RBH T-30LSE Listening Evaluation

Two Channel Playback

Part of the reason it has taken me so long to publish this review was I found it most difficult to take the time to put down on paper what my ears were enjoying so much. I started it out with some of the highest quality source material I own to shine the best light possible on these speakers.

SACD: kinda JAZZY kinda FUNKY

kinda JAZZY kinda FUNKY from HighNote Records (available at www.jazzdepot.com) is a groovy compilation of jazz that you just don’t get exposed to on the jazziac FM radio stations and rarely have the opportunity to hear live (at least in my neck of the woods). As with many Jazz SACD’s, this one has very little compression and is capable of making a system shine if it’s up for the challenge. The jazz organ was reproduced with amazing clarity and fluidity on track #7, “Peach Cobbler,” by Bill Heid. The trumpet solos were so vibrant and real I felt like I was at the Old Jazz Cellar, a club I used to visit in Ybor City back in my college days. All that was missing during this listening session was a pint of my favorite brew! On the T-30LSE system brass instruments were reproduced with a genuinely lifelike soundstage usually only heard in live unamplifier performances. This is one of the many reasons why I prefer a line array type speaker system to a conventional 2 or 3-way vertically aligned driver topology. When the bassist hit the low notes it sent a chill down my spine, especially when I sat in the back row which is on a raised platform that is designed to resonate for increased tactile response.

CD: Dianne Reeves Never Too Far

For fun, I decided to run my RBH T30-LSE system entirely off the Thule PA350B in 2CH bridged mode, thus bypassing the Earthquake amps that were powering the subwoofer portions of my speakers. I couldn’t think of a better torture test for two channel listening than using the Dianne Reeves Never too Far CD.

Dianne Reeves’ Never Too Far Track#1 “Hello (Haven’t Seen You Before)” bass line is quick and sustained. It tests the transient response of speaker system. With the Thule PA350B running my main speakers full range the bass was incredibly tight and well pronounced despite the fact I shut off my additional two Velodyne subwoofers, which were strategically placed in the room to provide more uniform bass in the listening area. I was a little unsure at first if the PA350B would be up for running these speakers full range since the internal subwoofers in the system don’t have a crossover network and the speaker system dips down below 3 ohms at certain frequencies. The T-30LSE’s were designed to roll off based on the natural acoustical slopes of the drivers. As a result, they have stellar transient response but also represent a difficult load to wimpy amps since they are highly inductive. The PA350B had no qualms about accepting this challenge and effortlessly drove these speakers with ample and well-controlled bass and nuclear highs. I then switched over to the internal amps of my Denon AVR-5805 and had a very similar experience. I was really expecting these speakers to present a problem, but it was smooth sailing for the Denon amps. Connected to the T-30LSE system they happily pounded away and filled my nearly 6,000 ft^3 listening room with excellent fidelity. The only amp I had on hand that really produced sonically challenged results was the digital Panasonic SA-XR50 receiver. Because of its high noise floor and high output impedance much of the sonic virtue of these speakers was lost and the bass sounded sloppy. I don’t suggest pairing these speakers with such incompetently designed amplification.

In track #2, “Never too Far”, the chorus sounded like it emanated from the side channels. If I hadn’t confirmed my processor was set to 2CH I’d think I was listening in PLIIx Music Mode. The stereo separation was excellent and I was rewarded with a naturally LARGE soundstage. The soundstage seemed to extend well beyond the plane of the loudspeakers avoiding that “boxed” in effect I often find on lesser systems.

Track #3 “Come In’ literally shook the floor of my reference room. Plenty of power taxing bass was present, while at the same time excellent vocal clarity and non sibilant highs were consistently reproduced. In my opinion the bass sounded the tightest, though not necessarily the deepest, on these speakers when paired with the Marantz PM-11S1 integrated amplifier we had in the labs under review.

On track # 4 “How Long”, I couldn’t help but to really crank it, particularly during the percussion part and vocal chanting. The drums exploded on scene and the vocals filled the front of the room and extended several feet behind and to the sides of the speakers. It wasn’t until I flipped on my SPL meter that I realized I was listening at greater than 95dB C-wt sustained levels. I usually suffer listening fatigue during extended loud listening sessions, but the T-30LSE’s smooth and effortless playing made for a very palatable listening experience at any listening level.

