Red5Audio - RVAM1 6.5" Active Monitor Speakers (Pair) - Review
I purchased these active monitor speakers a month or two ago as part of a promotion, where I was offered a discount in exchange for a review; this is my review. The Red5Audio RVAM1s are my first set of active monitor speakers. Previously I have been mixing with a set of Acoustic Energy monitor speakers which I have been using along with a Technics amplifier for several years now. Before that I was using some entry level JBL hi-fi speakers with the same amplifier.
My first impression of the RVAM1s was that the build quality was excellent (as I have come to expect from Red5Audio equipment) and the styling of the speakers is also quite striking. I love the aesthetic design of red, black and silver. Very cool.
I purchased a set of 'Fame' high density foam speaker wedges to help absorb vibrations from beneath the speakers (£10 from dv247.com) along with a couple of balanced 1/4 inch speaker leads which I plugged directly into 1/4 inch outputs on my audio interface.
The first thing that I listened to was Clutch's latest album 'Earth Rocker' and straight away I was struck by how clean, clear and crisp the top-end was. The speakers really pack a punch too. I live in a residential area, but I pushed them as hard as I dared and they are loud! I have a large foam tile mounted on the wall behind the speakers to absorb acoustic reflections and after a little tweaking of the angle and position of the RVAM1s the bass was sounding just right.
The one thing that struck me most was that the top-end was so much more defined with the RVAM1s compared to my Acoustic Energy speakers. I found with the AE speakers that my ears would get fatigued easily while mixing due to a harshness and muddiness in the top-end where as straight away I could hear that the top-end in the RVAM1s was very open and clean sounding.
Next up I threw on some Beck from the album Sea Change to get a good reference for acoustic music, and again, in some ways it was like hearing the music for the first time. Just much cleaner and clearer sounding. This is especially impressive when you consider that these speakers retail at around half the price of the AE speakers I had been using, which are by no means bad speakers themselves.
When I actually got down to mixing with the speakers for extended periods, I found that the problem areas of my mixing with the AE speakers were not problems any more. I also found that I did not suffer from the same listening fatigue and could mix for longer periods without needing a break.
Overall I am very happy with my purchase and for the money, these speakers punch well above their weight and have really impressed me. Considering that they are active and don't require an amplifier as well, they are a steal. They are an excellent addition to my home studio set-up. Highly recommended. I also feel like I should mention the other products that I have of Red5Audio as I have been a customer of theirs for about a decade now, since I really started to take recording seriously. Their acoustic shield, mic stands, mic leads, tube mics, pencil condensers, large diaphragm condensers, multi-polar pattern condensers and studio headphones are all excellent. I have invested in them all over the years and always been very impressed with their build quality and sound quality and being a musician/home studio owner on a budget, in terms of' bang for buck' pretty much everything sounds better than it has any right to, given the prices they ask.