Last night I received the RC3r from FedEx. I expected the monitors to be on the large side but wasn't expecting quite this large. UPS/Fedex, as mentioned before did a number on these speakers. Besides the dents and dings, there was something clunking around inside the speaker cabinet. I removed the midbass driver from the cabinet to see if I could see what was loose inside but I could not get to it. The crossover parts all seemed to be fixed in place so I am not sure what it was but makes me wonder if it is having a detremental affect on the speaker.
This might make you jump to the conclusion that what I am about to say is negative in regards to the speaker but that isn't the case. The RC3r is a very very pleasing speaker. The sound is fluid, smooth, holographic and effortless. In fact to date I have not heard a less offensive speaker that I can recall. They completely dissapeared in my room. I did not and could not give them an appropriate setup within my room because I have no where to put them at the time. I do not own any speaker stands, and the ones that I am building are not finished so I had to place them on chairs. I did my best to give them the best setup I could despite the challenges I worked with. Therefore I cannot make any definitive statements to their performance on an absolute basis.
Despite these challenges the RC3r gave me a scary amount of depth and imaging was spot on. The space around notes and images was extremely well defined. Those of you that truely enjoy silky smooth mids, these are your speakers! I've never quite heard a speaker this smooth before. The bass was very deep for a monitor, not as deep as my RM40's obviously, but eerily deep for a monitor. They did seem to have a little bit of an upper bass hump in this setup but if I had the chance to really set them up correctly I am sure I could rectify this, but many would probably not object as many, dare I say most, monitors exhibit this hump IMO. Then again the RM40's have been said to be midbass shy so it could be my over-sensitivity to the difference in presentation.
The highs would be my only complaint with these monitors, but I can't help but wonder if Rick meant for the highs to be this recessed or somehow the damage ensued upon them thanks to our friendly carrier companies has wreaked ill effect. The highs as they were were certainly extended and detailed but too toned down relative to the bass and the mid drivers. I myself usually prefer the highs to be a touch on the soft side but this is a bit too much for even me. Maybe in a large room where the monitors are placed very far from the walls this could help yield a deeper soundstage, I don't know but I would probably prefer the highs a bit more present for my room at least.
All in all a great sounding monitor! They seemed to have the body of a monitor with the soul of a large floor standing full range speaker. Very pleasant and effortless speaker. If I were in the market for a monitor, regardless of the price this is one that would be on my top five contenders list for sure. One could also audition the speaker and if they felt the highs were too soft can have Rick change the value of the resistor to add more weight to the highs.
