RBH Sound Reference 815 In-Ceiling Speaker Review

Watching movies is a favorite past time for so many of us. And it’s that much nicer to be able to do it from the comfort of our own homes. There are many different levels of audio, starting with just stereo speakers in our TV, to the current best format being Dolby Atmos or DTS X. The best format now uses height speakers to increase the surround sound effect. One of the best manufacturers for home surround sound systems is RBH Sound. And up for review today is their top of the line in-ceiling speakers, it’s their RBH Sound Reference 815. Also included is their optional BC-8R steel back can.

 

Features and specs:

Recommended Power:              50W - 200W

Woofer:             1 x 8" (200mm) (133.35mm) Anodized Aluminum Cone

Tweeter:            1 x 1.38" x 1" (36mm x 26mm) AMT tweeter

Frequency Response (±3dB):  45Hz - 40kHz

Sensitivity:        91dB

Impedance:      8 Ohms

Crossover Frequency: 2.7kHz

Dimensions:     10.6" Dia x D 5.1" (270mm Dia x D 130mm)

Weight:              6.4 lbs (2.9kg)

 

The RBH Sound Reference 815 came in a standard white box. Opening the box revealed a well-protected speaker held in place by custom cardboard. Materials used in the construction was mostly metal and plastic, with some rubber. Quality of materials used, as well as fit and finish, was excellent. Materials such as manual and installation are found online.

 

I love the design of the RBH Sound Reference 815, but we must first cover what they were designed for. Since its first format Dolby Stereo was introduced back in 1975, there have been advancements to Dolby Surround, to Dolby Pro Logic. Dolby Digital was the first surround format that utilized full range to all channels. Now we have Dolby Atmos, which includes height channels, which are also full range.

 

RBH Sound, being the premium manufacturer they are, designed the Reference 815 in-ceiling to take full advantage of Dolby Atmos. They are a two-way design, featuring an 8-inch woofer and a separate tweeter. So if the sound track provides it, these speakers can provide deep bass. They can even handle a lot of power, up to 200 watts RMS worth.

 

What makes these RBH Sound Reference 815 really special, is they are part of their top-of-the-line Reference Series. They use the same high quality aluminum woofer that is used in the rest of their Reference Series. It’s a stiff cone that provides excellent dynamics thanks to its great responsiveness and control from the beefy magnet. It also employs the same amazing AMT tweeter, that is also utilized in all of the other Reference Series speakers. The AMT tweeter is fast, provides excellent detail and transients with a huge soundstage, wide frequency response, and an airy transparent sound.

I also love the overall design and build quality of the RBH Sound Reference 815. They employ a solid stamped steel basket, beefy magnet with a vented back plate.   The wire is a sufficiently thick 16-gauge wire for high power handling. The crossover board with excellent quality capacitors and inductors is also mounted to the back plate. I spoke to RBH Sound regarding the design, and the use of a stamped basket when the rest of the Reference Series uses a cast aluminum basket.  I was told that it was intentional due to the environment they are installed in.  While they offer a back can for it, the back can is an optional accessory for it.  Most are sold without it.  And installed in the ceiling, there could be insulation that could get into the speaker.  The design of the stamped basket provides more material that more encloses and protects the internals of the speaker, while with a cast basket it is mostly open.  And while there are some audio benefits of using a cast instead of a stamped basket, there is potential longer lifespan for the customer using a stamped basket.  Makes sense. 

 

But RBH Sound doesn’t stop there. Like the rest of their Reference Series in-wall speakers that utilize an enclosure, they have provided an optional steel back can. The back can screws onto the back of the speaker to create on enclosure for it. There’s a lot of in-wall/in-ceiling speaker options from a lot of manufacturers, and most of them do not utilize on enclosure. Instead, the entire wall cavity becomes the enclosure.

