[Rob S.]

I want to say thanks to Rick Craig for delivering a "demo" pair of  RC4's to my house on March 12th.   He was kind enough to drop off this pair for audition.   Some of my local WV audio buddies joined us and made a night of it.  Pizza, beer, wine, tunes and all in all  a great time.  Rick was able to stay and visit and talk about his speakers and I know that everyone enjoyed meeting him. 

Equipment was:  bolder modd'ed SB3 w/ Bolder Ultimate PSIV,  digital out's to AVA ULTRA DAC, Odyssey CAndela, Odyssey Mono extreme Se's,   RC4.    Room treatment by GIK and Realtraps.  basic budget cabling.   1/2 way through the  night we substituted a push pull Sean Rose 20 watt stereo tube amp.

First impressions:
Setup was very very easy.  About 4 ft out into the room and about 5-6 ft from the side walls.  NO room issues according to Rick's ears.   Thanks to GIK and Realtraps, the sub integration was simple.
Sound was full of life, smooth, tight bottom end.   I could go on but my this is my initial impressions.  My current cold is on it's way out and my hearing is not back to 100%.  When we switched the amps to tubes, it got really really smooth.   Vocals took on a chilling realistic and textured feel.  At reasonable levels the 20watt tube amp did just fine even though the RC4's have a 85db efficiency. 


Appearance of these speakers in mottled makore is stunning.   Ricks website photos aren't doing them justice, too dark.   Here's some that I took in my room: 

 http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery

When I have some more time I can add some more details on the sound and compare them to my current setup.

Thanks again Rick!!!









 

[ecramer]

New you were going to like those 

[Rick Craig]

My thanks to Rob for hosting the listening session. I enjoyed meeting everyone and hope to visit again.

[Rick Craig]

If anyone is interested this demo pair can be picked up from Charleston, WV for $3,500. This is a huge discount and I guarantee you'll have a difficult time finding something as good for this price. 

  SOLD! 

[Martyn]

....full of life, smooth, tight bottom end... 

Hmm...sounds rather like my wife.

[satfrat]

If anyone is interested this demo pair can be picked up from Charleston, WV for $3,500. This is a huge discount and I guarantee you'll have a difficult time finding something as good for this price. 

  SOLD! 

Mannnn, that's a whole lotta loudspeaker for only $3500,,,, someone got 1 hellva deal on them. 


Cheers,
Robin

[TF1216]

How did the RC4's compare to those ESL's I saw in your gallery?  Is that one of Quad's latest products?

[Rob S.]

I have a couple pair of maggies, they're different than ESL's.   My MG.6 ( grandfather to current MG12's) which are small.  And the MGIIIa's which I haven't got to sound good yet.  Added Mye stands and now trying biamping to make them more dynamic.   Both pair were bought used.  The .6's sound better but they've been modded.   IIIa's are still stock.

I'm not sure which pair you're thinking of, but they are a completely different beast than the RC4's.  RC4's beat them in most all areas, but it should have considering the price and level of quality parts.  It's mostly more dynamic, has a more precise sweet spot, more controlled higher output bass.   Different flavors. 

I could have lived happily ever after with the Rc4's, but..... in the 3-6k range, a lot of speakers become available.   for only a few $k more than the excellent sounding RC4's,  I could possibly end my speaker quest....   And I haven't yet heard any OB speaker designs, or line arrays. I know I'll get to hear these soon.

Rob s.

[TF1216]

Thanks for the reply Rob.