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REVIEWED
REVIEWED: RCF ART 9 Series
By Carl Hirst.
RCF is a brand that needs no introduction. So many DJs and production companies I know use its products, including the popular Evox range. I own several RCF speakers in the ART series, and have always highly rated the build quality and sound of all its products.

Understandably, I was intrigued by news of the ART 9 – the latest iteration in the series – and I jumped at the chance to get my hands on a pair for review. Happily the much-anticipated delivery coincided with a return to gigs – at long last, I could get back to normal party levels and pack those dance floors again!

RCF says that the ART 9 series is completely new and like nothing they have ever manufactured. And with a fresh design as well as completely new components, I’m happy to say that what I got was nothing like what I expected. In fact, I’d go as far as saying this new series will be seen as a landmark moment for the company. Not only has RCF improved a range that already meets a very high standard, but the company’s claim to have taken a giant leap is no hollow boast.

The redesign comes as RCF celebrates a 25-year history of the ART series – and they’ve really celebrated in style with this ninth generation, which includes six active speakers ranging from 10" to 15" woofers, all sharing the same technology and a brand-new amplifier. RCF says that the new ART 9 series is created with the user but more importantly with “music in mind”. All transducers and components are designed, manufactured and built by RCF at its factory in Italy, ensuring optimum build quality with robust quality control.

The product names in the ART 9 series follow the same convention as those of the ART 7 series. For example: ART 945-A. The first digit is the series number, the second is the size of high frequency (tweeter) and the third is the size of low frequency (woofer). For the larger of the high-frequency speakers, there is a bigger voice coil on the low frequency. Meanwhile, the drivers offered are 1.75” as well as 3” and 4” neodymium versions.

The cabinets feature an all-new design, finished in a sleek black, and have full-length grills complete with a new black on black RCF logo – something that really complements the new design. In terms of construction, the cabinets are made of a special polypropylene composite material, which RCF tells us is a radically new construction concept. The use of new technology includes an M-Brace internal reinforcement design, which connects all four sides of the enclosure with the amplifier, preventing any deformation for a completely inert body, with augmented acoustical damping even at maximum volume settings. The M-brace has been designed to ensure greater resistance to mechanical stress whilst running and performing.

All the models in the series share a brand-new 2100W, 2-channel, Class-D amplifier with advanced digital signal processing (DSP), making it the most powerful in its class and an incredible 50% more powerful than all previous models. The DSP can be set to linear (or flat), stage (for when the speaker is placed on its side for use as a floor monitor) and boost (for a bass boost).

The amplifier is hugely energy efficient, so much so that there is no need for a cooling fan – a huge advantage over other speakers within a similar class. The circuit is attached to a solid aluminium heat exchanger in the back of the unit, with no moving parts.

The newly designed RCF transducers feature advanced materials such as Kapton, titanium, and neodymium. The new 1.75” compression driver with polyimide-Kapton dome features a new bonding technology and reinforced ribs that make it ten times more durable than previous models. Meanwhile, the newly designed woofers gain more stability over high currents, meaning less distortion. Each woofer goes through a rigorous 200-hour continuous signal in order to stress the transducer at extreme levels, a feature of RCF’s robust quality control.

The ART 9 series also carries the new RCF-designed true resistive waveguide (TRW), which is the result of several refinements in the design of the transducers and the vented ports, using finite element analysis and constant measurement in RCF anechoic chambers. TRW mimics a resonance-free pure resistive load, reducing the high-frequency distortion of a classic horn. Its acoustic radiation, the coverage angle of the waveguide, provides constant directivity to the entire listening area with a balanced stereo output. All these components work in harmony with two RCF-owned and exclusive DSP algorithms: one for phase linearisation and crossover design, another for woofer excursion management.

FiRPHASE is a digital FiR technology that allows for a coherent distribution of sound without phase distortions, ensuring minimum latencies to the entire speaker’s system. With proprietary FiRPHASE technology, the new shape, and the placement of the vented ports, the speaker now acts as a single source for a true sound image. The woofer excursion management feature, Bass Motion Control, works by creating a complete map of the dynamic behaviour of the transducer, to generate a custom algorithm that only limits over-excursions. This gives total freedom of signal reproduction, avoiding both high-pass filters and large-band limiters. In turn, this enables the speaker to produce the input signal at all volume levels for entire audible uses, maintaining all the music with deep, detailed bass response.

You may notice that RCF has removed the little used microphone level feature (more commonly known as a hazard in waiting!). The microphone level on the ART 3/7 and Evox is recessed but it was still an invitation for problems when you weren’t using a microphone but having it at that level.

The cabinets are very easy to transport thanks to the newly designed rubberised handles (one handle for the 10” and three for the 12” and 15” models). There is also a hidden hand hold on the 12” and 15” models under the bottom of the grill. Underneath the cabinet is a steel pole socket for mounting the speaker onto a stand or subwoofer pole. Each model can also be flown (there is an eye bolt for safety) or wall- or truss-mounted using multiple M10 threaded rigging points and special accessories.

With events back and a busy diary once again, I got to put the 12” version of the ART 9 series to use as PA for live music at two outdoor events. I also used it at a prom held in a very large room. I was completely blown away with the sheer quality and sound for the live music events. On both occasions, the musicians asked me where I had hidden the subs and extra fills for the outdoor space. To which I replied: nope, just these units!

At the prom, I had a few hundred 16-year-olds dancing around for our first proper night back in an indoor setting, which also happened to be the 19th July (or Freedom Day, as the media dubbed it). I set up the ART 9s with my twin 18” RCF 8003s, so four subs to provide the ultimate club night for a very eager audience. The sound was incredible; crisp and clean; simply one of the nicest sounds I’ve ever heard. In fact, I worked the prom with none other than Pete Holding, Pro Mobile’s Editor, who was visibly amazed when I turned off the subs to show him the power of two 12” speakers in a room that can accommodate 500 people.

To summarise, the ART 9 series is more revolution than evolution from RCF. And, to my mind, it’s a revolution in the professional portable sound arena. Designed with a sleek finish, packed with advanced technology, and housed in solid tour-ready cabinets, the ART 9 speakers set a new standard in professional portable audio and would also be perfectly suited to high-power installations.

These really are the complete package and I can’t wait to use them again. I’m just waiting on Italy to ship me a pair!
The full review can be found in Pro Mobile Issue 109, Pages 72-74.
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