Rega RX5

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by rpd, Aug 26, 2018.

  1. rpd

    rpd Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Nashville
    I am really enjoying my Rx5’s. I think they sound great. Look nice too. Not to huge. Very happy...
     
  2. Marshall_SLX

    Marshall_SLX Rega P9/RB2000

    @rpd
    Cool mate Isis vs saturn r?
     
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  3. rpd

    rpd Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Nashville
    I traded my Saturn towards the Isis. I’m keeping the r for my second system, although I still have too many players
     
  4. Eric Markowitz

    Eric Markowitz Active Member

    Location:
    SAUSALITO, CA
    a little late to the party, but i have had the RX3's for a few months, then came upon a used pair of RX5's, i have a weird shaped space with high ceiling so thought for sure the 5's would work better, but i'm amazed at how different they are. has anyone noticed how much more high end the RX3''s have?? it's really exaggerated in my space. i definitely hear more bass and a slightly bigger sound stage with the 5's but i'm really missing some high end when compared to the 3's.. i find myself loving both for different reasons and can't decide between the 2 :)
     
  5. Morbius

    Morbius Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookline, MA
    Could it just be tonal balance?
     
    KT88 likes this.
  6. KT88

    KT88 Senior Member

    Work on placing the RX5 farther from walls and especially corners. Also, having the woofers on the inside vs the outside will reduce some bass reinforcement and so shift the balance back up a bit. They'll still dig deeper and play more dynamically. You just can't put them in the same exact spot to get optimum results for each.
    -Bill
     
  7. Catcher10

    Catcher10 I like records, and Prog...duh

    Yea I would play with the positioning of the RX5s. Depending on the height of the RX3's tweeter vs the RX5's tweeter, that might be the issue you are hearing since its inverted. I have since raised my RX5 higher using some simple bolts that fit the screw holes, I think they are M8 size. It raised the speakers about 2.25" inches overall and slightly tilted back. Also the toe in is zero to very minimal no more than 1/2", the RX5's dispersion is excellent so try not to over toe in or you affect soundstage. The additional height has brought the tweeters closer to ear level so overall tone seems more in balance, which allows minimal toe in. Before my toe in was still only about 1" in, now I am about 1/4" toe in which to me proves the Rega design gives excellent dispersion of mid and highs and a more balanced soundstage.
     
  8. Eric Markowitz

    Eric Markowitz Active Member

    Location:
    SAUSALITO, CA
    thanks for all the suggestions. I will continue to experiment with height and placement. Much appreciated!
     
  9. Marshall_SLX

    Marshall_SLX Rega P9/RB2000

    Im own RS5 speakers and love them dearly... but ive been wanting RS7 or R9 speakers for ages... its been a year and im yet to see a pair come up for sale so im considering the RX5... is it a sideways move going to RX5?... i want a slightly thicker midrange moreso in the upper bass lower midrange region and maybe a touch more depth in the low end... will the RX5 achieve that over the RS5? I understand its the same tweeter and bass driver... new midrange driver, higher quality crossover and a beefier cabinet construction (weights nearly 5 kgs more)... i also like that it has threaded inserts for the spikes instead of the rubbish plastic ones on the RS5 so it should couple more rigidly to the floor... given all that it should outperform the RS5 but is it a big enough jump?
     
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  10. Morbius

    Morbius Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookline, MA
    I think its great to experiment but you should consider that the tweeters are at a specific height for a reason. In an effort to keep the crossover simple the inverted tweeter, mid-woofer arrangement provides time alignment and from your seated listening position the distance from the tweeter to your ear is greater from that of the mid-woofer. I think the theory is to make the speaker system sound more coherent which I think it does. I love the way my RX3s image and they're able to place players pretty distinctly within the sound stage. Also of note the transition from one driver to another is seamless, you don't hear the crossover. I've experimented with angling the speakers back a few degrees, it did make them sound brighter but I think it negatively effected the imaging.

