[Hantra]

Time for another review.  Rick Craig was generous enough to send me a pair of his RC3R monitors to audition.  These monitors are quite large, and have quite a bit of heft to them.  You can tell they are well built, and the veneer on these is gorgeous!  Check it out. . .







The current iteration of my system is the Plinius 8200i MkII, Scott Nixon TubeDAC with upgraded power supply, Sony DVP-7700S used as a transport.  I used an Audience AU-24 digital cable from the Sony 7700 to the TubeDAC, AU-24’s to the Plinius, AU-24 speaker cables from the Plinius to the RC3R’s, and Audience PowerChords throughout.

I have to say up front that I have absolutely no idea how Rick can sell these for what he does!  These speakers have top notch drivers, and the cabinetry, as you can see, is extremely well done, and the sound is phenomenal.  Not to spoil the review, but this is the best sounding pair of speakers for the money I have ever heard!

When reading this review, keep in mind that my current speakers are Piega C3 Limiteds, and retail for $10,000.  So when I say that the RC3R doesn’t do as well as my current speakers, consider the cost differential.

I set up the RC3R’s in front of my current speakers, measured, and toed in accordingly, and then sat down to listen.  

The first selection I listened to was Ray Kimber’s Isomike sampler.  This is a great disk, and I am sure many of you have heard it at the shows and such.  I think the dynamics are astounding, and it has no processing, or mixing at all.  

There is a track on this disk where a quartet sings Shenendoah.  This track is excellent, and extremely well recorded, as is the entire disc.  Anyway, upon listening to this track, I was surprised right off the bat at how good the RC3R’s are.  Each individual vocalist was less in their respective space than with the Piegas, but the differences were minute.

On track 16, there are quite a few bells, and lots of high frequency action going on.  This is a very spatial instrumental.  I found the RC3R to have more detail on the high end than my current speakers.  They played things that I didn’t notice on the Piegas.  On the other hand, the Piega played the highs “prettier”, if I may use that word.  Most who have reviewed Piegas say that they do shine a pretty light on high frequencies, and while it may not be “accurate”, it sounds voluptuous!  

Next, I listened to Alison Krauss and Union Station – New Favorite.  This is a great disc, and is well recorded.  Alison sings the title track with gobs of emotion, and Jerry Douglas in the background is making his Dobro cry the whole time.  It’s a great track, and one that I play often.  

On this track, Alison’s vocals were amazing from the RC3R.  Again, I could hear the extra detail from the ribbon on the RC3R, but I thought the midrange was lacking just a bit over the Piegas.  The Piega has a handmade ribbon midrange, and probably is a little more articulate.  Of course it adds around $6,000 to the retail price of the C3 as well, so I would expect that to be an area that is equaled by few speakers.  

Bass was not bad at all.  Rick’s speakers had a little bit less bass than my speakers, but for a monitor, this is some of the best bass I have heard to date.  Another thing that I will admit may have skewed my results is that the RC3R’s are rear ported, and my placement was probably less than ideal for a rear port.  They were right in front of my Piegas, and while I knew that might affect the sound a bit, I wasn’t going to move my Piegas after I finally had them locked in.  

Next, I played the Connells – Ring.  Track 3 on this one is a classic, and one I have listened to since high school.  This gave me some idea what the speakers would do on rock, and on acoustic guitar.  RC3R’s can certainly rock, and they rock better than any monitor I have heard.  This time, there was a little more difference between the two speakers.  The RC3R’s were a little bit more homogenous, and less dimensional when you add a ton of instruments, and start rocking.  Also, the acoustic guitar was lacking a little of that lower midrange vs. the Piegas.  The highs again were more detailed here on the RC3R.

Track 14 on the Norah Jones disc is one of my favorites, and very well recorded.  The RC3R handled this very well.  If I had to say what was different, of course there were more highs again with the RC3R, and I think this added a bit more ambience to the hall.  Also, the RC3R ribbon seemed to have a bit less horizontal dispersion than the Piega ribbon.  this could have been placement too.

I should say in summary that if I were looking for a $1,300 monitor, I would have just found it.  In fact, if I was looking for a $3,000 monitor, these would absolutely be on my list for sure!  The RC3R is well built, sounds very good, and the drivers mesh better than you would think.  This speaker has no weaknesses on its own that I heard.  The only thing is that it can be a little tiny bit fatiguing for a long listen compared to my ribbons.  On the other hand, it’s about the best ribbon I have heard next to Piegas ribbon.  As I said before, the differences were not that significant, which surprised me quite a bit, and Rick has done a fine job with this speaker.  

I’d pick a pair up if you are in the market, BEFORE Rick realizes that he can charge another couple of grand for these!!!!!!  

[tkp]

Hantra,

The version you listened to is the RC3R which has the optional ribbon tweeter.  Do you know what the cost for the ribbon tweeter option?

