Excellent bargain.

We had to the pair we originally bought because on one of the speakers, the bass simply failed after a few days. I assume it was a wiring problem. The new pair has been working fine.

We really like these speakers, having had them for more than a month. They have a very nice balanced sound. They do quite nicely for home theatre and listening to classical music, which are our main uses for them. We plan to buy another pair to use as surround speakers. We also bought the RTS center and subwoofer, and they work very well with those. We thought they were by far the best value around.

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We compared bookshelf speakers from a variety of brands, including some that were also from Sound Dynamics' mother company, API.

I read H.P.'s review of this little speaker, and decided to give them a listen. While I don't agree with The Sensible Sound's belief that these are the best small speakers the reviewer has heard, I do for the first time agree with Mr. Pearson. These are are damn good speakers. I was at first disappointed with the bass when placed 12" from the wall, while there was lots of low end it would boom on certain types of music. Moved them out another 6" amd presto, more than acceptable foundation. The mids are rich, and a bit forward in presentation, but they blend well with the low end. I found the high end to be more than somewhat system dependent. GIGO. If your electronics are bright, these speakers will reflect that, if you present them with a smooth top end, ditto. The main strength of these speakers, agreed upon by all the main line reviewers are theircoherent blending of the frequencies into a wonderful synergestic sound rarely heard at this price level of admission.

After reading all the positive reviews on these, I decided to audition a demo. Of course, if they are indeed as good as they say, the speakers used for comparison should only be slightly better. By the way, the ohm setting on the receiver changes depending on each speaker used. Here it goes…
Space: 16'X20' living room

Components used:
Yamaha RX-V992 receiver
Harman Kardon FL8300 changer
Tributaries SP4 speaker cables

Speakers compared:
Energy C-2
Dynaudio Contour 1.3 mkII (don't match the other components very well so worth a try)

Built quality:
Feels light and cheap but at least it doesn't use carton bass port like Paradigm Mini Monitor. Doesn't have gold plated binding posts. The design, just like one teenager puts it, "Looks like wanna be high end."

Bass: Positioned 12'' from the wall. Too boomy at times but tight and satisfying for the size. It doesn't color the midrange like the Paradigm (based on memory) but sounds exaggerated compared to the Energy and Dynaudio. For this reason, it sounds as if it has more bass than the others.

Midrange: Has similar properties to the Energy but far more forward with much less grain. Compared with Dynaudio, it doesn't have the excessive airness, more forward, and much cleaner. I wouldn't call it too bright either so the voices are simply transparent and well presented. However, in most recordings they sound aggressive. The only time when I found them to be edgeless is when playing Sara K's Spanish Harlem and other "audiophile approved" recordings. The voices sound cleaner but don't have the same depth as Energy. I would put the Dynaudio in between. This is the RTS-3's strongest characteristic. Can we say ruthlessly revealing?

Treble: Disappointing. Sounds bright, edgy, and metallic at the higher ends. While the latter might be good for certain instruments, the thinness reminds me of mass market speakers (Aiwa comes to mind). This should be fine for those graduating from low end stuff, but those used to hearing better won't like it. From what I remember, Paradigm's treble is also emphasized but fuller in body. The Energy while a bit rolled off, sounds more realistic. Dynaudio beats all others in this area.

Overall Sound: Slightly Bright. All three areas are too emphasized and separated from each other. This is very annoying. The midrange is too aggressive and forward for most recordings and casual listening. But when it does sound good, it's too good to be true. Too transparent? Voices are very detailed but treble sounds like clipping noise (at any volume). Bass is tight but there's the unmistakable boomy characteristic typical to speakers at this price range. That should be expected. On the more positive side, they sound cleaner than the others. They lack the expansive depth and soundstage great speakers possess but they compensate with transparency. Piano and strings don't have the same impact as with the Dynaudio but they sound amazingly clean. It would've been a true high end speaker if it weren't for the treble. On absolute terms: excellent midrange, decent bass, crap treble.

Conclusion: If you want what probably be the best under $300 monitor without a sub, check it out. It's certainly better than the Paradigm Mini Monitors. If you listen to rock/pop and don't care about built quality, get it. If you want something more natural, spend an extra $150 and get the C-2's. What do I get out of this? Acceptable speakers don't start until $500 retail.

Rating: +2 for value. -2 overall sound. -1 built quality. Heck, nothing's perfect.

Great sounding speakers. This absolutely killed anything I auditioned at the bigger electronic stores (who sell mostly crap anyway). However I've yet to compare them to similar speakers (Tannoys, B&W's, etc.), so I'm going to lay off giving 5 stars for now. Great sounding bass and midrange, although the treble does get shrill when I play some worn down records. I'd pair it with a warmer sounding system. And like the guy below me says, pay attention to speaker placement!

These are very good speakers considering size and cost . They produce unbelievable tight , not boomy bass for a 6 " , 2 way bookshelf speaker in a rear ported cabinet ( sturdy too ) , at the price of $ 260.00 dollars . As for , the mids and highs they are sweet , not bright , w/o losing hardly any details . The clear reproduction of music is also remarkable , can understand words of favorite artists that I couldn't prior to the use of the RTS - 3 ' s . I also would recommended you give the RTS - 7 ' s a listen to , these are a 3 way floorstanding speaker at the cost of $ 450 depending on SOUND DYNAMICS dealer .

I found these speakers to be crisp. Overall, I am very satisfied with the purchase.

None really.

I am currently using these speakers as front speaker but plan to use them as surrounds as I build my home theatre system. I am generally very satisfied with the sound, and plan to compliment the set up with a sub woofer in the near future.

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None.

Clarity; mid-bass; mid-range.

Lack of coherence; wayward balance; recessed mid-range at times; thumpy bass.

When I took it out of its box, I try not to let the nasty vinyl finish form a prejudice against the speaker as a lot of ugly speakers tend to perform well as more R&D is spent on the sound rather than the built quality.
Unfortunately, at this occasion, my prejudices are justified as the wayward balance of the RTS-3 only serves to confirm the ugly appearence of the speaker.
Sure, the bass goes quite low but mid-bass suffers from massive box colouration- very thumpy and one-note.
The clear midband is perhaps the only thing that carries the speaker, that is, if you can ignore the lack of energy with some material. Musical performances sounded very limp and tired, as though the musicians have lost interest in playing.
In the end, I felt compelled to put the speaker back in its box rather than to continue listening.

Similar Products Used:

Tannoy M1; Acoustic Energy Aegis One; B&W 302; KEF Q15