 

But you get the best sound when an enclosure is used. This is thanks to controlled acoustics. Manufacturer can utilize exact air space a speaker needs with an appropriately sized enclosure to maximize performance for nice tight bass and improved mids. You also don’t get sound leakage into other rooms. So keeping true to RBH Sound philosophy, they provide the best speaker possible, and do so by providing a back can for it. The thick gauge steel can has the same excellent quality push terminals on the back, with 16-gauge wire to connect to the speaker terminals. There’s a foam gasket glued to the lip of the back can to create an excellent seal, along with poly fill, to help with bass response. Once screwed down with the included screws, it creates an in-ceiling speaker with its own enclosure.

 

Speaker voice also needs to be taken into consideration. The RBH Sound Reference 816 uses the same woofer and tweeter as the rest of their Reference Series. That means they have the same voice. This is critical for home theater. You and I do not have the same voice, we sound different. Having speakers in your home theater that work together and have the same voice is critical. That way, when you are watching a movie, and a helicopter flies from left to right, and the sound travels across the front three speakers, or if it flies from in front of you to behind you, and you hear the sound span from your front speakers to the ceiling speakers to the rear speakers, it is a fluid sound motion that doesn’t stick out. That’s because all the speakers having the same voice sound the same. This provides a seamless transfer of sound going from one speaker to another that sounds the same.

 

What this means is while the RBH Sound Reference 815 is an excellent in-celling speaker that can be utilized as a whole house speaker that can be used in the ceilings throughout your home. It is also a perfect fit for their Reference Series for use in an elite home theater system. So depending on the size of your home theater, two, four, or six of the RBH Sound Reference 815’s would be used in the ceiling for height channel speakers, for the ultimate home theater speaker system.

 

What also can’t be forgotten is what is considered the Wife Acceptance Factor, or WAF. To get the best sound, as previously discussed, you need an enclosure. But having bulky tower speakers in the front of your room, as well as bookshelf or more tower speakers at the rear and sides, let’s just say it doesn’t score well on the WAF. And then you add mounting bookshelf speakers to the ceiling, for the best sound, well…now the WAF really plummets. It just doesn’t look nearly as good. But with the RBH Sound you can use their Reference Series, and with each speaker including the ceiling speakers, having their own enclosures, not only do they sound excellent, but being in-wall and in-ceiling, it looks really clean as well!

 

Installation was also fairly simple. Online was the cut sheet, for installation. Once the hole in the drywall was cut, a Phillips screwdriver does the job. The swing out dog-leg mounting system worked well, and made for an easy installation. The included grills are steel mesh and is magnetically held in place. And while they come in white, they can easily be painted for the color you need. Now that it’s installed, let’s see how they sound.

 

Listening:

Music:

 

Rhapsody in Blue – Clarinet had amazing air, with excellent resolution for the woodiness of the reed to come through well. Piano was very dynamic with excellent resolution to not only hear the impact of the string but also its decay. And the piano also sounded much more lifelike than a speaker should at this price point. I grew up around piano all my life with my mom playing daily, and my wife enjoys her baby grand. I have yet to hear a speaker at any price that can exactly duplicate a piano as if you were standing right next to it. And the RBH Sound Reference 815 performed much better than expected with the piano. The bassoon had very good texture. Brass was also silky smooth with excellent dynamics and harmonics.

Mayo Nakono Piano Trios “Scabious” – this track really shows off what a speaker can do when it comes to piano. The dynamics were great, as were the tone of the strings. I loved having enough resolution to be able to hear not just the impact of the hammer on the string, but also the decay of the string. And the details that the AMT tweeter are able to add, such as an airy nature that gave a real depth to the soundstage. And due to the wide dispersion, they also threw a wide soundstage. The instant transient response, excellent detail, and large soundstage, all added to what yielded a synergy that created a sound that was almost holographic in nature. It was like being on stage with the performers!

Junior Wells: Why are People Like That – vocals were very natural with excellent smoothness and texture of the timbre. Harmonica was so crisp and clean with excellent dynamics and harmonics, it gave me goosebumps! Drums also had excellent dynamics with very good resolution of the impact of the stick on the pad. Bass had very nice low-end extension. Cymbals were also so very crisp and clean with excellent resolution of the impact of the stick and the cymbals decay.