CD: James Taylor That’s Why I’m Here

While I am not a HUGE James Taylor fan, he does have some of the finest sounding recordings I have heard via the CD format. In fact, I used the title track “That’s Why I’m Here” as a test to ensure I had my speakers properly placed. You will know when this is achieved by hearing his voice emanate directly from a mid point between the two main speakers, assuming your speakers image well. Once the T-30LSE’s were properly setup the voice seemed to come directly from the center channel. I enjoyed doing a demo for people using this song and later telling them they were listening to only the two main speakers. I had several people actually walk up to the center channel to convince themselves it was turned off.

CD: Roger Powell Fossil Poets

Roger Powell Fossil Poets is a retro futuristic recording with progressive rock driven keyboard influence that sounds like a cross between Joe Satriani and Depeche Mode. Tracks #2 and 3; “Fallout Shelter” and “Delayed Reaction” respectively, really belt out the deep low-end bass typical of keyboard recordings. If you really want to impress people with your system’s bass response this is a “must have” recording. I loved the tight, well-focused bass the T-30LSE’s were able to muster. The RBH system had no problems with abuse of the volume control during these songs. Instead of hearing loss of composure or distortion from the subs, I was rewarded with tight, chest-pounding bass that never sounded boomy or lost pitch. It was a striking example of how good a properly tuned subwoofer system can sound when the drivers are up to the excursion challenge and you apply enough amplifier power. I had to keep reminding myself I was hearing this type of bass from just a pair of 10” drivers in each speaker enclosure. The bass sections in these speakers could easily convince you that you are listening to dual 12’s or 15’s. For the record, a pair of 10-inch drivers has about the same surface area as a singe 14-inch driver.

In all of the time I spent listening to these speakers in a two-channel environment they never ceased to amaze me! They are delicate and capable of extracting the subtle nuances of a recording, while at the same time being able to effortlessly produce large dynamic range free of strain and compression. To sweeten their sound I eventually applied Audyssey equalization. The Audyssey system had very little work to do. In fact, when Chris Kyriakakis from Audyssey paid me a visit during the initial setup phase of the Audioholics Showcase room, he was most impressed with how linear these speakers were and how little active room correction was needed above 100Hz.

Multi-channel Playback

It was obvious that RBH designed the T-30LSE system to be used as a two-channel solution for uncompromised high-fidelity performance. I was wondering just how well these speakers would integrate into a high performance multi-channel home theater environment. With my system fully calibrated to provide great sound in every seat I was ready to discover the sonic wonders they could reveal to me. With such a large selection of multi-channel music I felt like a kid in a candy store. I selected a couple of my favorites and a late surprise edition I picked up at Target – the Beatles Love DVD-A disc. I had no idea what I was in for with the Beatles disc, but let me just say if you weren’t a fan of the Beatles in the past you will be after hearing this superbly engineered disc. I also chose Jaco Pastorius’ Big Band multi-channel SACD because of its pristine fidelity and excellent musical content. Peter Gabriel’s Secret World Live DVD Video was auditioned because, well Peter Gabriel is a legend and, in my opinion, this is his best concert performance to date. Best of all, this concert is encoded in DTS and has excellent fidelity, though sub-par video performance.

DVD: Peter Gabriel Secret World Live

The RBH T-30LSE system gave me that better than being there experience...

I focused my Peter Gabriel listening session on two songs “In Your Eyes” and “Steam”. These are two songs with which I am intimately familiar, especially the latter since it’s my 6 year old daughter’s favorite. “In Your Eyes”, perhaps one of Peter’s most popular songs to date, was well done on this concert. With the aid of beauty Paula Cole’s excellent backing vocals and Manu Katché’s drumming, this song is taken to new heights. The sense of envelopment the RBH system brought to this song was surreal. I felt as if I was transported into the concert venue and no longer confined into my listening room. Having experienced this concert live, I can tell you that the RBH T-30LSE system gave me that “better than being there experience” that only a truly superb loudspeaker system in an acoustically controlled room could do.

SACD: Jaco Pastorus Big Band

Track #3 “Teen Town” from the Jaco Pastorus Big Band SACD sounded pristine. The brass sections coming from the front of the room sounded live and “in your face.” I felt as if I was in a small concert jazz venue. Jaco’s bass playing was clean and well delineated. I could hear each individual note played, In fact, it took some doing to get my dual Velodyne subs to integrate with the RBH since the latter had such a phenomenal transient response and a very natural decay signature. I spent most of this listening session using the RBH T-30LSE as a full range monitor to understand how the recording should truly sound below 100Hz. I had to exert great care to not muck this up with the addition of two subs. My wife thought I was nuts as she endured nearly three hours of constant bass sweeps while I tuned the system response, but I reminded her this is what being an audioholic is all about! I never said I was practical, nor non-obsessive when it comes to extracting the best audio performance from a system.

