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rega r3/r5 vs. rs3/rs5

coltrane

electrobaroCKjazzer
hi, there,
i wonder who has listened to any of these speakers against its consequtive bigger/newer sibling for a longer period, and would appreciate to hear her/his resulting experiences? thanks :)
 
The RS range is a refined version of the previous series. Generally, they are less coloured, sweeter, cleaner and more communicative.

The 5's have greater scale, more body and better bass than the 3's.
 
hi, Dave, as always, you're the 1st to reply :) - appreciated.
one more question regarding the rs5; namely, i am a bit afraid of going for a pair (i have no chance to listen to them pre purchase) as my room is only 17 sqm, and i can place the speakers not any farther from the side walls than 50 cm (speaker's outer plane). in my experience the majority of speakers can not open up enough, mainly in the mids, in that position - the so far only exception being my present rega ela 2000 pair. also, i am somewhat worried about the bass in that it becomes too much due to the relatively small room though i'd love to have the cleaner, more transparent mids and the finer detail that (theoretically) differentiates the rs5 from the rs3. finally, i have read that the rs5 is not as coherent sounding as its younger bro, the rs3, hence the comparatively older r5 might be a better choice - please advise. thanks :)
 
In a small room with limited space, you might be better off with the RS3 and especially so as you are not able to try them first. For the same reasons, you shouldn't consider the older R5 as the bass output is similar to the RS5 and therefore, might be too much for your room.

The RS3 is a great all-rounder and should be just fine in your room where the ELA works well.
 
hi, Dave,
thanks :)
last question: will the rs3s have the same degree of musical merit and detail my ol' ela 2000s do, i wonder? i am pretty much satisfied with the ela 2000s - though was bit by that hi-fi bug, you know -, however, i would not like to lose ANY of the great talents the ol' speakers have just for the sake of it... to ask it plain: are the rs3s a better speaker than the ela 2000s?
 
hi, Dave,
thanks :)
last question: will the rs3s have the same degree of musical merit and detail my ol' ela 2000s do, i wonder? i am pretty much satisfied with the ela 2000s - though was bit by that hi-fi bug, you know -, however, i would not like to lose ANY of the great talents the ol' speakers have just for the sake of it... to ask it plain: are the rs3s a better speaker than the ela 2000s?

It's so long since I last heard a pair of ELA's that I can't really state one is better than the other. There are many fans of these older speakers.

Obviously, Rega believe that their latest speakers are better than the earlier models, otherwise they wouldn't be making them. If that was the case, they could just tart up the old models and sell them. Rega isn't a company to introduce products just for the sake of it.

The latest RS range has all the pace, dynamics, communication and resolution you would expect but with less of the 'roughness' that the earlier models had. I would rather have the RS than anything earlier but you might not agree. Is there any chance at all of hearing them at home or, if all else fails, for you to take your ELA's along for a shop demo ?
 
...Obviously, Rega believe that their latest speakers are better than the earlier models...
Is there any chance at all of hearing them at home or, if all else fails, for you to take your ELA's along for a shop demo ?

sure, Dave, i believe in all the Rega philosophy - though that must coincide with that of my system's...

unluckily, there seems to be no chance to give a listen to either R/RS model at home, though i might be able to listen to them at the dealer's vs. the ela 2000... will see
 
To throw a spanner in the works , dont rule out the RS1 .

So much depends on your room , equipment now and anticipated upgrades , musical taste , etc that even with a home dem its possible to get it wrong.

I had Ela2s for 7 years and went to RS3s [with a short time with R1s inbetween]. I have recently changed to RS1s with great success.

Its easy to overlook the RS1s , but add them to a good pair of stands and you are at RS3 prices. Same treble unit , same mid/bass unit , so you are not missing out of any quality. Infact with out the extra bass you gain in openess and detail. Bass is tight and detailed and no overhang.

With the RS3s [and probably the RS5s] the combination of near floor port and side bass units seemed to energise my room differently to the RS1 [and from memory the Elas].
You may like the result or you may not.

I still think the RS3 is a great speaker. One mans meat etc........

Michael.
 
hi, folkman, thanks for your input - which i have been looking forward to reading for being aware that you owned the rs3 for a while along with the elas of yore. now, i am still towards a floorstanding speaker which it seems should be the rs3 rather than choosing a standmount whatever great the rs1 should be. reason is that i have owned numerous and quite 'quality' monitors (e.g. proac st. 100, chario academy millenium 1, etc.) but 1., all of them lacked the body and scale even a lil' (good) floorstander has; 2., imho to take out all the potential from a standmount the choice of speaker stand is paramount, but here in my country it's almost hopeless to get my hands on a true musical stand (partington dreadnought or target r1), and having them shipped is ruled out by the fact that no one retains the original boxes for the stands transporting them without is impossible... thus, i have no other choice than to stick with the rs3 it seems (now the rs5 looks to be quite risky)
 
I can not coment particularly on the Older speakers, but have used the R3's and heard in dem rooms the Rs3 and Rs5.

