RMB 35/4 speakers
Loudspeakers are a very personal item. For many, the choice is limited by what’s deemed acceptable visually in their final listening environment. For others with a little more space available, or more flexibility on other criteria, choices can be made with more regard to how they sound. Lastly, there are those where the final choice is facilitated simply by their sound, almost regardless of the speaker type.
But it doesn’t end there. I well remember a rather fine loudspeaker being reviewed way back in the early 1990s where the reviewer had simply partnered the speakers with an amplifier which simply didn’t suit them. As a result, the sound quality was rather less than it should have been. So, loudspeaker purchases and choices are also influenced by the sort of amplifier you might wish to use to drive them. No, the same loudspeaker does not sound the same regardless of which amplifier you connect it to. The relationship between a loudspeaker and the amplifier is complex, so each combination of amp and loudspeaker must be treated in isolation. Measurements might be helpful in narrowing choices down, but they rarely tell the whole story.
Against this backdrop of almost unlimited choices, both amplifier and loudspeaker manufacturers continue to strive to produce products which they hope will serve enough of the listening public to keep them in business. As with any industry, there are the larger players with endless R&D budgets, panels of listening experts, and access to a wide variety of materials, old and new. Smaller manufacturers are a little less well-resourced, but nevertheless continue to produce products which really can give the bigger players a run for their money. One such is RMB, the creation of Richard Best, a modest and unassuming man who’s wholly enthusiastic about providing his customers with the best sound and musical experience possible without resorting to stratospheric pricing or relying on exotic materials.
While Richard’s loudspeaker designs may not necessarily conform to some standard designs in terms of shape and finish (but then, there are some extreme designs which strenuously challenge visual aesthetics) in terms of being acceptable in a domestic environment, the RMB range is definitely a conservative contender.
The model under scrutiny here is the 35/4, a three-way design with two 170mm magnesium–aluminium woofers in a large bass-reflex cabinet (with a rear-facing port), a nominally 54mm soft-dome midrange, and a very high-quality 19mm tweeter with its own damped rear enclosure. Both the latter are housed in an upstand with dedicated enclosures for each, in an effort to wring the very best performance out of each drive unit.
In both my listening rooms, the optimum positioning (to achieve clean deep bass but preserve a nicely imaged soundstage with depth and width, which was stable regardless of programme material) was definitely out from the rear wall, and toed in, though without crossing their axis in front of the listener. Angled to a point slightly behind the listener definitely worked better, though others may alight on a different setup depending on their listening preferences. Connection is via a single pair of copper-alloy high-quality 4mm banana sockets.
Sound quality
The listening and evaluation period was quite long for the 35/4s. As with many things, the initial impression might not hold good over a longer-term, and while some may argue the initial impression is important, at the end of the day if you’re potentially buying a new component for a home audio system, you need to be able to listen to it for extended periods. Certainly, my listening sessions tend to be two to three hours, and if there’s something which grates or starts to become annoying, listening enjoyment will be compromised and limited as a result – which may end up with you deciding not to explore music quite as often. Fortunately, the 35/4 is not of this ilk.
My two overriding criteria for speaker evaluation are: firstly, does it allow me to engage with the emotional content of the music? Secondly, presuming sound quality is good, can I listen to it for extended periods without being desperate to turn it off? Most loudspeakers these days are capable of very high-quality sound, assuming that they are fed with a good source, and the amplification is carefully selected to complement the loudspeaker.
It’s very naive to work on the basis that a loudspeaker will sound the same regardless of which amplifier you drive it with. The speaker/amplifier interface is one of the most critical links in the replay chain, and not every combination works well. Fortunately, I have more than one amplifier, ranging from valve and solid state, and from 2.5 watts to over 200 watts per channel.
Richard Best recommends a minimum of 40wpc into the 35/4s mean 88dB efficiency. I’d concur with that. I did try my flea-powered 2A3SE valve amp, and although the sound was seriously nice, oomph, slam, and bottom-end grunt were somewhat compromised. Increase the drive, though, and larger amplifiers could really make this speaker sing. As an added bonus, the 35/4 was also very happy with either solid state or valves, and although there were marginal differences between the two, both were equally engaging.
Musically satisfying
An early disc in the audition was Brahms 3rd Symphony, with the Berlin Philharmonic under Karajan on DG. 138 926 SLPM. This was recorded in 1965, and couples the Brahms symphony with the Haydn Variations. For me, this is perhaps the most musically satisfying version of the piece. The third movement (particularly) has a pathos, openness, and transparency which the recording conveys well. The layout of the orchestra is clear to hear, and one element I particularly like is the lower strings, with their raw but controlled support of the whole orchestra in a subtle but absolutely resolute way.
The 35/4s revealed much of the air around the orchestra, and imaging was beautifully conveyed. The upper strings were clear but not shrill, and the woodwind allowed their moments of glory with clarity and presence. The lower strings though – where on earth did that deft, agile, deep bass weight come from? This was far more than I had expected from the 35/4’s relatively modest cabinet and its two drivers. The room was filled with effortless, warmly enveloping sound, seamless from top to bottom.
