Rcf Art525a Review

[EdBray 0]

I have used these speakers at gigs twice now and to say I'm impressed would be a gross understatement. The sound, the power and the weight are all amazing and I have had numerous people remark on the sound quality.

 

First of all the physical format, they have a 15" driver and a 2" horn, are 750w RMS (500w & 250w), spl of 131db and only weigh 18kgs. They have a dual jack/xlr input on the back and a pass through XLR, as well as an input for a mains IEC, on/off switch. power led, signal/limiter led and a signal control. I ran the cabinets on both nights with the control set at about 2-o-clock, this gave an amazing amount of volume, but with very little (had to listen hard) background noise/hiss.

 

The first gig was in a moderate sized room with about 100 guests (in fact it was for DJ Frankie's sister in law) and they coped easily with the gig, although I was only able to get the signal LED to light at all during the louder part of the evening. The cabs were barely ticking over and did very well, although I found that the bass seemed quite 'boomy' (is that a word?) behind the deckstand, but from the front, the sound was fantastic. Very clear, great punchy bass and all frequencies seemed to be reproduced perfectly.

 

Last nights gig was in a larger room 'The Devonshire' at the Grand Hotel in Torquay, room is suitable for about 150-180 people and I set my small system up (picture below), 600mm deckstand, 1.5mtr powerlite truss, 4 lights, pair of ART525As, Mixer/HD2500 case and a couple of stands. Great thing for me was all the gear was in in four trips (and out in three). Started at 7pm with background music of all genres and decades until 9pm, during which time the signal lights on the 525as never lit. From the first/second dance the volume was slowly increased and the Art525As responded beautifully, the full frequency sound was great and the additional lower end from what I have been used to lately made a pleasant improvement. The sound fall off at the back of the room did seem to be more noticable than I experienced with the Bose (I have used the Bose at the same venue), but I do not see that as a bad thing, as the sound was louder where required (on the dancefloor) and not so at the back of the room beside the bar.

 

As a pair of ART525As are the same power rating as a pair of original Bose L1s with 4 B1s at 1500W RMS per pair, the SPL for the Art525As are specified as 131db, Bose do not seem to make the SPL information for the L1 system available, I think a side by side comparison is not unreasonable.

 

Pros: for the ART525As: Weight (carried the pair in a single trip, Bose L1s could take 5 trips), Power (although the same RMS value I suspect the higher SPL makes a difference), Sound (Greater Bass response than the Bose L1 system but with a similar clarity at higher frequencies) Connections (2, Signal & Power, Bose, at least 3 with remote). Price (They are normally around £1800 a pair (I got mine for £1655) A pair of Bose L1s with 4 B1s will cost you circa £3300).

 

Cons: They look like normal plastic cabs, the Bose do look different.

 

Conclusion: It is easy to be pleased after only a couple of gigs, but the future looks bright, not sure how often I will now use my ART310As and ART705As as I cannot see a venue that I am likely to play at that would not be adequately covered by the ART525As. I will have to try to get a gig at a large venue as I would love to try the ART525As on top of the ART705As.

 

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/3079/grandsmallrf0.jpg

Edited June 1, 2008 by EdBray

[Robster 0]

Nice review , great detail and very useful practical advice.

i am currently not in the market for a pair of active speakers but after that review i will keep them in mind if ever i am.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post this,

nice tidy set up by the way

 

Rob

[alicat 0]

I have used these speakers at gigs twice now and to say I'm impressed would be a gross understatement. The sound, the power and the weight are all amazing and I have had numerous people remark on the sound quality.

 

First of all the physical format, they have a 15" driver and a 2" horn, are 750w RMS (500w & 250w), spl of 131db and only weigh 18kgs. They have a dual jack/xlr input on the back and a pass through XLR, as well as an input for a mains IEC, on/off switch. power led, signal/limiter led and a signal control. I ran the cabinets on both nights with the control set at about 2-o-clock, this gave an amazing amount of volume, but with very little (had to listen hard) background noise/hiss.

 

The first gig was in a moderate sized room with about 100 guests (in fact it was for DJ Frankie's sister in law) and they coped easily with the gig, although I was only able to get the signal LED to light at all during the louder part of the evening. The cabs were barely ticking over and did very well, although I found that the bass seemed quite 'boomy' (is that a word?) behind the deckstand, but from the front, the sound was fantastic. Very clear, great punchy bass and all frequencies seemed to be reproduced perfectly.

