¿Algún Russell K 50 por Murcia...?

Very recently I had the pleasure of reviewing speakers from the new ATC range of Standmount speakers, which got great reviews from Dominic and I. The smaller of the speakers, the 7 and 11s ticked so many boxes, including detail retrieval, speed, accuracy and transparency but they were very specifically voiced to the cleaner presentation. What I find just so embracing about the Russell K’s is that they can compete with ATCs toe to toe and with their internal acoustic shelf and porting add another layer of enjoyment through conveying that little bit of warmth which makes them so much more engrossing and rich sounding, allowing for more intimacy, especially in the midrange, fleshing out vocals and giving the impression of greater soundstage depth with a smoother upper midrange which controls female vocalists especially well.
This richness is also evident when listening to Jazz music and Acoustic pieces. You cannot listen to Trad’ Jazz without richness. Overall bass weight can be questionable or user specific but the richness has to be there and when equally balanced with strong detail and transparency a standmounted speaker in a smaller room such as the Red 50 will be so effective.
On the acoustical side of things my main concern with a small speaker is that when a guitar note is played, so often do you only hear the top half of the note, the decay can be missed, the note sounds too sharp and the instruments cabinet resonance is non existent. Russell K’s Red 50 do not suffer from this issue, yes it can be done more effectively with a speaker of a larger scale but from a cabinet of this size and again I reflect on the price tag, the Red 50 holds it head up high without a smug grin, just a look of confidence in their abilities to outperform some of the serious competition in today’s extremely competitive market.

During the process of reviewing the Red 50s I’ve used a few amps on them. A Jeff Rowland integrated some Muse Monos with Rowland pre and my DiDiT DAC/PRE with some Cairn Monos. Each pairing of amplification has driven the speakers with no issues and although not very sensitive they are an easy load to drive. Each pairing has also proven to me how transparent the 50s are and the character of each amplifier has really shone through without damaging the Russell K flavour of house sound.

I ran the tweeter through its paces with a wide variety of music. At the time of review I also had the Martin Logan Motion 15’s in with their undoubtedly exceptional Motion Ribbon, which for me is the standout driver of the design. The Russell K tweeter excelled with the very peaks and air with Nils Lofgren’s guitar on the Acoustic Live version of Keith Don’t Go and the pace was ahead of the Motion Ribbon. However the ribbon tweeter had a slightly more fleshed out tonality allowing for more body in the lower treble regions, both still exciting and engrossingly musical.

Electronica and dance music favours the soft dome tweeter and transparency in the upper limits was dynamically more mature and thrilling. Integration of the entire Red 50 design with the faster paced music was flawless and the Red 50 can certainly be enjoyed very much indeed with many genres and the overall compliment of drivers, crossovers and cabinets makes for a level of dynamics and realism that can be natural or within the realms of electronic music, the designs bass limitations and room size is just great!

Conclusion
It’s been a long time since I’ve heard a small standmount sized speaker which can offer lucid mids, natural tones and sheer enthusiasm in a realistic sense for under a grand.
The Russell K Red 50 is such a compliment to Russell Kauffman’s years of work in the Hifi industry and his extensive knowledge of driver selection and integration through working at with other driver design companies is reflected in the speakers’ instinctive performance.
I listened intently to flaws in the design after first impressions were just so good and I don’t believe that anything that resided in their frequency response ever sounded out of place or unsympathetic to the material I played.
With true transparency a whip like responsiveness and the ability to hold the emotion of a strong vocal, the Red 50 is one of the very best small standmount speakers around £1000 that I have heard to date.

Pros:
Astonishing bass for the size
Detailed, transparent with a touch of warmth
Realistic appreciation for many genres