    EDIT: One of the things you could do is move you're listening position closer or further away from the speaker which would in effect put your ear at the listening position higher or lower relative to the tweeter. Closer the tweeter would be lower (less bright), farther away higher (brighter) and you might optimize the relationship between the tweeter and mid-woofer improving coherence, but really try whatever works for you.
     
    Last edited: Mar 1, 2019
    Eric Markowitz likes this.
  11. Eric Markowitz

    Eric Markowitz Active Member

    Location:
    SAUSALITO, CA
    funny thing is i still have both the RX3's and RX5's. I love both for different reasons.. I can't seem to let go of the RX3's which have more detail in the high end to my ears... I listen to RX5's most of the time but every once in a while i'll drag the RX3's over and drive myself nuts A/B' ing them. On another note, some weirdo mentioned people do mods to the RX5's like taking out some of the padding inside or changing out some electronics.. i'm not savvy enough to do that but if anyone has done that i'd be curious to read about it.. search for "RX5 modifications" on google haven't yielded any results.. it's probably illegal or something ;)
     
  12. rpd

    rpd Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Nashville
    Crazy. Don’t do that...
     
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  13. Kristofferabild

    Kristofferabild Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denmark
    I was just wonder something, isn't it a bad idea to have to tweeter sitting so low compared to your ears? The RX 3/5 are already quite low, but on top of this you have the tweeter at the bottom.
     
  14. Catcher10

    Catcher10 I like records, and Prog...duh

    I have never bought into the thinking that the tweeter NEEDS to be at exact ear level....Think about vintage speakers where the tweeter was not close to ear level, unless you put them on blocks and raised them up quite a bit. But I don't think they were designed that way.......For me close is good enough. There are other speaker designers that put the tweeter under the bass/mid-bass driver. Better tweeter designs regarding dispersion I think is the key, especially with tweeters having a very tight line of sight.
    I happen to think the RX5 tweeter has an excellent dispersion.
     
  15. Morbius

    Morbius Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookline, MA
    Its a common fallacy that tweeters always have to be at ear level.
     
  16. KT88

    KT88 Senior Member

    It should be on axis. If that means at ear level, then OK. There are a couple of different design approaches for speaker crossovers and baffle mounting arrangements that allow for each other. Most drivers have a polar pattern is designed to be spherical, or as close as possible. By aligning the two drivers on a baffle to have the lobes about the same levels you get the most coherency over the bandwidth. Some designs have the tweeter set back in relation to the woofer and do not invert phase, where other designs invert in the crossover and allow the tweeter to be flush mounted. Either approach achieves a reasonably phase accurate response at the listening position. If you get way off axis, with the drivers too low or too high, too far to one side, then you simply angle the speakers to point back toward the listener (the head). That works in the vertical plane as well as horizontal, so you can look at tilting a shorter speaker back as you would toe-in for a pair as set-up if at a wider horizontal angle. It's less common to have to angle a speaker down, but it can be the case where the drivers are higher than the listening position.
    -Bill
     
  17. Morbius

    Morbius Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookline, MA
    I've tried angling my RX3s back but it only makes them bright. I find they have the best treble balance with the cabinets level.
     
  18. Guth

    Guth Music Lover

    Location:
    Oregon
    I'm sure that some people will adhere to this. I've learned to just trust my ears and have ended up with the Rega RX3. After cycling through at least a dozen different speakers in my room over the years the Rega's have proven to be the most impressive. While smaller than the RX5 (with a tweeter that sits even lower) the RX3 has proven to be ideal for my room. These small floorstanding speakers are capable of playing very loudly while pressurizing the room and have extremely fast, tight bass that is balanced perfectly by the treble that provides plenty of detail without being harsh or fatiguing. I can tell you that I never worry about where the tweeter is located when I'm enjoying the music.