 

Last nights gig was in a larger room 'The Devonshire' at the Grand Hotel in Torquay, room is suitable for about 150-180 people and I set my small system up (picture below), 600mm deckstand, 1.5mtr powerlite truss, 4 lights, pair of ART525As, Mixer/HD2500 case and a couple of stands. Great thing for me was all the gear was in in four trips (and out in three). Started at 7pm with background music of all genres and decades until 9pm, during which time the signal lights on the 525as never lit. From the first/second dance the volume was slowly increased and the Art525As responded beautifully, the full frequency sound was great and the additional lower end from what I have been used to lately made a pleasant improvement. The sound fall off at the back of the room did seem to be more noticable than I experienced with the Bose (I have used the Bose at the same venue), but I do not see that as a bad thing, as the sound was louder where required (on the dancefloor) and not so at the back of the room beside the bar.

 

As a pair of ART525As are the same power rating as a pair of original Bose L1s with 4 B1s at 1500W RMS per pair, the SPL for the Art525As are specified as 131db, Bose do not seem to make the SPL information for the L1 system available, I think a side by side comparison is not unreasonable.

 

Pros: for the ART525As: Weight (carried the pair in a single trip, Bose L1s could take 5 trips), Power (although the same RMS value I suspect the higher SPL makes a difference), Sound (Greater Bass response than the Bose L1 system but with a similar clarity at higher frequencies) Connections (2, Signal & Power, Bose, at least 3 with remote). Price (They are normally around £1800 a pair (I got mine for £1655) A pair of Bose L1s with 4 B1s will cost you circa £3300).

 

Cons: They look like normal plastic cabs, the Bose do look different.

 

Conclusion: It is easy to be pleased after only a couple of gigs, but the future looks bright, not sure how often I will now use my ART310As and ART705As as I cannot see a venue that I am likely to play at that would not be adequately covered by the ART525As. I will have to try to get a gig at a large venue as I would love to try the ART525As on top of the ART705As.

 

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/3079/grandsmallrf0.jpg

 

Ed. I said that a few weeks ago. Trouble is, no-one has £1750 to invest in a pair. "Edit" Ignore the Mackie SRM 450 v2 - don't press the power/active button "in" whilst powered on people - Db all the way..........

Edited June 2, 2008 by EdBray

[Spear 0]

Good to hear you're pleased with the new setup. Look even better when you get that starcloth.

 

As a pair of ART525As are the same power rating as a pair of original Bose L1s with 4 B1s at 1500W RMS per pair, the SPL for the Art525As are specified as 131db, Bose do not seem to make the SPL information for the L1 system available, I think a side by side comparison is not unreasonable.

 

 

Remember Ed the L1's you've been using are only 2x(250w + 2x125w Bass modules) = 1000W RMS

 

 

Good to read a fair and honest review. Keep up the good work.

 

 

 

Richard.

 

 

[dh140770 0]

I'd be interested in how you think they compare to a single ART705 and the 310s. I'm now running my Mackie SRM450s with an ART705. 1st run saturday and I was very happy with the improvement compared to just the Mackies, and most importantly they only got warm, not hot.

[EdBray 0]

Good to hear you're pleased with the new setup. Look even better when you get that starcloth.

Remember Ed the L1's you've been using are only 2x(250w + 2x125w Bass modules) = 1000W RMS

Good to read a fair and honest review. Keep up the good work.

Richard.

Each L1 side is 500w (250w + 250w) plus 2x B1s 250w (125w each) equalled 750w when I went to school :hide: The PS1 base units have three 250W amplifiers built in, one powers the bass bins and the other two each power half of the pole. Due to criticism of the lack of bass in the original L1s, Bose changed the configuration in the new L1 Mk11s and reduced the power of the pole to 250w (these are the ones with the H shaped bass. The original L1 style with the D shaped base are still 500w poles).

 

Big difference between the two is in the way the sound is handled, 500w woofer in the RCF ART525 with mid/top at 250w, in rhe Bose 250w Bass and 500w mid/top.

 

The Bose L1s are a great piece of kit and they have a great impact at wedding bookings and for speeches/background music there is little better and for style there is nothing to touch them, but for me, I prefer the less carrying, and the more punchy bass of the ART525s.

Edited June 2, 2008 by EdBray

[Spear 0]

Each L1 side is 500w (250w + 250w) plus 2x B1s 250w (125w each) equalled 750w when I went to school :hide: The PS1 base units have three 250W amplifiers built in, one powers the bass bins and the other two each power half of the pole. Due to criticism of the lack of bass in the original L1s, Bose changed the configuration in the new L1 Mk11s and reduced the power of the pole to 250w (these are the ones with the H shaped bass. The original L1 style with the D shaped base are still 500w poles)

 

When I bought my L1's Sound Control supplied 1 "classic" and 1 newer PS1 but the poles were both the newer ones (not Mk11's). The sound from the classic sounded wrong at higher levels and while registering my L1's I enquired about compatability between models. I was told that under no circumstances should the newer poles be used with the classic power stand as they were completely different despite looking identical.

