Geithain

Hi,

Just a quick question or two - does anyone know anything about Geithain active speakers, especially the RL 901 or even heard them?

Do they have a distributor in the UK?

I'd be interested to hear any thoughts about these speakers.

Monty

 

Don't tell me you are sick of the AML1 already?

KMR Audio in London is the only place I know that has them, but I have not exactly been hunting. I heard them there, but their acoustics are not great. Even so, the speakers were.

BTW, the 'K' on the end of the 'RL901K' is all important. Don't grab a s/h pair of the non K version in haste.

 

That's funny because on KMRs website it says "The 901K is very room independent due to the lack of sound leakage from the rear of the speaker."

 

Exactly. Even though the acoustics were less than ideal, the speakers still sounded good. In good acoustics I'm certain they would blow your socks off

When I listened to them, I did quick A/B/C comparisons with PMC AML1's which I owned at the time, and PMC IB2 which I'm also pretty familiar with (they are close to the MB2 Nick has the the BB5 I used in a studio). Switching was done via a AMS/Neve mixer so the swaps were quick.

The RL901K were better than all, noticeably. They had better dynamics than the big IB2's and slightly better 'coherency' than the AML1. They are true monitors.

 

Will have to for a listen for myself oneday. I still have doubts they're suitable for many uk rooms. Quoting from their site: "active three-way monitor for use in large audio-, video production studios".

 

Hi Tenson,

No, not at all - I'm very happy with my AML1 speakers! They are one of the best things I have ever bought and just a shame I didn't get them earlier.

The reason I asked about the 901k is that I have a Germany friend who has just bought a pair and is 'raving' about how amazing they are and I was just trying to find out more...

Monty

 

Funny. I reviewed the original 901s ten years ago:

http://www.tnt-audio.com/casse/rl901_e.html

I remember being very impressed. By the sound.

 

Hi Werner

I notice in your review you said (I seem to be on a quote fest in this tread ) "RL-901s feature no adjustable settings for tonal balance: this model is the reference model, to be used in large, acoustically-treated locations such as classical music studios, rooms which have to be optimised for the speakers, rather than the other way around".

I assume the current K variant, as mentioned by Tenson, does indeed have some kind of tonal adjustment.

Even if it does, it's unlikely to be anywhere as sophisticated as something like Dynaudio Air actives for room matching.

 

I heard several times the 901K with different feelings.
In a suboptimal room they were sounding terrible but they were also placed very awfully.
In other places, all acoustically treated, they were sounding up to very good. The soundstage (I heard mostly classical music) was big and stable, I didn't hear any strange colouring, good dynamics and sound not too direct, actually more diffused.
I personally would have preferred that the instrument were more focused. If you want to hear much more details then the K+H O500 would be the better monitor but for some people it could be too analytical.

In Germany you can ask Geithain to measure your room and to set the 901K to the optimal setting for the room.
Any way the right thing to do is not to change the settings in a speaker to balance errors in the room acoustic but to correct the real problem: the room itself.

 

Comparing active geithain with passive pmc isn't that fair active makes such a difference - I went from passive mb2 to active and the improvement is not subtle

 

They will need some space around them. For the clever cardioid bass to work it will need 2-3 feet behind them, and as with all speakers its best not to stick them by side walls. On top of all that, they are pretty big. So yes, a reasonably large room is needed.

Acoustic treatment is always going to make a system sound better, but the RL901K will suffer no more than any other speaker in poor acoustics. In fact it should suffer less.


Nick, you are right a passive to active comparison is not 100% fair. However, going active on the PMC is still not going to give them a cardioid bass radiation characteristic, or make them coaxial, which are pretty big advantages.

Well anyway, I like these speakers. I also loved my AML1 though. Both are fantastic.

 

Flat within 5dB from 25Hz to 20kHz. Must be great with reggae, dubstep etc and no need for a subwoofer either.