[Rick Craig]

Hantra,

The version you listened to is the RC3R which has the optional ribbon tweeter.  Do you know what the cost for the ribbon tweeter option?

Hopefully it's ok with the facilitator for me to answer. The ribbon version is $1200/pr. in the standard finishes (maple,cherry,oak) and $1300/pr. as pictured for rosewood.

[Tyson]

Nice review Hantra.  Those are some sweet looking speakers.  

Rick, I'm the facilitator, and your are fine  

[Rob Babcock]

Wow!  Those Rosewood finishes are beautiful!  Incidentally, that is my alltime favorite wood for speakers (that and Rose Mahaggony).

If they sound even half as good as they look, you've got a winner!

BTW, I couldn't find on your website whether or not they can be biwired or biamped?

[Rick Craig]

Wow!  Those Rosewood finishes are beautiful!  Incidentally, that is my alltime favorite wood for speakers (that and Rose Mahaggony).

If they sound even half as good as they look, you've got a winner!

BTW, I couldn't find on your website whether or not they can be biwired or biamped?

The review pair is only single-wired; however, I can provide them with bi-wire terminal cups that would allow for passive bi-amping with two identical amps.

[JoshK]

Is this the speaker with the low mass midrange driver?  I wanted to try out these speakers, but atm I don't have use for another pair of speakers.  That could change down the road though.

Nice review Hantra!

[Rick Craig]

Is this the speaker with the low mass midrange driver?  I wanted to try out these speakers, but atm I don't have use for another pair of speakers.  That could change down the road though.

Nice review Hantra!

Yes, it's a Morel dome midrange.

[Mad DOg]

Hantra,

The version you listened to is the RC3R which has the optional ribbon tweeter.  Do you know what the cost for the ribbon tweeter option?

Hopefully it's ok with the facilitator for me to answer. The ribbon version is $1200/pr. in the standard finishes (maple,cherry,oak) and $1300/pr. as pictured for rosewood.

Hantra,

see what you've done??? Rick took your tip and is already starting to raise the prices!

nice review as well...i can't wait to audition these now...gonna have to see about getting john casler to bring his vmps 626R FSTs over to compare to these...

[Hantra]

Hahaha!  Sorry. . .

It was I who screwed up the pricing. . . I should have asked Rick. .

He needs to put the R upgrade pricing on the website. . .

[MaxCast]

Are these a review sample for audition?

[Rick Craig]

Are these a review sample for audition?

Yes. You can e-mail me to be added to the list. All you need to do is pay for shipping them to the next location. The review period is one week.

[lonewolfny42]

Rick, Question, how long is that list now ? Thanks !!  

[byteme]

I may be interested.  I'm in the market for some new speakers pretty quickly here although I've been eyeing floorstanders, the Borealis and Lorelie..

[Rick Craig]

Rick, Question, how long is that list now ? Thanks !!  

Long enough that I should build some additional demo pairs  

The logistics are such that it will be in Atlanta this week and then on to Oklahoma, Denver, Seattle, and  then California (in that order). After that the pair will go to the Midwest and last of all the Northeast. It looks like early 2004 for your area.

[lonewolfny42]

East is east , and West is west - maybe another pair on tour would be best for all ! !    By the way, for those who have not seen this thread  >> Here's a review that was posted at AA:

Selah Audio RC3R
A coupl’a years ago, I found myself getting bored with the whole audio thing. I had spent a lot of money "upgrading" different components and in most cases the sound was slightly different and not necessarily better. I became frustrated with the whole process. Eventually I did come to one conclusion, namely that the speaker makes the most difference in an audio system and this is where I decided to concentrate my efforts.
I started hanging out at the Audioasylum board and asked a lot of questions. One helpful fellow directed me to the Madisound discussion board. It was here that I discovered that audio enthusiasts were actually designing and building their own speakers. This was an exciting concept for me, as I had often wanted to understand how a speaker actually works. Further, I reasoned if I learned enough about speakers, I could tweak them to my personal tastes, room acoustics, etc. The biggest payoff of all, though, was that people on the discussion board claimed that for every dollar spent on a do-it-yourself speaker (DIY) you would wind up with a commercial equivalent to 4-5 times that cost. How is that? Well let’s see. No middle man, no overhead, no brick and mortar expenses, no advertising, nada. Just the parts, the designer, and me. This sounded like the ticket.
There were a handful of guys on the "Mad" board who provided kits, which essentially were proven designs including all parts and schematics necessary to build these their speakers. The only thing left to do was to build the cabinets (or get someone to do this for you) and install the components. I looked at different kit options for months until I was dreaming of schematics in my sleep. I finally decided on the Selah Audio STS kit, which I have been happily listening to since.
Fast forward to the present and the topic of this review, the Selah Audio RC3. Rick Craig, owner and proprietor of Selah, offered me a demo of this speaker and I couldn’t resist. Upon unpacking the stand mount RC3’s I was greeted to a gorgeous set of rosewood veneer cabinets with a nice roundover on the vertical edges. The grills were secured by magnets, which were set into the front baffle and the grill frame. A very nice touch, which lent a feel of elegance to them. The cabs were approximately 19" high x 9" wide x 13" deep and about 35 pounds. These speakers were among the most inert I have ever wrapped my knuckles on and sounded more like granite than MDF. Kudos to the cabinetmaker. The drivers themselves are very high end and can be found in speakers that sell for many times the cost of the RC3. Starting with the woofer, we have the ScanSpeak 8545. This 7" driver is found in the Merlin VSM Millenium and Wilson Watt Puppy 7 to name a few. The midrange, the heart of this speaker is a 2" Morel soft dome – the MDM-55. On the top, Rick uses the ATD LeRibbon as used in the Proac Future series. The speakers have a sensitivity of 85db at 2.83V at 1 meter. Nominal impedence is 5.5 ohms with a minimum of 4.5. Frequency response is 45-20k +/- 3db but I measured in room response down to the low 30’s. Pretty impressive for a 7" woofer.

