Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
OK, I don't claim to be an audiophile, as I am not very good at hearing things that aren't there. However, I will state that I am a music enthusiast who loves virtually all styles of music, especially demanding ones like classical, opera, and power metal. Prior to the acquisition of these, I was using Athena AS-B2s as fronts, AS-B1.2s as rears, and an AS-C1 centre channel. My powered sub is a 12" Cerwin Vega (Sub-120), and this is all hooked up to a Harman Kardon AVR-230. DVDs and BRDs are played through my PS3, while CDs are from a JVC P.E.M. d/a CD changer, run through a 7-band Pioneer graphic equalizer.

Regardless, I was in the market for some preowned towers, as I was unhappy with the sound I was getting from my Athena AS-B2s as fronts. I felt there was a lot of midrange detail lacking, therefore a set of Athena AS-F1s or AS-F2s would not make a difference; both speakers are two way towers. Having rear-ported bookshelves was also causing bass and sub-blending issues.

Luckily enough, a friend spotted the RTS-P100s on a local classifieds site, and I was immediately smitten with their trapezoidal shape and appearance in light oak. Plus, knowing that the Sound Dynamics line was replaced by the Athena line (in the API speaker lineup) gave me hope that these towers would be the closest 3-ways I could get to timbre match my centre.

After some extended listening and tweaking, I think some other reviewers have nailed it - very transparent and forward speakers with an excellent soundstage. The powered subwoofers provide good musical bass that allows you to take some load off your sub. This gave me instant improvement in dialog when watching Dolby Digital and DTS programming, plus got rid of the bass bloat and cascading crossover issues I always seemed to have between my sub (CV Sub-12) and my Athenas. They also sound good with all genres, and need less EQ tweaking that any speaker I've ever owned, even on poorer recordings.

Power handling is superb. I was able to play music at punishing levels, and the tweeter and mids never broke up or distorted. Rated to 250 watts, I have a suspicion that my receiver (or hearing) will give out before these towers.

As a music lover, I believe these speakers truly excel in the mids and highs. Sharp yet non-fatguing, the tweeter gives proper resonance to strings and synthesizer, and keeps the needed metallic snap when cymbals are played. Between the mid and tweeter, piano and vocals don't disappear into the mix - they stay up front, clear, and precise. Plus, all of the ambient sounds associated with making music are there - studio echo, the sound of fingers dragging on guitar strings, pick noises, etc. Really, this is the way music should sound - just like it was recorded, and the musicians are in your living room.

Not sure about the other "fit and finish" comments - these are quality-built Canadian speakers. Yes, they are vinyl wrapped, but I found the build quality solid - on a par with some of the other classic North American built speakers I have owned (CV, Boston, JBL). Compared to the late 90's Infinity towers one of my friends uses, and another friend's Paradigm Monitor 90s, these stack up extremely well.

Since the brand name "Sound Dynamics" didn't have the cachet of API's other brands such as Energy and Mirage, speakers in the RTS lineup can usually be found for extremely reasonable prices. If you have a chance to get a set of these for a reasonable price, I fully recommend them. In my opinion, these speakers are fabulous.

Price Paid:  $550.00 from 800.com

Summary:
tweeter hooked up in phase the sound will give you a headache in an hour.
but when you reverse the polarity on the tweeters and bump up the treble a little bit the sound is transparent and disapears behind the speakers i can listen for day without getting a headache,but when i put the tweeters back in phase 20mins later i get a headache,changing the phase its heaven the tweeters are great they just have to much energy sound sounds better than speakers costing 3 times more,but with speakers costing that much you cant turn it up all the way like these do no stress at all metal,jazz & rock are great with no sharp edges.
nothing gets 5 star bass rolls off at 45hz sharply
i haven't played with the phase to the woofers but there mite be a way to get lower bass at least to 38hz.

Strengths:
reversing the polarity on the tweeters the sound is refined no sharp edges.

Weaknesses:
tweeter hooked up in phase the sound will give you a headache in an hour.

