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Are the RB-35 admired for Two-Channel Listening?


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Hello, all, including any disinterested folk.

 

I think I'm going to purchase a pair of light cherry RB-35's soon.  I would like to know if any of you own/have used these before in your two-channel setup or just for home theater?

 

Thanks in advance for replies.  Much obliged.

 

 

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I have owned three pairs of RB-35s in my time and two of the three pairs were used in a stereo rig with very nice performance, with and without a subwoofer.  I only sold(7 years ago) my most recent pair because of the acquisition of a beautiful pair of cherry RB-75s.  The 75s are incredible in stereo and I would say that the 35s would get you about 80% there.  No shade on the 35s, just highest praise for the 75s.

 

Bill

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Hello and thanks.  I think the RB-75's prove elusive both literally and financially for me.

 

I did read that these 35's seem more like the 81's.  I'll go ahead and take this affordable chance, especially since the finish looks nice.  There is a pair of RB-5's on ebay.

 

What do you think of those?

 

🙂

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7 hours ago, DanSoloRocker said:

Hello, all, including any disinterested folk.

 

I think I'm going to purchase a pair of light cherry RB-35's soon.  I would like to know if any of you own/have used these before in your two-channel setup or just for home theater?

 

Thanks in advance for replies.  Much obliged.

 

 

I bought a pair of RB-35's for my brothers home theater years back and was surprised by how well they performed. I think the RB-5's are a little nicer with real wood veneer and standard 1" tweeter but they are rear ported. All in all both are great little speakers I think the port positioning / speaker placement and price / availability would be my biggest considerations between the two, performance wise they're both pretty decent.

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12 hours ago, willland said:

Great performers as well.

 

Bill

Thanks, Bill.  I think I will go ahead with the purchase.  I used to own a pair of RB-81 II's and kind of miss them.  However, I can't pay their price today.

 

I'm assuming the following ranking of satisfaction is somewhat accurate?  RB-75 > RB-5 (I or II) > RB-35 > RB-81 (I or II)

 

Dan.

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11 hours ago, jjptkd said:

I bought a pair of RB-35's for my brothers home theater years back and was surprised by how well they performed. I think the RB-5's are a little nicer with real wood veneer and standard 1" tweeter but they are rear ported. All in all both are great little speakers I think the port positioning / speaker placement and price / availability would be my biggest considerations between the two, performance wise they're both pretty decent.

 

Thanks for your input, sir.  While on the subject, what would be a proper ranking in satisfaction for these bookshelf speakers? 

 

Something like this?  RB-75 > RB-5 (I or II) > RB-35 > RB-81 (I or II)

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4 minutes ago, DanSoloRocker said:

Something like this?  RB-75 > RB-5 (I or II) > RB-35 > RB-81 (I or II)

 

My take: 1st place pair of RC-7's, Palladium P-17's, RB-75's, RB-5's, RB-81's then RB-35's the last two are very close all are nice sounding speakers IMO the RC-7's are going to be closest to a full tower sound 

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1 hour ago, DanSoloRocker said:

Thanks, Bill.  I think I will go ahead with the purchase.  I used to own a pair of RB-81 II's and kind of miss them.  However, I can't pay their price today.

 

I'm assuming the following ranking of satisfaction is somewhat accurate?  RB-75 > RB-5 (I or II) > RB-35 > RB-81 (I or II)

 

Dan.

Yes. Fwiw and imo, if you kind of miss the RB-81s you're gonna kinda like the RB-35s. Also, the RB-75s are the ones you more than likely wouldn't feel the need to upgrade. That's my take.

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10 minutes ago, Zen Traveler said:

Yes. Fwiw and imo, if you kind of miss the RB-81s you're gonna kinda like the RB-35s. Also, the RB-75s are the ones you more than likely wouldn't feel the need to upgrade. That's my take.

Thanks. I agree but the RB-75’s are rarely found affordable for me.

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1 hour ago, jjptkd said:

 

My take: 1st place pair of RC-7's, Palladium P-17's, RB-75's, RB-5's, RB-81's then RB-35's the last two are very close all are nice sounding speakers IMO the RC-7's are going to be closest to a full tower sound 

Wow, I didn’t think about the RC-7’s.  

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6 minutes ago, DanSoloRocker said:

Wow, I didn’t think about the RC-7’s.  

 

Yes, I've ran pairs of these several times over the years as surrounds and stereo speakers side by side with the 75's and P-17's, I preferred the 7's each time. While the P-17's were a bit more refined and detailed they really lacked bass and cried for help from a subwoofer-- seeing how they cost twice as much as a nice pair of RC-7's AND require a sub i passed them on.

 

The RC-7's are only a couple of inches taller than the 75's but they have an extra woofer making them sound fuller much more like a tower speaker in fact in small to mid sized rooms a sub isnt really needed with them at least for most of the music i listen to.

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5 hours ago, Zen Traveler said:

Fwiw, I imagine finding a single RC-7 for the price of a pair of RB-35s will be hard to do and they are over twice as wide.

Yes price wise a nice pair of RC 7's will typically run about the same cost as a pair of 75's but I personally believe they are better speakers and worth the effort to find a matching pair.

 

As far as size goes if you stand the 7's on end and rotate the horn they really are only a few inches taller than the 75's and about the same size all other dimensions.

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Well, I've brought the pair home, cleaned them up and resuscitated them (sort of).

 

One horn has no sound.  I've opened it up as well as the crossover and everything looks intact.  The other one sounds nice.

 

Update:  It does have sound but very subtle; nothing impressive.

 

TIA

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31 minutes ago, YK Thom said:

If nothing within the speaker is disconnected and it isn't an amp issue you are probably looking at a blown tweeter. Replacements are available. They are a good model and worth the effort.

Nothing was disconnected and I even switched outputs from my receiver.

 

It definitely sounds like it has been blown.

 

I found a used one on eBay.  I’ll definitely post an update when I receive it.

 

 

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