting and tight making me lose control of the master volume. Usually I don't listen to music this loudly, but the T System almost seemed to beg to be played louder just like a sports car demands to be driven harder. Fortunately my wife kept me in check on many occasions to control loudness to reasonable levels, much like radar traps and high priced tickets govern sports car enthusiasts.

A speaker system that plays loudly with great composure and linearity is certainly important, perhaps equally important as one that plays at low levels. To get an understanding of how the T-2 System would handle low level details, I popped in Michael Frank's Burchfield Nines one night while everyone was asleep and the house was completely silent. I am intimately familiar with how track #5 " Meet Me In The Deer Park " sounds on my reference system and was eager to hear how the T-2 System presented it. I was hearing all of the detail in percussions as I recalled in my reference speakers, but with a much BIGGER soundstage. I was surprised that even at low volume levels, the benefits of T-2 unique driver topology were revealed. I suspect the radiation pattern of the Rich array and how the T-2 Speaker System played into the room played a big part in this. I felt that Michael's voice was a tad more laid back, or dare I say warmer, but not quite as intimate as I remembered on my reference system. However, the tonal differences in vocals are somewhat of a personal preference. My reference speakers incorporate a D'Appolito driver topology, which has a natural tendency towards a more forward sound quality in the midrange. Over the years I have become accustomed to this tonality in my speakers and thus I had to really listen back and forth between the two systems to realize which I preferred. Ultimately, I preferred the more laid back, but larger vocal presentation of the T-2 System in most cases, even at low listening levels. Whether I was listening to rock, jazz or classical music, I found the low level linearity of the T-2 System to be well preserved, indicating this was truly a highly dynamic loudspeaker system. It was clear by now that the T-2 System passed all of my tests and removed all doubts, preconceived or otherwise, about its ability to satisfy critical two-channel music listening.

Since I was in a bass mood at the time, I moved on to Graham Nash's "Songs for Survivors " DVD-A disc. I really love cranking up track #4 " The Chelsea Hotel " to test the limits of a system as well as my neighbors' hearing. The T-2 System broke no sweat keeping on track. In fact, it was indeed loud, more so than I thought as I took out my SPL meter and measured peaks in excess of 120dB at the listening position (note room gain and bass frequencies play a large roll in achieved high SPL's). The bass was so pronounced and powerful that for an instant I mistook a popping sound I heard as the subwoofers bottoming out for the plastic protection screen of my RPTV reaching its elastic limits. Interestingly enough, regardless of the high SPL levels, it didn't seem overbearing or fatiguing like when on rare occasions I 'm dragged to a nighclub or Columbian party playing loud music on a sub par audio system. To me this indicated that the distortion levels were extremely low, and dynamic driver compression was not evident during my torture test. Equally impressive was how effortlessly the Denon AVR-5803 was driving this system. One would ordinarily assume a large speaker system would require massive amounts of power to play at these loud listening levels.

However, this was not he case for a variety of reasons:

1) The impedance profile of the T-1 satellites (see Figure 1 ) is almost resistive in nature.

2) The high sensitivity of the T-1 satellites (90dB SPL, 2.83V @ 1 meter).

3) The T-1 satellites were crossed over at 100Hz essentially removing power robbing low frequency bass and providing more dynamic headroom to the amps in the receiver.

4) The 1010-SEN subwoofers are powered by separate 400 watt amps.