RCF AYRA PRO5 Review (Powered Monitor)

[DudleyDuoflush]

Apologies if I'm being a bit thick but if this monitor only has Analog inputs and DSP does it do some sort of ADC then DAC?

 

[voodooless]

Apologies if I'm being a bit thick but if this monitor only has Analog inputs and DSP does it do some sort of ADC then DAC?

Yes.

 

[Rja4000]

I think so but it is possible they don't have the precision measurements we have that show the flaws. Their own measurements are highly smoothed.

Given the comment provided by @voodooless above, highlighting we see the same profile in the whole range, that's probably done on purpose.

Also, RCF is not the small player around the corner. Their group has >100 M€ turnover a year.
And you can't do proper line array -one of their focus technologies- without the right measurement tools.
By the way, they happen to own one of the best current microphone brand, with DPA ...

So I doubt that's a measurement capacity limitation in their case.

 

[Ismapics]

Can see the size of the Pro 5 @ the right side speaker of the speakers video.

Teardown pics of the inside of the Pro 5.

Thanks for the pics and post. That looks quite clean inside.

 

[dfuller]

I can't believe I'm saying this, but this speaker seems to be a candidate for messing with the internal stuffing. But, I think it may be worth having someone who does this sort of thing regularly drill down on the source of the resonances.

 

[Hipster Doofus]

Very nice to see the waters have receded and Amirm can lead us to the promise land of facts…

it is nice to see small equipment reviewed. Most stereo purchases are base on budgets and comprises within that budget.

 

[Spocko]

Of course they are very cheap speakers and for that money it's hard to ask for much, I haven't heard them but I was hearing a lot of praise left right and center for those from people. I was expecting Adam T series performance or close. I don't see that.

$149 is a crazy value especially when you take into consideration the inclusion of DSP and most importantly, that you can actually make them sound better via EQ without pulling it apart and redesigning the entire crossover system! Compare this to the budget DSP desktop speaker from iLoud (popular on ASR) for over $320 each and you get a sense of the Pro5 value at less than half the cost of the iLoud.

 

[Spocko]

In thinking further about this, @amirm literally did all the necessary listening tests and reporting on this speaker to such a succinct level of expertise and professionalism that NOW, the team from RCF can simply revise their DSP to adopt Amir's findings - hopefully, the speaker can then be marketed as "ASR optimized", with a little licensing fee flowing Amir's way and only a price increase of 10% for this improvement.

 

[sarumbear]

If there’s a DSP in there for bass extension why not use it to smooth the overall response like @amirm did? It doesn’t make sense as there will be no extra cost.

 

[sarumbear]

In thinking further about this, @amirm literally did all the necessary listening tests and reporting on this speaker to such a succinct level of expertise and professionalism that NOW, the team from RCF can simply revise their DSP to adopt Amir's findings - hopefully, the speaker can then be marketed as "ASR optimized", with a little licensing fee flowing Amir's way and only a price increase of 10% for this improvement.

Why the price increase?

 

[Spocko]

Why the price increase?

To pass on the cost of managing royalty payments being collected - I assumed this speaker has thin margins to begin with and if they're going to pay ASR, it costs money to manage those payments (hiring an accounting team, lawyers to draft the licensing agreement, etc.)

 

[YSC]

not bad to good IMO in the price bracket.

 

[somebodyelse]

$149 is a crazy value especially when you take into consideration the inclusion of DSP and most importantly, that you can actually make them sound better via EQ without pulling it apart and redesigning the entire crossover system! Compare this to the budget DSP desktop speaker from iLoud (popular on ASR) for over $320 each and you get a sense of the Pro5 value at less than half the cost of the iLoud.

Many (most?) of the active monitors in this price range are now using DSP internally, as are a fair few of the cheaper ones like the Edifiers. Very few expose much control to the customer though - a few switches to alter the EQ for different placement, or a couple of pots for bass and treble. The iLoud MTM distinguishes itself by offering more control of the EQ, a mic for measurement and some degree of automation.

 

[Digby]

@amirm

Not a dig, but do you get tired of measuring these ultra-budget type speakers? I imagine almost anyone who frequents this forum is going to be able to stretch a bit further (say $200 more), for something that performs rather better.

Personally, I feel it a little pointless (same with cables, power conditioners and old amplifiers with grotty, out of spec parts).

Obviously, you can do what you want, it is your site, but these are things I'd prefer to see less of (I'd rather seeing what higher 4 figure and 5 figure speakers are capable of, even though I don't have the funds set aside for them in the near future). I don't know how others feel.

On the other hand, I have minimal interest in headphones, but can understand why others would be interested (even if sometimes my heart drops at 3 or 4 headphone reviews in a row).

 

[mga2009]

For the price it's a very nice speaker. Just stuff the ports and use a subwoofer @80Hz. You have an awesome active speaker for USD$300 a pair!

Or... you could just mod the cabinet a little nad make it more robust.

 

[AlexanderM]

I love it that Amir finds these inexpensive little gems!!! Thank you Amir!!!

 

[BlackTalon]

@amirm

Not a dig, but do you get tired of measuring these ultra-budget type speakers? I imagine almost anyone who frequents this forum is going to be able to stretch a bit further (say $200 more), for something that performs rather better.

Personally, I feel it a little pointless (same with cables, power conditioners and old amplifiers with grotty, out of spec parts).

Obviously, you can do what you want, it is your site, but these are things I'd prefer to see less of (I'd rather seeing what higher 4 figure and 5 figure speakers are capable of, even though I don't have the funds set aside for them in the near future). I don't know how others feel.

On the other hand, I have minimal interest in headphones, but can understand why others would be interested (even if sometimes my heart drops at 3 or 4 headphone reviews in a row).

Amir will review what people ship to him. Start sending him some speakers to test in your preferred price range. I think there is a practical limit on size/ weight though, as he is a one-man operation.

 

[PeteL]

If there’s a DSP in there for bass extension why not use it to smooth the overall response like @amirm did? It doesn’t make sense as there will be no extra cost.

What makes you say they didn't and DSP was only for bass "extension"? We don't know how bad it was to begin with!

 

[sarumbear]

To pass on the cost of managing royalty payments being collected - I assumed this speaker has thin margins to begin with and if they're going to pay ASR, it costs money to manage those payments (hiring an accounting team, lawyers to draft the licensing agreement, etc.)

The tests are already done! By @amirm. It’s in the public domain here in ASR. Just apply them.

 

[sarumbear]

What makes you say they didn't and DSP was only for bass "extension"? We don't know how bad it was to begin with!

Because I’m an engineer, an acoustician and commercial speaker designer. I have the knowledge and experience on the frequency response expected and the limits of equalisation that can be applied on the speakers I see. +/-3dB extra as applied by @amirm is well within such limits.

If the DSP was only on the low level amplifier signal path then your objection is valid but who would limit a DSP like that? That will be stupid!