 

Luckily Sound Control changed the PS1 without any hassle.

In the meantime, I did go back and get a little more detail on the differences between the Model I and the Classic. The detail I'm about to provide doesn't change the conclusions we reached, but it does help supply additional detail.

 

The two amps in the Classic power stand that drive the two sections of the Classic Cylindrical Radiator speaker are capable of delivering 500 Watts, but because of the exact impedance of the speakers, they actually deliver 370 Watts.

 

In contrast, the single amplifier in the Model I power stand that drives both sections of the Model I Cylindrical Radiator speaker is capable of delivering 250 Watts and delivers the full 250 Watts when needed.

 

(Note that in both the Classic and the Model I a separate 250 Watt amplifier is dedicated to powering one or two B1s.)

Taken from Ken-at-Bose

 

 

So unless you have the original "classic" with the extra 3 amp in/out sockets then pole output is 250 RMS.

 

PS for those not sure which poles you have the newer poles have an orange label in the back. smile icon

 

 

Hope this clears things up.

 

 

Richard

Edited June 2, 2008 by Spear

[EdBray 0]

Taken from Ken-at-Bose

So unless you have the original "classic" with the extra 3 amp in/out sockets then pole output is 250 RMS.

 

PS for those not sure which poles you have the newer poles have an orange label in the back. smile icon

Hope this clears things up.

Richard

Richard, you have completely taken me aback. I am really shocked and will be speaking to Andy Rigler about this as both he and Turnkey (who I bought my systems from) informed me that the model 1s I was thinking of buying were 500w poles with 2 amplifiers to run them.

 

I have just checked my L1 poles and they have an orange bar at the end of the label on the back, but the main part of label is black with silver writing.

[Spear 0]

Nothing surprises me Sound Control Bristol didn't know there was a difference between classic and the newer ones, infact they didn't know what a "classic" was

[dh140770 0]

Ed

 

Another month with the 525s. Are you still as happy. Should I start saving?

 

Would be interested to know.

[supersound dj 0]

Nice review ED.

Im pondering on the idea but need to sell loads first.

Just wondering what it will sound like with a Single DB Technologies sub 15 800w RMS powered bass speaker?

[EdBray 0]

Okay, a while on and my thoughts on the ART525As, I LOVE THEM, I am getting some fantastic comments, they sound fantastic and they are a doddle to carry around.

 

I will be trying them above my two RCF ART705A subs this weekend for the first time as I am curious how they will sound and as it is my own 25th Wedding Anniversary party I can try them out as I like.

 

Hope the DJ isn't crap!

 

Oh, and they don't really need a sub, they sound great without them due to the 15" drivers, but as I am curious as to how they will sound with subs I am giving it a go this weekend. I will update you on the sound after the gig.

[jukeboxdj 0]

excellent review

 

and congratulations to your and your wife on your silver wedding anniversary

[supersound dj 0]

Congrats Edd And look forward to the review.

 

paul

[Devon Mobile Disco 0]

Okay, a while on and my thoughts on the ART525As, I LOVE THEM, I am getting some fantastic comments, they sound fantastic and they are a doddle to carry around.

 

I will be trying them above my two RCF ART705A subs this weekend for the first time as I am curious how they will sound and as it is my own 25th Wedding Anniversary party I can try them out as I like.

 

Hope the DJ isn't crap!

 

Oh, and they don't really need a sub, they sound great without them due to the 15" drivers, but as I am curious as to how they will sound with subs I am giving it a go this weekend. I will update you on the sound after the gig.

 

Are you still loving these speakers, i am bored of my Ev rig and carrying my faithful ev p2000 and mc audio e25 and crossovers to gigs and was looking in a powerful affordable system and the rcf heads that you have plus the pro 18inch subs look to be just the ticket ?? any advice would be very helpful, thanks steve

[DJ_Markstar 0]

Are you still loving these speakers, i am bored of my Ev rig and carrying my faithful ev p2000 and mc audio e25 and crossovers to gigs and was looking in a powerful affordable system and the rcf heads that you have plus the pro 18inch subs look to be just the ticket ?? any advice would be very helpful, thanks steve

 

Excellent thread, and congrats on your 25th wedding anniversary!

 

I am interested in the newer RCF 715a's, and I would imagine the newer series is another step forward for RCF.

 

I hope your love for the 525's continues for years to come!