For you gamers: Sugaan Essena – Jedi Fallen order – the resolution of the lute was excellent, being able to hear the bow as it ran across the stings, and drums had excellent dynamics and resolution of the impact. Vocals had an excellent rawness of the texture of the timbre that came through in spades. And again the speed of the tweeter, along with its resolution, airiness, and size of dispersion and soundstage, was an aural feast. And it yielded a creation that again was almost holographic, and felt like I was right there in the recording studio.

 

Movies:

 

Ready Player One: Race scene- the revving of the engines showed off the cones stiffness by providing very good low-end extension and authority. Pitch definition of the midbass and bass was also extremely good. The stiffness of the aluminum cone also provided excellent control of the cone for excellent dynamics and resolution. Such as when the fireworks went off to start the race. There was excellent dynamics of the bang when the fireworks exploded that extended deep into the low-end, and continued into the mids and highs as the fireworks were sent across the soundstage. The various peeling and screeching of tires showed off the excellent resolution of both the woofer and tweeter. And when players were run over, causing their coins to become available, Z opened the door of this DeLoreon to collect those coins. As he spun the car all around, collecting those lost coins, you could really hear the wide soundstage all across the ceiling of the room, showcasing the really wide dispersion of the AMT tweeter. And the collection of all those coins was also so crisp and clean, revealing the excellent resolution and dynamics of the AMT tweeter as well! And then Kongs running to the finish line also made transparent the low-end extension that came through with sufficient authority.

Spider-Man: Far From Home- Ferris wheel scene – the roars of the monster had good low-end depth and authority. Shooting his webs at the monster was really crisp and clean. The explosions were also extremely dynamic with good low-end punch. I have watched this movie many times and they did an excellent job on the quality of the soundtrack of this scene. I used to be a scoutmaster and have been camping many, many times, and the fires in this scene, for example, has superb detail and resolution, sounding like a real campfire with the crisp and clean crackling.

Greatest Showman: Never Enough Song scene – I love how the passion builds and builds and builds. As the singer pours her heart into her performance, it is superbly portrayed. The harmonics were smoother than honey with excellent resolution to clearly show off the texture of the timbre. Even at reference level volume her vocals shined through without any strain.

 

RBH Sound has done it again with their Reference 815. It is extremely difficult to design a speaker that can not only provide the dynamics needed for a movie at reference level volumes, but to also do so with excellent resolution and sound quality. RBH Sound succeeded on all accounts. The high-quality surround and stiff cone provides great excursion to help with the reference quality dynamics, low-end extension, and output with authority. Mids were warm with excellent harmonics and levels of details not often heard at this price point. And the stellar AMT tweeter provides the same level of crispness and resolution with excellent air and transparency to the highs that are also not often found at this price point. Now don’t get me wrong, they aren’t perfect. Like I would love to see a swivel built into the tweeter housing to angle them more towards the listening position. But it had such a wide dispersion, the tweeter managed without it. And sound signature sounded more neutral.

 

The RBH Sound Reference 815 proved to be an excellent performer. They have the features and sound quality to serve as a stand-alone in a while house speaker system, or as the mains or surrounds in a small home theater system. But utilizing the same midrange driver and tweeter as is found in the rest of the RBH Sound Reference speakers, that means they also have the same voice as the rest of those reference series speakers. What this provides is and excellent height channel speaker with the same sound fluid across the entire soundstage.

 

There are certainly a lot of options out there for home theater system speakers. But if you would prefer to have the convenience of staying home to watch your movies, yet also have sound at least as good, if not better than your local movie theater, the list of potential speakers just got a lot smaller. RBH Sound is one of those options, with excellent build quality to provide many years of use. They deserve to be on your short list.  Add to the fact that they are also made here in the US, it’s also nice to know you are supporting local jobs.  It would also be a difficult task to find a better in-ceiling speaker at their price point.  While it’s a price point that may be too high for many, I believe Ferris Beuller said it best after driving the Ferrari:  It I so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend it.  Based on its design, features, quality, and performance, the RBH Sound Reference 815 has earned our Editor’s Choice Award. For more info and complete specs, check out their website at www.rbhsound.com.