Gliderguy3 Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 I am seriously considering building my home theater system with RB81's as main speakers, with generous subwoofer support (thinking SW115 or if I find an extra thousand dollars laying somewhere, maybe an SVS ultra... I have considered the BFM designs Table Tuba and THT, but don't really have anywhere to put something quite that large. I know specs don't quite tell the whole story, but I noticed that the RB81's are rated at 150 continuous watts vs the Heresy at 100. The new Heresey's are spec'd at 99 dB/ 2.84v vs 97 dB/2.84v for the RB81's. 1.5 times the power handling buys about 1.76 dB gain in a perfect world with no compression losses. If you compare max peak power they are still the same ratio. Have no idea what kind of crazy impedance loads either might have that would factor in to a real world amp's ability to drive them (using a Denon 3311 CI, if it matters. technically I am limited to about 125 watts anyway, ) If I take the heaviest bass loads off both speakers (don't know if that means all material from 50 hz, 80hz or 120 hz and below, yet) How comparable would the two speakers be? Am I getting lots more distortion to drive the RB's to that level if I do something to keep the woofer excursion a little more controlled? I am thinking I would have to compare the Heresy crossed over at 60 hz to maybe the RB81's crossed over above 90hz to get comparable excursion on the different sized drivers. The Heritage line all specifies a max acoustic output (and I have no idea at what THD percentage that would be). The Reference line does not. Does anyone know any max outputs at some reasonable distortion level for the Reference line? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbox Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 Well, i dont have any experience with the RB81, however my first instinct is to say heresy all the way. I just dont think the RB81 would be able to keep up to a Heresy. I think if you were able to do an A B test with both speakers the decision would become clear. Either way you will need a woofer for a HT surrounding either choice. If you can fit Heresy, i'd build around those, Three Heresy's across the front sound stage would be a killer setup with a good sub. Now having said all that, If you build a system around the RB81, i think you would be happy with that too. There are lots of happy Reference users around which will chyme in. They might have more experience with the RB81's.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gliderguy3 Posted January 5, 2013 Author Share Posted January 5, 2013 Thanks for your reply. In a perfect world I would have a 9.4 system with 9 Jubilee's and 4 (or maybe eight) BFM THT's filling an acoutically perfect barn somewhere with seating for 50 people and 10 kilowatts. In my reality, I am pushing the limits of the WAF at the RB81's, but I have liked all the Heritage line I have heard, (Late 80's Khorns and La Scalas, as well as a set of Forte's. Have not actually heard the Heresy's but if they are even close to the rest of the Heritage line I almost don't have to. If I were building a 2.1 system I woulld base it off of either Heresy or Forte II's. Hence my main question. I know it is mostly subjective but I am trying to figure out by how much the Heresy could outpace an RB81. On paper it doesn't look like a huge margin. My other wife-friendly options are smaller and less capable. I am sure the RB81's would blow the Gallery series out of the water on output by something like 6 or 8 decibels on peak output. Probably do it at lower distortion levels too. My smaller fantasy is to do a really good job stealth hiding the subs, and having a somewhat largeish bookshelf speaker that is seemingly pumping out almost inconceivable full range sound at concert levels. I want the mains to be just big enough that my guests don't look too hard to find the subwoofers. A/B testing is a great idea, but I have yet to find anyone in the Phoenix area that actually STOCKS an RB81 much less has one wired up for a demo. If I ever did find that place, somehow I think if they carried Heritage gear it wouldn't usually include the Heresy's Maybe my next post should be a shout out for owners of either line willing to invite an internet stranger over to listen to expensive audio gear. (Toronto is a bit out of my way, I could be in either Hope or Indianapolis much easier, but for Jubilee's it would be worth the trip!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 One thing you are overlooking is that the Heresy is a 3 way speaker, and the RB-81 is a 2 way. I have both, and the Heresy does voices better, and seems to have a punchier sounding bass. IMO, the WAF of the sound of the Heresy will be higher. The Heresy is sealed, so it isn't gonna dig as deep, but when you are operating with a sub how low you go isn't as large a factor. If you could A/B an RB-81II and any Heresy and I think you will have your answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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