    I'll admit that in the past I would not even consider Rega speakers, preferring offerings from speaker-only manufacturers instead. My assumption was that a manufacturer that was focused solely on building speakers would likely provide the best product. For me the proof was in the pudding. I've had other really nice speakers in the past, each of them had their strong points and their weak points. I listen to a wide variety of music and feel that speakers should be able to play any genre without issue. Of the speakers I've had in the past, I ended up dubbing some of them "jazz speakers" because while they sounded wonderful with jazz or acoustic music, they just couldn't rock (which makes up a lot of my music collection). Others that were capable of keeping up with more complex bass and percussion at higher volumes didn't have trebles that I found satisfying enough being either too fatiguing or too subdued. The Rega's provide the perfect balance for me. I realize that there are better speakers out there, but I would be hard pressed to find one that works well in my room and in my price range. After purchasing the RX3's I've since learned that Rega's founder Roy Gandy was designing loudspeakers before the delving into turntables. After listening, I'm not surprised to learn this. As a point of reference, the Harbeth Compact 7es represented the most expensive set of speakers I've owned and an older pair of Snell Type K speakers represented the least expensive. In many ways I ended up enjoying the older Snells more than the Harbeths. I place more value on dynamics and tight, controlled bass along with detailed, non-fatiguing treble and accurate reproduction of the timbre of instruments over things like imaging and soundstaging (not that the Rega's don't exhibit these qualities) so take my opinions for what they're worth.
     
  19. Eric Markowitz

    Eric Markowitz Active Member

    Location:
    SAUSALITO, CA
    great honest observations. thank you Guth.. I'm curious if you ever tried the Rx5's and can speak to why you chose the 3's over the 5's :).. i'm still loving both for different reasons.. why can't they make a RX4 that is somewhere in between :) j/k
     
  20. moomaloo

    moomaloo All-round good egg

    I don't know if it's a useful comparison but my RS3s sound bloomin' amazing - way above their price point IMO...
     
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  21. Catcher10

    Catcher10 I like records, and Prog...duh

    I just spun Dream Theater~Awake, excellent prog-metal with heavy bass and drums......now spinning Diana Krall~Live In Paris........the RX5s create amazing presence and dynamics regardless of musical genre. One record put me in a concert hall with 20,000 people, the other a nice jazz hall with amazing ambiance.
     
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  22. Guth

    Guth Music Lover

    Location:
    Oregon
    I did not try the RX5’s. In my case I was replacing a pair of Devore Gibbon 8’s that I had purchased from the same dealer. Based on our discussion about my room, system and preferences, the salesperson recommended a few different speakers to audition including the RX3 which were his favorites in the RX range. He said that they worked wonderfully in smaller rooms and owned a pair himself. So I listened to a variety of speakers from the likes of KEF, Audio Physic, Larsen, and one or two other brands in addition to the Rega’s. Most all of these speakers sounded really nice to me, but the RX3 put the biggest smile on my face. The little RX3’s performed so well in the audition that I did not even think about the larger RX5. That was all it took.

    My only concern was that the RX3’s might actually prove to be a bit much for my room in the bass department. (These little speaker’s can really crank and that was in the dealer’s demo room which was more spacious than my room at home.) I couldn’t home demo because the dealer was 3 hours away. I decided to just go for it and fortunately they’ve worked out wonderfully. In a larger room I can imagine the RX5 would provide an experience much like what I’m used to.
     
    Eric Markowitz likes this.
  23. SteveCam

    SteveCam Forum Resident

    One thing about the RS3/RX3 is the size. They must be among the smallest floor standers out there. If you're pressed for space or want to keep a significant other happy, these are the way to go vs larger speakers.
     
    Eric Markowitz likes this.
  24. Guth

    Guth Music Lover

    Location:
    Oregon
    The small size of the RX3 was an added bonus for me. But it’s not like the RX5 is a big speaker by any means when it comes to floorstanding speakers.
     
  25. Kristofferabild

    Kristofferabild Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denmark
    Does bass still fill the room despite their smallish size?
     

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