Heard some Rega
I was at Holm Audio this weekend in Woodridge IL. I heard a set of Rega RS5 that was on in the store. This will be a short review since they were listen to in a store room vs my home.
1st off, I can't find any frequency specs published for them on the Internet. Why was I looking for spec's? Because Im shocked on the quality of bass that came out of the side mounted, front ported 7" woofer. The mids and highs were silky smooth and very up front, but not fatiguing. I heard some rock, classical, and jazz on the speakers. Just what was in the room playing on the Shanling t1000 se player. (also nice looking and sounded darn good used at $1000, i didnt think it would be that much more of a gain vs my jolida for the cost difference)
Back to the Rega RS5, I was shocked at the soundstage also. Wide and huge when you close your eyes, but open them up and your looking at something sooo tiny. Price new they were about 1500 a set. One of the nice things about the way the woofers were mounted and ported, is you can have them close to a wall without making the bass sound muffled or making them over the top on the bass. In the med. size room they had them in, i was impressed. I do prefer a forward sounding speaker like my JM Labs though. I thought they sounded close to the small jm labs I have ( 815) but, they seemed a little bit smoother, silk like on the top end. Mid on the rega was again surprisingly smooth at that price point for a new speaker. I know sound is subjective, and it also could be the room they had them in just worked for synergy but, i would actually consider trying them out at home.
1st off, I can't find any frequency specs published for them on the Internet. Why was I looking for spec's? Because Im shocked on the quality of bass that came out of the side mounted, front ported 7" woofer. The mids and highs were silky smooth and very up front, but not fatiguing. I heard some rock, classical, and jazz on the speakers. Just what was in the room playing on the Shanling t1000 se player. (also nice looking and sounded darn good used at $1000, i didnt think it would be that much more of a gain vs my jolida for the cost difference)
Back to the Rega RS5, I was shocked at the soundstage also. Wide and huge when you close your eyes, but open them up and your looking at something sooo tiny. Price new they were about 1500 a set. One of the nice things about the way the woofers were mounted and ported, is you can have them close to a wall without making the bass sound muffled or making them over the top on the bass. In the med. size room they had them in, i was impressed. I do prefer a forward sounding speaker like my JM Labs though. I thought they sounded close to the small jm labs I have ( 815) but, they seemed a little bit smoother, silk like on the top end. Mid on the rega was again surprisingly smooth at that price point for a new speaker. I know sound is subjective, and it also could be the room they had them in just worked for synergy but, i would actually consider trying them out at home.
Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
Post edited by erniejade on
Comments
-
Glad you liked them. I haven't been down that way in ages at Holm Audio. How would you compare to Polks bookies ?HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
They were floor standing units, just small in stature like my jm labs. From the polk bookshelf speakers I have heard, the Rega were more refinded on the top and mid in my opinion. But then again, it could be the room itself or the setup. Like my JM labs sound great in the basement family room but, in the living room they do not sound as good. The 1.2's i had sounded good in the basement before it was converted to a bedroom and a den and cut in 1/2. After it was cut, the jm's sounded better so I sold the 1.2's.
The ls7 and vs the rega, the overall smoothness definatley goes to the rega but, its a different design. I havent heard the ls9.Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's. -
The rega are really nice and amazing at their size. I heard some run off their integrated and tt and was really impressed with the bass as well.
-
I am actually thinking of bringing my jm labs there and trying them against it to see if they are worth replacing in my 2nd system. The JM's have 2 7" woofers and the tweeter in the middle of the 2 woofers. It also looks like both companies make there own drivers from what I am reading. Not a ton of reviews out there on them. Actually either the 815's I have nor the rega rs5 have a lot of reviews on the web.Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
-
That's a good idea.
I don't think a lot of people give their speakers a lot of credit due to their size but they are impressive. Rega to me is more well known due to their TT and CDP which are good as well.
I think for a small and medium size room these sound good. Even heard these paying some harder bass passages and they did well on those.
