Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Selah Audio RC3 Speakers by jig45 General speaker questions for audio and home theater.

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Model:	RC3
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	$660-1200+
Description:	3-way stand mount monitor
Manufacturer URL:	Selah Audio
Manufacturer URL:	Selah Audio

Review by jig45 ( A ) on September 14, 2003 at 08:26:01 IP Address: 66.21.129.236

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Selah Audio RC3

A coupl’a years ago, I found myself getting bored with the whole audio thing. I had spent a lot of money "upgrading" different components and in most cases the sound was slightly different and not necessarily better. I became frustrated with the whole process. Eventually I did come to one conclusion, namely that the speaker makes the most difference in an audio system and this is where I decided to concentrate my efforts.
I started hanging out at the Audioasylum board and asked a lot of questions. One helpful fellow directed me to the Madisound discussion board. It was here that I discovered that audio enthusiasts were actually designing and building their own speakers. This was an exciting concept for me, as I had often wanted to understand how a speaker actually works. Further, I reasoned if I learned enough about speakers, I could tweak them to my personal tastes, room acoustics, etc. The biggest payoff of all, though, was that people on the discussion board claimed that for every dollar spent on a do-it-yourself speaker (DIY) you would wind up with a commercial equivalent to 4-5 times that cost. How is that? Well let’s see. No middle man, no overhead, no brick and mortar expenses, no advertising, nada. Just the parts, the designer, and me. This sounded like the ticket.
There were a handful of guys on the "Mad" board who provided kits, which essentially were proven designs including all parts and schematics necessary to build these their speakers. The only thing left to do was to build the cabinets (or get someone to do this for you) and install the components. I looked at different kit options for months until I was dreaming of schematics in my sleep. I finally decided on the Selah Audio STS kit, which I have been happily listening to since.
Fast forward to the present and the topic of this review, the Selah Audio RC3. Rick Craig, owner and proprietor of Selah, offered me a demo of this speaker and I couldn’t resist. Upon unpacking the stand mount RC3’s I was greeted to a gorgeous set of rosewood veneer cabinets with a nice roundover on the vertical edges. The grills were secured by magnets, which were set into the front baffle and the grill frame. A very nice touch, which lent a feel of elegance to them. The cabs were approximately 19" high x 9" wide x 13" deep and about 35 pounds. These speakers were among the most inert I have ever wrapped my knuckles on and sounded more like granite than MDF. Kudos to the cabinetmaker. The drivers themselves are very high end and can be found in speakers that sell for many times the cost of the RC3. Starting with the woofer, we have the ScanSpeak 8545. This 7" driver is found in the Merlin VSM Millenium and Wilson Watt Puppy 7 to name a few. The midrange, the heart of this speaker is a 2" Morel soft dome – the MDM-55. On the top, Rick uses the ATD LeRibbon as used in the Proac Future series. The speakers have a sensitivity of 85db at 2.83V at 1 meter. Nominal impedence is 5.5 ohms with a minimum of 4.5. Frequency response is 45-20k +/- 3db but I measured in room response down to the low 30’s. Pretty impressive for a 7" woofer.

OK –so how does it sound?

Well, the best thing I can say is, very natural. Everything seems to be connected and woven into the same musical fabric. Some would call this coherence. None of the drivers call attention to themselves and the music is just present. This is not a bombastic speaker which assaults you with waves of dynamic sound, but is musical and easygoing with an effortless quality. The speaker is detailed, but not in the analytical sense; it just goes about its business without throwing detail at you like looking under a microscope. This all has the effect of making the listener relax and just enjoy the music. If you like to listen for hours at a time, this could be the one you’ve been looking for. If I had to point out this speaker’s best quality it would have to be its midrange. Female vocals have a captivating quality which really drew me in. In addition, the upper midrange was so smooth that many poorly recorded CD’s that I hadn’t listened to for quite a while became listenable. Another bonus was this speaker’s almost total absence of sibilance. I think this was one of the reasons why I mentioned its naturalness, it just didn’t call attention to itself. The greatest compliment I can give these speakers is that it made my system sound more expensive and refined, almost like I had upgraded components and put in a better line conditioner.

A comparison

Up against my reference VR4 Gen 2’s things got interesting. The VR4’s played louder with the same gain setting, were more dynamic sounding, and threw a larger soundstage in all directions. They also conveyed more of a sense of transparency. Where the RC3’s beat out the VR4’s though was in its sense of naturalness and listenability. In comparison, the VR4’s sounded slightly mechanical for lack of a better word. Bottom line is, for the ridiculous asking price of the RC3’s you can have a great sounding speaker which will reward you with – music.

Caveats

Due to the speaker’s efficiency and impedance, SE tube amps need not apply. The RC3’s will play as loud as you would ever want to listen and can fill a large room gracefully without strain, but I would recommend at least 60 WPC for a tube amp, and at least a 100 WPC transistor amp to make these speakers come alive. Also, I would prefer a little more output from the tweeter; I want to hear the ribbon. Maybe a high quality L-pad to adjust for different acoustics and individual taste would be nice.

Curve Ball Time

For those of you who have a different taste in drivers, Rick is there for you. If you like the Seas magnesium driver, this can be substituted for the ScanSpeak woofer. How’bout the Hiquphon OW1 tweeter, no problemo. Rick will work with your wants and needs – just contact him. How many speaker manufacturers can do this for you?

Conclusion

Here we have a great speaker at a great price. Whether you decide to build the kit yourself or have Rick send you a fully assembled/tested pair, you can simply not go wrong. Just call him now before he decides to raise his craaazzzy low prices.

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Product Weakness:	Likes ballsy amplifiers
Product Strengths:	Very natural sounding

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Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Music Reference RM9 MK2
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Melos SHA Gold
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Anthem CD-1
Speakers:	VR4 Gen 2
Cables/Interconnects:	Wireworld Gold Eclipse Analysis Plus Oval 9
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Various
Room Size (LxWxH):	30' x 20' x 8'
Room Comments/Treatments:	Minimal - sofas, area rug
Time Period/Length of Audition:	1 week
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Power Wedge 116
Type of Audition/Review:	Home Audition

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