That (despite being an orchestra) was relatively simple material. Something more complex was needed, so I headed over to Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy, an album quite long in the tooth now, but nevertheless full of impact, dynamic contrasts and what some might call, heavy going. The 35/4s dealt with this with consummate ease. Even cranking the volume way up beyond what was comfortable (should music like this ever be comfortable?) revealed no weaknesses. The treble remained clear and focused. The mid dome coped with the stuff in the middle, and the bass drivers filled in the bottom end with great depth, weight, and speed. When there was a kick, the 35/4s delivered it with authority, and when the ground was expected to shake, the 35/4s obliged without missing a beat. To be honest, I have experienced few loudspeakers which will take punishment like this and simply get on with it. But equally, there was no loss of focus, no feeling that the speakers couldn’t cope, and nothing to suggest that they wouldn’t be happy to go on like this all day.
A change of mood saw me reach for a recent CD release – Rosy Wertheim’s Wondrous Worlds (Genuin GEN 25932) played by Naoko Christ-Kato. This is the most beguiling and arresting piano music, and Christ-Kato really does push the instrument to its limits, stretching its tonal capabilities, and also exploring the loudest and softest sounds it can produce. Wertheim’s music is rarely played, but embraces late Romantic through to the early 20th century styles. The 35/4s ability to reproduce the piano in a believable way is quite uncanny. One of the hardest instruments to recreate on a home music system, the 35/4s reveal its bass weight, sometimes shrill treble, and amazing dynamic range. Christ-Katos playing is assured, powerful, yet also sympathetic to the material, and each piece is utterly captivating.
Raw punch
A shift back to vinyl followed, with the Gothenburg Jazz Orchestra playing A Letter to Eje Thelin. A range of big-band styles fills these two discs from the Prophone label (PLP373). This has been recorded exceptionally well and provides many opportunities for the various soloists to showcase their abilities. The raw punch of a band like this is always a challenge, but the 35/4s deftly handled the sudden crescendo, the sforzando tutti passages, and cleanly and clearly allowed each instrument to take its rightful place in the mix. One thing which was apparent was the 35/4s ability to allow those smaller details to shine through when much of the aural mix was a lot louder. You really were able to hear deep into the inner recesses of the music and follow some of the smaller elements as they wove their magic.
Side 4 also contains an interview with Nils Landgren and John Thelin, and I was seriously surprised at how natural their voices sounded. Again, speech is something many music speakers aren’t that good at, but here the 35/4s really had you believing that a genuine conversation between two people was happening right in my listening room.
MJQ ((MFSL 1-205) was next to be auditioned. Vibraphone can upset many a system, with its somehow very imprecise but sharply-defined sound. Here Milt Jackson really does his thing, and adds atmosphere and that indefinable quality which sets MJQ apart. Despite the age of the recording (1957), the iconic sounds of the quartet have been faithfully captured, and the 35/4s presented them as if they were playing right in front of you. Imaging was seriously good. Not that pinpoint stuff, but a holistic, believable, holographic image that, if you closed your eyes, would have you believe you were sitting in the recording venue with them. Connie Kay’s upper treble (hi-hat) and percussion were nicely weighted and balanced, with the hi-hat being quietly sparkly, just as in real life. Percy Heath’s bass was assured, firm, deft, and deep, and Lewis’s piano provided that rock which held everything together. The 35/4s could not be faulted in presenting this musical gem to the listener.
Cigarettes in the dark
Just to check on phase integrity and such, I put on Two Cigarettes in the Dark, a Decca mono pressing by Robert Farnon and his Orchestra (LK4086). This is a kind of fun cocktail jazz disc, but a good test of how stable a mono image might be between the speakers, i.e., how closely they are matched. I needn’t have worried. It was almost as if Id taken one speaker away and put one in the centre. The image was rock-steady, still full-bodied and seamless from top to bottom.
Last to grace my ears was Suzanne Vega’s perennial Tom’s Diner. While this track was overplayed in its day, it is in reality a very good test of a system, and particularly speakers. With the relatively large acoustic space around her, and effectively just the solo voice to latch onto, all the spaces around the music play a really important part in the performance. Music is not just about the sounds of notes and combinations of notes, but also the spaces around and between them. Female vocals are also regarded as one of the sternest tests of a component in the replay chain.
Vega doesn’t have a lightweight female voice. It has lower resonances, and this contrasts sharply with the click of her tongue, the purse of her lips, the sharp intakes of breath, and the decay as the sound dies away. The silences in this performance are an integral and important part of what makes it so special.
The 35/4s didn’t exhibit any bloom in the upper bass region, Vega’s voice had depth, no overhang, and an eerily lifelike body to it. The upper reaches of the voice, though not extensively explored, were easy, clear, and almost tactile. You could hear where the shape of her mouth changed as she sang through various parts of the song, and how the emotion flowed from such a simple single line of words and music combined.
I was so amazed by how well this was reproduced the first time I ran through it, I had to play it again just to be sure that I wasn’t fooling myself. The 35/4s managed the stop/start, the intake of breath, the hesitatingly anguished croak in her voice with uncanny realism. This really did blow me away.
Conclusion
As always, this is a snapshot of the material I had fun with in auditioning the 35/4s. Listening took place over many days, and quite a few long nights. I still maintain that listening into the small hours when the world is quieter helps reveal what a home audio system can really do, and the 35/4s absolutely did not disappoint.
Initially, the impression was that here was a really good, beyond competent, loudspeaker. Extended listening confirmed that not only are they one of the best-sounding loudspeakers that I have auditioned, but also that they have the ability to convey the emotional content of the music with great ease and authority. They have great dynamic range, image superbly well, are seamless from very deep bass to extended treble, and have an engaging quality which is hard to define but which makes listening even to difficult music an enjoyable experience. Sadly, they will have to go back to their maker, but this has been one of the most enjoyable reviewing exercises I have undertaken to date.