Richter Acoustics was a very well known Australian high end designer and manufacturer of loudspeaker systems. Even today, their floor systems and surround systems are highly sought after.
But besides the high end market, Richter produced some more affordable (but still very good) loudspeaker systems. taking aim at the price conscious buyer and these bookshelf speakers were one such offering from Richter Acoustics.
These bookshelf speakers are directly aimed at the audio enthusiast who is looking at a good sounding compact loudspeaker system, on a tight budget.
Back in the day, these Merlin's were released in the 1990's at A499.00 RRP the pair - one of the cabinets still has the old price sticker attached!
HISTORY:
We purchased these Richters (along with Dragons and a few others) brand new way back in the 1990's for evaluation (our business was audio post production) and since the business has now ceased operations, they have been in our storage units and very recently I took them home and have been using them for "general purpose" listening in my home office (when the wonderful Monitor Audio Silver's aren't in use!)
RICHTER BOOKSHELF LOUDSPEAKERS (2)
Designed & manufactured in Australia
Merlin Series ***
*** These are early Merlins and should not be confused with the S6, V's or similar
Black Ash veneer
Two way system with rear venting
100W RMS Handling 2x
6 Ohm impedance
Banana socket/screw down connectors to the rear (NOT bi-wired)
Each speaker dimensions: 382mm height x 234mm deep x 212mm wide
Weight (of each speaker): 7Kg
So what is inside these MERLINS?
TWEETER:
PHILIPS AD 11610 T8 2422 257 43505
MADE IN BELGIUM
Mylar Dome Tweeters
(These are being sold by other people online as separate spare parts for A$50 each)
DRIVER/WOOFER:
Magnavox
6W 622 8 OHM 92
Internally mounted crossover network
LC with 2x inductors, poly caps and wirewound resistors
Retail sticker on the rear of one cabinet confirms the original RRP A$499 at the time of purchase
COSMETIC CONDITION:
Very good (overall)
Grille cloths are both substantially undamaged (slight rubbing noticed on one but nothing dramatic)
Cabinets are in very good condition, joints are tight and the black ash veneer is substantially unmarked
HOWEVER one small detraction! On one cabinet (only) lower right hand side it has taken a knock when moving these and there is a small dent/crush in that corner. Again it is not overly dramatic, but not perfect either
Both speaker cones are perfect, no damage to the cones or the centre dust covers.
TESTING:
We used these on a casual basis in one of our client "waiting areas" for general purpose listening over a period of approximately 20 years and they always performed great. They may be low cost (for a Richter!) but they have always performed very well. At the time it was pretty hard to find a GOOD bookshelf system that wasn't stupidly priced!
About a month ago I took them out of the storage units and warmed them up, in fact they have been in constant use for the last 6 days and although I still love my Dali's Vifa's and particularly the Monitor Audio's, these Richter's perform well. I noticed they are not tiring to the ears, they make listening to music a pleasure!
Bass is (not surprisingly) a bit limited as they only go down to around 65Hz, so if you like your bass to really thump, get a decent sub-woofer to enhance that end of the audio spectrum - these little loudspeakers just will not cut it.
But that said, the bass is still fine (for me) and well balanced against the high's - I particularly liked the crispness and detail in the sound and even when the bass is thumping away, the overall sound doesn't turn into a horrible lumpy mess!!
These are really good "bang for the buck" and hey! an Aussie high end audio company with a very very good reputation.
