I just bought a pair of these from shop4.com for 369.15 a pair. on the surface this is a great price compared to the 249.99 sale price that circuit city is offering, w/o tax, The price is even cheaper for consumers outside of CA, apparently i paid a 38.00 dollar sales tax because i live in ca. anyway, afew things to know if you are thinking of buying these speakers.
-shop4.com doesn't offer the 5yr manufacturer warranty. they will tell you that they do , but only becasue their operators are a bit "slow". please do not take my word for it and go to www.audiosurvey and look them up. you'll see their problematic history for yourself. only buy from them if PRICE IS ALL THAT MATTERS. the site mentions shipping problems. my order ended up in another completely diff address. apparently either shop4 or ups.( either is to blame) somehow added an extra recipeint and address to my order. it ended up at some random place and the only reason i found out about it was from a freind who happened to work at the optometry clinic it ended up in. A bit like a seinfeld episode if you ask me.
- i'm not sure if I got what i though i was paying for. I'm a bit paranoid to begin with. especially after spending 370 bucks and being a college student. But i've heard of companies that release a better model and worse model of supossedly the same model. the diff is in materials used and it's hard to tell if you don't open up the speakers and compare them. In general I think it would be hard to regulate an internet business. They do sound good. But i'm not really a audiophille.
-as for the sound. the highs are great but the lows are a bit lacking. nothing a good sub won't take care of.
- a great deal for 369 dollars but i ask myself .. is it too good of a deal. please email me or post something here if you know anything,,, thanks

very clear highs and mids, bass is very good too, just depends on how you position them, but if you get it right, the bass fills up the room nicely, very good speakers

none

i love these damn speakers, they're both good for home theater and music, i listen to a lot of rap, r&b, dance, freestyle, techno, trance and 80's and boy this speakers make the music come to life! I would recommend these speakers to anyone, and not to mention they look damn good in any home, very modern and simple looking, will go good with almost anything, and excellent highs, mids and bass is pretty damn good, deep low bass, not boomy at all... i would recommend the RS5 to anyone who likes music and home theater! Can't go wrong here... i plan on adding a velodyne sub too...

size and price

lack of base. power handling, flat mids

I purchased these about two months ago. Sounded OK in the showroom, but when they got home I was not impressed. I compare these with Bose 301's, lack of quality low range and flat mid range. I returned these speakers and purchased a pair of pinnacle 650's. Sound difference is incredible ! More full range, more clarity than than the RS5's. I have since purchased pinnacle Gold Towers and a pinnacle gold center channel. Checkout the pinnacle reviews to see what I am talking about. Match this with an advent AV550s and this is one fine HT setup. Stereo is awesome too!

Similar Products Used:

pinnacle ac 650's

Great looks, not at all obtrusive. Great sound.

None.

I got the RS5s on Ubid after waiting quite a while for them to be offered, but worth the wait. I am driving them with a Sony STRDB930 receiver. They sounded great alone. Although they didn't reproduce earth shattering bass, it was very clean and crisp bass. When I added a JBL PSWD112 subwoofer, the sound got even better. Allowing the RS5s to focus on mids and highs, they sound tremendous.

For the price I paid and the sound I get, I feel like I stole them.

crisp, unmuddied mid-range. Sharp stereo definition.

Bass OK but needs sub-woofer for Home Theater

Wife wanted invisible speakers if we were going to 5:1 (or 7:1). Large (24 x 26 with 18 ft ceiling) family room open at one end. 35 in TV. Tried Harmon Karden set(hopeless), Bose AM-15(filled room for movies but no definition for CD listening). Tried Polk and again disappointed so gave up on the invisible speakers idea. Solution? Pair of RS5's flanking a CC3 on the TV with RS3's bringing up the rear. Would have been price competitive too were it not for the much needed addition of a Velodyne sub-woofer (ouch!).
Am driving the set with an Onkyo TX-DS777b receiver and it sounds great for all purposes. The RS5's are narrow enough and the CC3 looks like it belongs on the TV so my wife is not unhappy with the looks. She even thinks it sounds great.

Similar Products Used:

Advents, ADS, AR, Infinity for stereo
Bose AM-15, Polk 7500 for Home theater (home trials)

Great Highs, looks.

Weak low-end.

These are great speakers for the money, they out performed all the Polks I listened to. The polks highs sounded muffled while the rs-5 shined. The low-end is on the weak side but that's what a sub is for.

Similar Products Used:

Sony towers

Sound dispersion,great tonal feel

none that aren't overcome by me dual 10"sub

I am very impressed with these speakers. They sound great!
Seperation is fantastic. I am using them as mains in my home theatre with JBL Control 5s as rears a DCM center and dual Orion 10" subs from an old car system in a custom box which works extremely well (the Carver Pro 100)amp may have something to do with this! I am using a '98 Kenwood VR 1090
receiver which works very well. and have a Sony DVPS500 DVD player as well as a Pioneer Laserdisk player and a Sony minidisk player. The speakers work very well in home theater mode and excell in stereo. I have played many different types of music from classical to heavy metal and they are great. In the Saving prvate Ryan DVD the beginning
attack of the beach scene, it seems like the bullets may hit you. I can run this system at rediculous volumes (when my wife is out) when she is here she complains at 1/3 power.
I loved my JBL mains and never would have considered their replaicement but they were not attractive in "living"room.

Similar Products Used:

none my previous speakers were 12" JBL 3 ways

Performance, Price (now)

None

After much research and A/B comparing, I finally received the RS-5s today. I got them from Mercata for about 350 for the pair on a power-buy. Awesome deal. I was a first time buyer, which means I got them for 50 dollars off.
The speakers are exactly as I expected. I replaced my front Bose AM5 (purchased in 1990)..yech... There is no comparison. I can now hear instruments that were never available on the bose. My music is mostly classic rock, country, vocal, and classical. These speakers fit the bill. I can now hear trombones (all brass), bass guitars, cellos, etc. The Bose now seem only slightly better than a clock radio listening to AM stations. I listened to the RS-5s without my subwoofer operating and I feel the bass is wonderful for music. Of course, if you like a lot of heart-shaking bass, you probably already have a sub--or really expensive speakers up front. I can't say enough about these. I know it's not difficult to detect better performance when comparing to Bose, but I listened to equivelent Polk, and didn't like them.
Thanks to everyone at audioreview for contributing.

I can not say enough about these speakers. After a nightmare with my Paradigm's (daughter skewerd them) I was apprehensive about ivesting so mcuh on a speaker system. The RS5's by far exceed my expectations, Bass response is a bit on the low side, but with proper positioning the speakers really do shine. I have no problem closing my eyes while listening to Shine on you Crazy Diamond and saying that these speaker sound better than the Paradigm I spent 1000+ on. For the money there is no comparison, add on the Infinity sub and RS2's for rear channels and you get sound that really outdoes the competition.

This are good speakerrs fro the money. They provide good highs but if you want to get lows you must get the subwoofer.