From my experiance I would suggest the Rs3's, not just as being safe, but in a smaller listening room the better choice. You can also tune the bass output of the s3's to your room depending which way you face the bass drivers. In my room, better balanced by having the bass drivers face in, and the speaker closer to the wall. That gave a balanced sound. Face the drivers out and the bass was not as clear.
 
Perfect thread for me here. My listening room (man cave) is 4 x 3.4m (13x11ft) and I'm looking for a pair of speakers to suit. I heard the RS1 dem'd with Arcam CD17/A38 and thought they were fabulous (the clarity!) but felt I should go for the RS3s as I might be missing something with the smaller speakers but now (having read Folkman's post) I'm thinking of wall mounting a set of RS1s as the room is upstairs with a plywood floor and is excitable in the bass dept. What do you think? Also, has anyone compared the PMC DB1i to the RS1? Any thoughts would be appreciated. To be used with Arcam CD37/A38 (ordered, should be here for the weekend-can't wait!).
 
Obviously, the RS3 builds on the RS1 strengths with greater scale, more bass and higher possible volume levels. However, if you want to minimise bass transfer, the RS1 would probably do the job.

I have often compared the DB with RS1 and R1. I think you are making the right choice.
 
Perfect thread for me here. My listening room (man cave) is 4 x 3.4m (13x11ft) and I'm looking for a pair of speakers to suit. I heard the RS1 dem'd with Arcam CD17/A38 and thought they were fabulous (the clarity!) but felt I should go for the RS3s as I might be missing something with the smaller speakers but now (having read Folkman's post) I'm thinking of wall mounting a set of RS1s as the room is upstairs with a plywood floor and is excitable in the bass dept. What do you think? Also, has anyone compared the PMC DB1i to the RS1? Any thoughts would be appreciated. To be used with Arcam CD37/A38 (ordered, should be here for the weekend-can't wait!).

hi John, my room is 4,5 x 3 (to be accurate even less if we consider it narrows because of a french window) and have a pair of -RS1 on stands. They simply work a treat, far beyond any expectation. I 'm pretty sure of this, having had spendor's towers and really disappointed by them the reason must be room mismatch as those latter couldn't be so bad.
They're hooked up to a nait 5 /cd5i-2 and regaTT. What really astonishes me and believe my sincere words, if you will, is the extraordinary accurate treble, which never gives any sign of distress or harshness even at high volumes, always retaining body, trasparency. Voices are definitely uncoloured and not boxed or nasal. You can appreciate a very good definition in the bass dept and tightness but not extraordinary its their only weakness I'd say otherwise they'd be perfect. Anyway ,at this price level I can't think of any similar quality and integration in a system.
Maybe your room can accomodate a floorstander and hope this magic balance can be achieved the same. Good luck and if you happen to consider the standmounts don't forget they ought to be placed onto a good surface otherwise you could be less impressed.
 
Thanks for that Dave, no experience of PMC but I was told they work well with Arcam stuff. I really do like that paper mid range unit in the Regas. Reminds me of the SABA greencones I heard once, beautiful with voices and acoustic instruments. Will try my best to get a dem of the RS3 (none in stock at the mo.). I like the idea of similar clarity but greater scale, a trait I enjoy in good Hifi. The dealer has also recommended Dynaudio X12 excite standmounts. Any experience with Arcam/Dynaudio anyone? Should get to hear them on Sat anyway but my gut is still lying with the RS1/RS3s.
 
Thanks Antonio, I really appreciate the input. I could not believe how good the RS1s were when I heard them with the Arcams. Maybe I'm thinking back dewy eyed through rose tinted specs or else I just hit the perfect combination for me but truly, I have never heard anything as good and I've heard quite a bit. I didn't want to turn it off! I am intrigued by the thoughts of even more of the same however from the RS3s. But as we all know, it doesn't always work like that. I think a dem is a must now.
 
I have a pair of the earlier R5s and they are placed either side of the patio doors against the side wall and back against the walls as there is no room to place them anywhere else. I heard the R3 in demo and when he put the R5s on I preferred them as they are slightly bigger in sound as you would expect of the larger speaker. The side firing bass drivers do the trick, the length of the room is about 30 foot and the room is narrow about 9 1/2 foot in the dining area where they are placed opening up to about 12ft in the living area. Our floor is suspended and finished with vinyl as opposed to carpet and my previous speakers sounded awful in this environment but the Rega's sound good. I have run these for 4 years and am currently trialling other speakers as I have upgraded my amplifiers. If you live in the Rochdale area you are quite welcome to try the Regas in your house but I won't be selling them as they will be used in a second system if I purchase another type of speaker.
 
Ah, I think you mentioned on a previous thread.

Same surname as a friend in Connemarra but you won't be related as he is from Manchester originally.
 
The nice thing about them is that they're quite tunable (and are also very light, so easy to move around a room), but you have to be very careful is small rooms. My RS3s are in a room some 5x4m and they have to be right out from the back in order not to be bass heavy. I'd probably need a room twice the size to accommodate RS5s.

PS after several months of bass drivers in, I'm now a firm believer in drivers out - much more transparent, with less midbass thump.
 
Tim, how far is "right out from the back"? Two or three feet?

Pete, never been to Connemarra (glad I could copy your spelling of that) or Manchester come to think of it.
 


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