Similar Products Used:
psb,nht,carver,harman kardon,dynaco,halfer,kenwood

Price Paid:  $800.00 from amsound

Summary:
Just got these speakers a couple of days ago and I cannot say enough good things about them. The speakers looked even better than I had expected and the fit and finish was great. I thought I would mention that since a lot of people were complaining about the build quality. I got them in black since the light birch was no longer available. Once set up I was totally blown away from their sound. I put some Tracy Chapman in and the extreme detail of her voice and music gave me goosebumps. I have been burning them in for 2 days now and they sound better everytime I listen to them. No need for an external subwoofer when listening to music, the basss is extremley fast and tight and you have to keep the gain down quite low so as to not rattle items on your wall. I can't say for sure how all the other speakers above would have sounded in my room, but I can't imagine there is a speaker that sounds any better than these at this price range. Read reviews and articles and try to find a negative on their sound.


I'm running them as large fronts through my yamaha 2095 with the LFE out going to my Paradigm servo 15,which I only use for DVD. My room is about 350sf with hard wood floors and vauted ceilings. Call Mike at amsound if you're looking for a pair

Strengths:
Incredible detail, Punchy bass, Value

Weaknesses:
None so far

Similar Products Used:
Paradigm, Jamo, Polk, Phase Tech, Monitor Audio, Mission, and a few others

Summary:
I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A BIG FAN OF HIGH QUALITY SOUND BUT HAVE NEVER BEEN QUITE ABLE TO PULL THE TRIGGER ON THE PRICE TAG. BUT,AFTER VISITING BRETT INTERIORS IN TUCSON, AND TALKING IN GREAT DEPTH WITH THE OWNER "ART",I WAS CONVINCED TO AT LEAST GIVE THESE SPEAKERS A SERIOUS CONSIDERATION. SO, I DID WHAT ANYONE ON A FAIRLY TIGHT BUDGET WOULD DO. I RESEARCHED THE PRODUCTS UNTIL I HAD NO DOUBT IN MY MIND THAT I WAS MAKING A WISE CHOICE.SO, I PURCHASED THE ENTIRE SYSTEM. AND I AM VERY PLEASED. THESE GUYS SOUND BETTER AND BETTER EACH DAY!!! THANK YOU SOUND DYNAMICS AND BRETT INTERIORS. I WOULD HAVE SPENT MUCH MORE FOR MUCH LESS WITHOUT YOU!

RTS-C2 CENTER
RTS-P100'S MAIN
RTS-RS1 SURROUNDS
OH, AND NOT TO MENTION A YAMAHA RV-1105 RECIEVER AS WELL.

Strengths:
HUGE EFFORTLESS SOUND, ROOM SHAKING YET VERY ACURATE OVERALL. NOT TO MENTION VALUE!

Weaknesses:
YOUR KIDDING! RIGHT?

Similar Products Used:
BOSE ACCOUSTIMASS. PARADIGM. B&W.

Summary:
Used these about 1 month but decided to look into a speaker with a slightly smaller cabinet size. The speaker has a very nice sound. It is very natural and clarity is excellent. The bass ties in well and produces a nice full sound, especially noted with acoustic music and jazz. The tweeters give a nice clear and natural sound. There was never any harshness.
The cabinets are a little too big for my listening area and the midrange drivers would buzz intemittently with certain frequencies. I tried to fix this by tightening the speaker screws and then rotating the drivers in their wells, but this didn't fix the problem. During the process I noticed that there was a lot of glue in the driver wells and the wood was very rough. Perhaps that was the problem, not allowing a solid fit?
I also did notice a tendency toward fuzziness with loud volumes.
I am currently auditioning the Energy Audissey and so far feel that the sound is just as clear but the appearance is much better.
Overall they are nice speakers, just not the best suited for me. 5 stars for value since they sounded better than almost anything that I auditioned in the same price range. 4 Stars for overall because of the build quality and appearance.
I use a Denon AVR 3300, MIT Terminator 3 cables, Sony CD CXP 90 ES

Strengths:
Bass, clarity, natural sounding highs

Weaknesses:
Finish, appearance, size is large, Buzzing Midrange driver

Similar Products Used:
Monitor Audio 4, Energy Audissey 3+2, Auditioned B&W DM 604, Def Tech BP2004