RBH Sound Reveals 3 Unique 50th-Anniversary Loudspeaker Products

Audioholics has a long history with RBH Sound. Chief Audioholic Gene DellaSala has been a fan of the company’s well-engineered audio products since before he founded Audioholics in 1999. Below is a photo from CES 2006, in which a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Gene is admiring the mighty Status Acoustics Titus Speaker System with RBH’s Technical Director and Vice President of Engineering, Shane Rich. More recently — a mere 20 years later — Audioholics attended an ear-opening Maximum AV Listening Event, featuring Trinnov & RBH Sound. 

During the intervening decades, RBH has continued to prove its ability to design, engineer, and manufacture loudspeakers with excellent acoustic reproduction at sensible prices. Now celebrating its 50th anniversary, RBH Sound has just debuted three 50th Anniversary Collection products, with more on the way. 

RBH says that these products were developed to celebrate and commemorate founder Roger B. Hassing, whose core beliefs and original slogan, “the difference is quality,” continue to guide the company. No stone was left unturned while designing these significant new products, and there was “(no) skimping on any design feature,” according to RBH.

The RBH Sound Obelisk

The most exciting new product in the lineup in the eyes of this writer has to be the all-new Obelisk loudspeaker, which RBH says was designed with three things in mind. The first of these was stealth: the speaker’s ultra-thin profile helps it disappear sonically while also blending into its environment visually. (Although gloss black speakers aren’t always my thing, I am enamored of the Obelisk’s distinctive Art Deco styling. These speakers look like something you’d find in Hercule Poirot’s meticulously-furnished London flat.) The second key component of the Obelisk is the extreme performance it offers, thanks in part to its 10-inch planar-magnetic midrange driver — a company first. RBH says that this new driver is utilized for incredibly fast and lush mids, and is able to exceed the performance and detail retrieval of even the best cone midrange drivers. The proportions of this driver also allow the Obelisk’s cabinet to be slimmer than it would be if a large cone midrange driver were used. A pair of planar-magnetic midrange drivers will also feature in RBH’s forthcoming new flagship loudspeaker system, the Oracle 1. The final piece of the Obelisk puzzle is full-range performance. The speaker uses a pair of side-firing, long-throw, 8-inch aluminum cone woofers in an enclosure tuned to 25Hz, with an anechoic frequency response of 25Hz - 35kHz. Highs are reproduced by the best air motion transformer (AMT) tweeter that RBH offers.

The Obelisk’s svelte cabinet is well braced, and features a slot port and unique curved enclosures for the tweeter and midrange, all but eliminating the backwave energy, according to RBH. The sturdy cabinet and Acrylic Polymer side panels make the Obelisk incredibly inert and surprisingly heavy for its size, at 105 pounds each. This contributes to the speaker’s tight bass, “with impressive full-range low end and precision throughout the frequency range, (with) low distortion and impressive dynamics,” according to RBH Sound. The Obelisk stands 47.7 inches tall, by 7 inches wide, by 15.5 inches deep. In passive form, it will sell for $15K/pair, while the hot-rodded, fully-active version will cost $20K.

Experience the total package in a slim form factor. Featuring… a 10-inch planar magnetic midrange driver (that) translates to more immediacy of sound and ultra-low distortion in the midrange. You’ll hear depth to vocals and an improved perception of decay that will make your jaw hit the floor. Combined with our tried-and-true large AMT tweeter, they are a match made in heaven. High sensitivity, dynamic range, and low distortion make this a speaker to behold. The dual 8-inch drivers are tuned with a near 4-foot-long slot port. Not only do you get low extension, into the low 20Hz region, but the cabinet density ensures tight and accurate bass that hits with authority. Active technology transforms the performance of this tower with perfect time alignment and linear response.

— RBH Sound 

RBH Sound Voce Fina Mk II

The next product in the 50th Anniversary Collection is the Voce Fina Mk II, which spiritually carries on the legacy of the original Voce Fina. The Status Acoustics Voce Fina made a splash in the market by having a granite enclosure with near zero resonance, and it has become something of a legend in the industry, inspiring other speaker designers to use granite. One of the best-known companies currently using granite is Acora Acoustics. The folks at Acora describe granite as “the highest density, toughest, and highest compressible strength material available.” But all of those superlatives come with a downside: a very hefty price. (Acora’s speakers sell for up to $218K/pair). Despite the potential performance gains, granite speakers don’t make much marketing sense for a company like RBH, which insists on providing high value in addition to high performance. Enter the Voce Fina Mk II, which adopts many of the design philosophies of the original, but with modern drivers (including a stellar AMT tweeter) and modern cabinet design. The cabinet is built entirely from Acrylic Polymer, which offers most of granite’s performance advantages but at a substantially lower price, and with the additional advantage that it can be painted or finished in a variety of ways, unlike granite. RBH says the new speaker outperforms the original, but costs less. The well-braced enclosure includes a 2.5-inch by 12-inch flared port, and is tuned lower than the original Voce Fina enclosure. This allows the speaker to deliver truly impressive bass for its size, according to RBH. Additionally, the tweeter is reportedly positioned closer to the woofer for a tighter acoustic center and more precise imaging. Available in both passive ($7K/pair) and active ($9K/pair) versions, the Voce Fina Mk II uses “only the highest level of components” in both configurations, according to RBH. We’re told to expect this speaker to make an impact in the ultra-high-end space.

RBH Sound Nemesis MkII

Lastly, the RBH Nemesis Mk II subwoofer carries on the legacy of the original Nemesis, and is said to be built for “extreme musicality and deep extension,” embodying both “brute force and control.” The Nemesis Mk II features dual 12-inch drivers in a sealed cabinet with an Acrylic Polymer baffle and paneling. The hexagonal diamond shape of the enclosure significantly reduces standing waves, according to RBH, and the dual-enclosure construction features G.A.D.S. (granular acoustic damping system) technology around every exterior wall, making it the densest and most inert subwoofer that RBH Sound has produced to date. RBH explains that while this unique damping system has obvious mass-loading effects, further improving the rigidity of the cabinet, it is also an excellent acoustic absorber. And although the granular particulates occupy a significant amount of space within the enclosure, RBH says that the impact on the total volume is negligible, and therefore the tuning of the box is near unaffected. “This means near zero cabinet resonance and zero movement for no loss of driver inertia,” according to RBH. “The results are tight, accurate, musical, and refined bass that goes beyond expectation.” The RBH Nemesis Mk II measures 31.625 inches high, by 20.75 inches wide, by 18.25 deep, and has a very hefty weight of 200 pounds. It will sell for $7K each (non-powered), or $9K each (powered). That’s certainly not inexpensive, but RBH says the Nemesis Mk II is “capable of producing infrasonic frequencies with a tightness and definition unlike anything you've ever felt.”

We look forward to learning more about these new 50th Anniversary Collection products, and to seeing what else RBH has in store for 2026. For more information, visit rbhsound.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.