The tenor saxophones in “Barbary Coast” were naturally reproduced and the stereo separation was simply astounding. The drums had a great “pop” to them, free of the compression artifacts so typical in most recordings and painfully endured on most playback systems. The T-30LSE system reproduced all of this recording’s entangled dynamics with carefree aplomb. The only benefit of turning on my extra two subs was a more even bass response across all listening seats. The RBH’s proved to have all of the extension and SPL required to fill the room with unsurpassed dynamics.

Although “Continuum” is a slow paced song, it remains one of my favorites on this recording. The reverberation of Jaco’s bass in this song is so seductive that it just makes you want to chill out. It’s rare to hear baratone sax these days, and this recording is a shining example of how melodic one can sound. On the T-30LSE system I was again transported into the event, feeling as if I was dead center and about 10-feet from the sax player in a cozy jazz cellar. This type of magic differentiates a good recording from a bad one and is rarely reproduced with this level of realism on a playback system.

DVD-Audio: The Beatles Love

The Beatles Love DVD-A has become a benchmark multi channel recording for us only moments after we heard a couple of cuts from it. If you don’t own this disc, hotlink this review and run out to your local music retailer and buy it right now! I would have never imagined the 40+ year old Beatles recordings could sound so good. “Because” originally on Abbey Road, was revitalized on this recording. The true dynamics of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison were revealed, reminding me there will never be another band like the Beatles. “Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows” had a very psychedelic and floaty feel to it. I wasn’t expecting near 20Hz bass extension in this recording, but it was there for the T-30LSE system to playback without any contentions. I felt the floor joists rumble on this track – as did my neighbor while he was out by his pool playing Texas Holdem! In fact, the sound prompted him to come over a take a closer listen. I of course obliged as it was the least I could do for the guy who helped me carry the T-30LSE’s into my showcase theater room. We listened to “Hear Comes the Sun” (one of Harrison’s best, in my opinion). The guitars were rich and lively and the bass heavenly. As the song ended my neighbor commented that the Beatles wouldn’t sound this good if they were physically playing in my room. He basically came to my conclusion that we have achieved that “better than being there” experience.

I am a firm believer of what Joe Cornwall, Business Development Manager at Impact Acoustics, once said to me about how your system dictates your listening preferences. When I engage an average sounding system, I typically use it mostly for movie or gaming playback. When I encounter a superb playback system, I focus most of my listening on two channel or multi channel high resolution audio. After nearly three months with this system, I estimated I spent nearly 80% of my listening time with two-channel or multi-channel music. Make no mistake, movie playback was very enjoyable, especially Xmen 3 with DTS ES, but I always found myself craving to hear the limitless dynamics these speakers could reproduce with the finest of recordings. Be forewarned, this system is very capable of quickly turning you into an audio elitist. You will find yourself picking apart recording quality of discs you once thought were reference material. For example, the Diana Krall Love Scenes DTS disc is a great sounding recording, but there is one particular track #3 “I don’t know enough about you” where the bass has a very fuzzy or distorted signature during sharp transients. I initially thought I blew a tweeter or perhaps had a rattle coming from my screen but later confirmed with my $500 Seinnheiser headphones that I was hearing induced clipping from the preamp – a careless result of over-saturation during the original recording process. This again affirmed to me that the RBH System was faithfully reproducing every subtle nuance and detail of the recordings.

Home Theater

DVD: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

It was a difficult transition going from pristine multi-channel DVD-A / SACD recordings to 5.1 Dolby Digital DVD’s. When watching Star Wars Episode III I could hear all of the compression artifacts in the recording. This was especially evident during the massive explosions, which were more unpalatable to me than I previously recalled. After listening to so much uncompressed music on a system truly capable of delivering the dynamics, I was spoiled. The tactile response during the opening battle scene of Episode III was really amazing, despite the audio nasties of Dolby Digital. The entire flooring of my theater room shook as the capital ships pounded away at General Grievous’s command ship.

DVD: X-Men III The Last Stand

X-Men III demonstrated much better fidelity, no doubt because it was encoded in DTS ES. The scene where Magneto moves the Golden Gate Bridge towards Alcatraz was as stunning audibly as it was visually. The RBH system displayed excellent system synergy, making for a very realistic surround envelope across the entire listening area.

Watching movies with well-engineered discs brought- a higher level of enjoyment than I’ve previously experienced in my reference system. The Achilles Heel of this system is its ability to reveal just how unpalatable highly-compressed audio sources really sound. The old saying garbage in equals garbage out is most applicable here.