OK –so how does it sound?

Well, the best thing I can say is, very natural. Everything seems to be connected and woven into the same musical fabric. Some would call this coherence. None of the drivers call attention to themselves and the music is just present. This is not a bombastic speaker which assaults you with waves of dynamic sound, but is musical and easygoing with an effortless quality. The speaker is detailed, but not in the analytical sense; it just goes about its business without throwing detail at you like looking under a microscope. This all has the effect of making the listener relax and just enjoy the music. If you like to listen for hours at a time, this could be the one you’ve been looking for. If I had to point out this speaker’s best quality it would have to be its midrange. Female vocals have a captivating quality which really drew me in. In addition, the upper midrange was so smooth that many poorly recorded CD’s that I hadn’t listened to for quite a while became listenable. Another bonus was this speaker’s almost total absence of sibilance. I think this was one of the reasons why I mentioned its naturalness, it just didn’t call attention to itself. The greatest compliment I can give these speakers is that it made my system sound more expensive and refined, almost like I had upgraded components and put in a better line conditioner.

A comparison

Up against my reference VR4 Gen 2’s things got interesting. The VR4’s played louder with the same gain setting, were more dynamic sounding, and threw a larger soundstage in all directions. They also conveyed more of a sense of transparency. Where the RC3’s beat out the VR4’s though was in its sense of naturalness and listenability. In comparison, the VR4’s sounded slightly mechanical for lack of a better word. Bottom line is, for the ridiculous asking price of the RC3’s you can have a great sounding speaker which will reward you with – music.

Caveats

Due to the speaker’s efficiency and impedance, SE tube amps need not apply. The RC3’s will play as loud as you would ever want to listen and can fill a large room gracefully without strain, but I would recommend at least 60 WPC for a tube amp, and at least a 100 WPC transistor amp to make these speakers come alive. Also, I would prefer a little more output from the tweeter; I want to hear the ribbon. Maybe a high quality L-pad to adjust for different acoustics and individual taste would be nice.

Curve Ball Time

For those of you who have a different taste in drivers, Rick is there for you. If you like the Seas magnesium driver, this can be substituted for the ScanSpeak woofer. How’bout the Hiquphon OW1 tweeter, no problemo. Rick will work with your wants and needs – just contact him. How many speaker manufacturers can do this for you?

Conclusion

Here we have a great speaker at a great price. Whether you decide to build the kit yourself or have Rick send you a fully assembled/tested pair, you can simply not go wrong. Just call him now before he decides to raise his craaazzzy low prices.
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Selah Audio...Thinking inside the box
 
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 (Hey, stop talking about Rais'in Prices - enough of that here in N.Y.) !!  

[Rick Craig]

I may be interested.  I'm in the market for some new speakers pretty quickly here although I've been eyeing floorstanders, the Borealis and Lorelie..

Since I custom build them to order the design can be modified for a floorstanding cabinet.

[Rick Craig]

Hantra,

see what you've done??? Rick took your tip and is already starting to raise the prices!

nice review as well...i can't wait to audition these now...gonna have to see about getting john casler to bring his vmps 626R FSTs over to compare to these...

By the time they reach your area the price will be $3K  
At this point the speakers will be in California around late November or early December. Let me know what date works best for everyone.

[BradJudy]

The logistics are such that it will be in Atlanta this week and then on to Oklahoma, Denver, Seattle, and  then California (in that order).

Hmmm...Devner, eh?  Is the recipient an audiocicle regular?  Maybe I can sneak a listen.

[Rick Craig]

The logistics are such that it will be in Atlanta this week and then on to Oklahoma, Denver, Seattle, and  then California (in that order).

Hmmm...Devner, eh?  Is the recipient an audiocicle regular?  Maybe I can sneak a listen.

I'll contact the person involved and see if he's open to having other audiophiles over to listen.