none, so far

I had been trying find to a good, small speaker for a modest bedroom system, but everything I tried just seem to be lacking in some regard. Like everyone, I read the TAS review of the RTS-3's. Curious, I bought them to give them a try. In a word...WOW! I don't agree with many of the reviews posted, as the speakers sounded great right out of the box for me. I put them on a bookshelf with no regard to placement at all, and I just fell in love with great sounds at very low volume. Miles' Kind of Blue just came alive, with Paul Chamber's bass very much in the forefront of So What, as it belongs! Pure, clean and firm, with no "one note" bass. Jimmy Cobb's cymbals gave that real life sizzle and sheen! The band was in my bedroom, with nary a tweak!
Amazing! On Pink Floyd's spectacular Dark Side of the Moon, the heartbeat goes from a whisper to a roar, with all the subtle sounds (that heartbeat on a good system..not just thump thump but more of a thump, arump, bump thump, if you catch my drift here)flying about the soundstage. And all this sound was with cd's! I can't tell you how happy I am with them. My bedroom system has an old NAD 3155 integrated, Euphonic Technology cd player with Monster Cable M-1000 interconnects and standard Monster speaker cable.
Next I'm going to plug the 3's into my main system once I get some stands to try them out. I'll post more later, but for now, I have great late night listening. Thanks Sound Dynamics! E-mail me for more info, but buy these speakers!!
You won't be sorry. But use good electronics and interconnects or else the sound will not be near as spectacular.

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NHT Super Zero, Yamaha NS-1000, Polk 5, etc...

sound

EXTREME bass extension

hp was right!

only he did not mention "how disgusting"ly better they are than the 300ti. the 300ti's only come to life if you drive them hard, with the rts-3's however, any volume level will do. that said, the rts-3 is missing a bit of bottom end extension - but what small speaker doesn't?
in some cases, the woofer has bottomed out.

but that seemless, almost electostatic-like integration between the woof and tweet is to die for. and this helps in the soundstaging - the speakers really do disappear.

make certain you burn 'em in good though or else the top-end will seem much too bright.

drive 'em as hard as you like - they won't shy away like many small (and many large) speakers do. i'm using a bryston 4b-st.

all in all, a remarkable acheivement and in my book will
surpass the already legendary 300ti in status.

do i dare fool around with these magical wonders and add a
sub? let me know.

Similar Products Used:

sound dynamics 300ti

pretty deep bass for a compact loudspeaker, natural midrange, and smooth treble

can sound very laid back in some systems

This loudspeaker is a great deal for the money($280). I know this is a cliche, however the rts3 can hold it's own with mini-monitors that cost $1,500-2,000. There is no main trait to this loudspeaker, because it's an all around champ.
The Loudspeaker looks like the kind of stuff that you buy at circuit city, or sears. The wood veeners look bad.
The binding posts are sufficient, however. The sensitivity is 89db, therefore they are pretty power-efficient.
As I said before, the rts3 is an all around great speaker. The bass is incredible for a loudspeaker that size. The bass is rated down to 50hz, however it sounds much lower. The bass is very detailed, something hard to find for a speaker with a ported enclosure at this price range. The rts3's midrange is very natural, strange for a speaker this price to have midrange like this. The treble is very smooth, this makes the speaker easy to listen to.The speaker has awesome soundstaging abilities.
One caveat of this speaker is that it could be too laid back for some systems.
The systems that tend to be forward and bright should definitely audition this speaker, therefore making it more balanced. On the other hand, the rts3 should not be for systems that are dark sounding, or else there will not be enough treble. Do not be afraid to use this with expensive ancillaries, because this speaker is able to bring out the best of your system, and might be all the speaker you need. You can use almost any type of amp with this speaker, I might not go with 9watt SET's but 30-100 should do the job. This speaker produces plenty of sound for a small -med/large room.
When you listen to this speaker all will be amazed at the sound quality this speaker reproduces. The price for this speaker is insane however that is one of the main advantages of purchasing this speaker. Finally, there is a speaker manufacturer that, makes a real hi-fi speaker that can only be bettered by speakers that are $2,000 and up. I hope that Sound-Dynamics does not discontinue this speaker, because this is one of the best deals in loudspeakers.

Very neutral midrange and treble
Natural voice reproduction
Natural instrument reproduction
Good Bass response- 45hz
Most recordings will sound extremely good

Slightly forward presentation- lead vocals will appear as if they are closer to you.
Treble detail is still not enough to make the speakers to be seamless and disappear (nothing at this price can do that yet).
Can sound boring and lacking impact for movies

Excellent performer. Can compete easily with more expensive speakers. An excellent choice for budget minded audiophiles. It is ok for home theater though. So far, there's no speaker that beats it at this price ($280). If you look hard, you can get it for less that $240, which makes it even more of a bargain. The Paradigm Mini Monitor beats it in movie performance, but falls short by a hair musically.

