It's not bad, in a "materials should look like themselves," sense. Kindof like exposed plywood laminations on Magico speakers.I'm going to come out in support of the exposed foam look.
On the RP8 the metal braces top and bottom provide the structure I believe.Looks nice, I bet the exposed foam is to let the ''bad'' vibrations out
what do the arm screws screw into, gotta be something other than foam?
Looks nice, but I really wish they wouldn't have the exposed foam look. I feel it really cheapens everything. Why not just encase it like the top and bottom of the plinth?
For me it looks cheap.
What happens if you get the exposed foam dirty or greasy in some way? Bet it doesn't clean worth squat. How about if you are moving the thing and accidentally stick your fingers into the foam marking the surface?
If it were a clever budget model where every penny counts I could understand it... but its not.
The previous model for me every time. Bet I would struggle to hear the improvement anyway.
I'm going to come out in support of the exposed foam look.