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Paradigm Mini Monitor

Startling imaging, uncolored seemless midrange that integrates effortlessly with a gorgeous tweeter. You need to place them at least 6 feet from the back wall, grills off, NOT toed in, with perfect (within 1/4") alignment from the back walls and listen with ears at tweeter level. They have absolute 3 dimensional imaging. If you don't hear it, blame your associated equipment or your room positioning. With a good tube amp, high-end moving coil cartridge, a well isolated turntable, hi-gain tube pre-amp with NO step up crap messing up the sound, you are in for one amazing trip into audiophilia for a pittance.

As any top end speaker (and these are top end!), if you use them with garbage they sound like garbage. The trouble with many High-end pieces priced at a bargain, they tend to be used with cheap electronics and to be just cast into the room without a thought to soundstaging, bass augmentation (they DON'T like to be placed near a wall - the bass booms as well as the soundstage flattens). I suppose the bass extension, but who in their right mind expects 20 hz from a small box?

These would be a best buy at 5 times their price.

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ADS 300, Proac Tablette, PSB Alpha, Paradigm Titan, Wharfdale Diamond(s), Rogers LS3FA, JR149's, etc.

Size,Price

Bloated bass,compressed sound

I borrowed these from a friend who raved about them but needless to say i am quite dissapointed.It may not be quite fair to compare them to my Snell K/III bookshelf's which were twice the price 5 years ago but sound ten times better.The RTS-3 sound incredibly boomy,compressed and lacking dynamics.I'm running them off my Adcom amp so it's not the equipment.Tried moving them away from wall but sound didn't change much.To my ear thier just lifeless and dull.I'll be giving these back soon.

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Snell K/III

Overall incredible performance for the money

Cosmetics

I'm amazed at what Sound Dynamics has done with this cheesy looking speaker! Nice crisp accurate highs, a grainless and sweet midrange and surprising bass from a monitor. There are two things I prize highly in a loudspeaker, top-to-bottom coherence and tonal balance. With these, there is an absolute seamless integration of the highs and lows and the tonal balance is unheard of for this kind of $$$. SD has definitely put the cost $ in sound and not cosmetics, though!

I bought these for a second system and they sound fantastic. Highly recommended! Needs a subwoofer if you're a bass freak but I measured usable output at 42 hz and still heard some bass below that. They sound best on stands of some kind, away from the back and side walls.

This is a giant killer of a loudspeaker. Certainly everyone's ears are different but I have to agree with Harry Pearson's review in TAS. These are a must audition for anyone looking for the cheapest and best monitor. I hesitate to give it 5 stars since it no where near measures up to my reference speakers but I'm reviewing it based on its price point. Of all the small loudspeakers I've heard up to 5 times what I paid for these, nothing competes. Well done, Sound Dynamics!

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Tannoy, Paradigm, Klipsch, KEF, PSB at similar or greater price points.

Very impressive highs, I have heard sounds in music that
I never heard before, for the money very god buy in my
opinion.

Not very powerful lows, but this is to be expected with
such a small speaker, however the mids are present and
sound very good.

Very good buy, Hard to find better for the price range.
I heard speakers that were twice as much money that
did not sound as good as these little babys.
Note I added a mirage, sister company to sound dynamics,
powered sub to my system and now have the a great combo
of powerfull lows and clear highs, most who hear my
system are very impressed.

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Polk, JBL

These 2 way rear ported bookshelf speakers pack a punch that will astound most at the cost of $ 250 or less . The highs , mids are crisp , focused ( tight ) w/o being overly bright , the 6 " driver pushes the lows astonishing deep , tight for such a small enclosure . Placement is important for these little guys , at 1 1/2 feet from rear wall and at least 3 feet from side walls ( otherwise bass heavy , exaggerated ) . They possess a deep , wide soundstage as well . Team these up w/ a sub ( RTS - 800 , $ 260 or less ) and you'll enjoy music , movies for years to come , especially knowing the low cost for such great performing speakers . So take the time and find a SOUND DYNAMICS dealer and give a serious listen to .

price, sound, size

must be away from the wall to sound good,which to me kind of defeats the purpose of being "bookshelf"--you need these things on stands:not as stylish as others in their price range

I listened to speakers in their approximate price range (100-250 dollars/ea. U.S.) at every retail stereo store in my area. These held their own against everything, and to my ears were superior to most. Not too bright, not too murky, good depth and imaging-just what I wanted for the range of music and videos I watch/listen to. Video only gave me a package deal I couldn't refuse, so I bought the whole system. I paired them with RTS-1's in the rear with a cs-3 center and the 8" sub(all Sound Dynamics), driven by a Yamaha HTR-5460 A/V receiver. Traded in the sub for a velodyne CT80 that was better for a similar price. Made my own stands. This system sounds GREAT in my modest size living room. I've been over to friends houses with fancier, more expensive systems, and in my opinion, this system sounds as good or better than theirs for half the cost. Give em a listen before you spend more.

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denon shelf system