This review was added by The Ninja Minions.  The source is either an email sent to us or internet posting.

I've only heard great things about the rsc200 bigfoot. It seems that everyone's favorite speaker in their HT setup is almost universally the bigfoot center. Well I've had mine for about a year now, and it just never really did it for me. I mean, it really is the best center I've heard in its price range, but it never really was my favorite. I kind of always felt the "s" sounds were just too harsh on my ears and there seemed to always be a tad bit too much going on in the upper end.

 

Enter the Ninja. I went ahead and decided to try out one of the ninja master crossovers for the bigfoot earlier last month. This was actually before Mark started offering his own sig crossover for the bigfoot. I've finally had the time to go ahead and install the 2 boards and some NoREz. Ladies and gentlemen, this is no slouch of an upgrade. If you have some of the same qualms as me, this is a pretty reasonable way to really make your speaker shine. As everyone here has been echoing (and I'm assuming this goes for the regular sig board as well), the ninja'd bigfoot is quite a different beast. The harsh "s" has mellowed out quite nicely and all the detail comes through just as clearly. I can also confirm that you do get better off-axis response with this new crossover. I now have what literally sounds like a more flat response (Thanks Danny R!) and a much improved center channel speaker.

 

I don't really know how much the NoRez added, but it sure was a pain in the ass to install. However, for those of you that do end up getting the NoREz kit from the Ninja, the precut squares make it immensely easier to install. For those of you looking to keep your bigfoot for the long run and are interested in making a tangible upgrade, look no further than the sig upgrade! :End Rave Review

 

- jottle

This review was added by The Ninja Minions.  The source is either an email sent to us or internet posting.

So how does it sound?? It sounds great! My fiancee and I noticed the difference right away.
Voices are more articulate and easier to understand, and to test this I put in LOTR FOTR where they reach the mines of Moria. To me voices before were sometimes garbled sounding and I would have a hard time making out some of the things being said in this scene. Now I could hear everything much more clearly and other details from the movie came through much better. Such as Gandalf turning the pages of the book he read out of in this same scene, the sound of each page being turned was very crisp and clean sounding.

That hard edgy bite is also gone, along with the sibilance I would often hear.

Heavy dialogue show's without any special fx don't need to be turned up as loud to hear everything clearly. On my receiver (Pioneer Elite 56TXi) instead listening to a dvd at a volume setting of say 30 or 28, I can listen to it just fine at 38 now.

All in all a very worthy upgrade, especially if you are going to be holding onto the RSC200 for the long haul.

*Would like to add* I've been listening of course more and more and have to say that everything really sounds much better than I thought it would. Very clean, transparent sounding, and greatly improved detail. Watched 'Clerks II' this morning and dialog was spot on without any sibilance.

 

- bz79

This review was added by The Ninja Minions.  The source is either an email sent to us or internet posting.

The 1st demo was the opening battle scene from Gladiator. Boy was that harsh! [referring to the stock classic RSC200] I had to restrain myself from asking Sean to turn down. The classic played the sound track as well as could be expected. The sig was a little less harsh. The ninja was even slightly smoother. I also notice each step up brought more detail. With the ninja I was able to make out a few words that weren't clear before.

The next demo that sticks out in my mind is a Porcupine Tree DVD-A cut. This was mixed so that the lead vocals were in the center channel. Some guitars were in the surrounds. Half way through the song, the subs would kick in with a bass line. That was our cue to switch speakers. This was actually a great demo piece that highlighted the differences in resolution between the 3 versions. The sig had more detail than the classic and the ninja had more detail than the sig. With the ninja, you could even hear the sounds of singer open and closing his mouth. The Ninja is a very high resolution speaker!

There were several other demo cuts - an orchestral piece from the Grifters DVD, a Porcupine Tree DVD and a Dixie Chicks song. I didn't listen as intentally to those and can't comment on the differences between the three versions.

Having just a single speaker active, I'm unable to comment on imaging and soundstage.

Afterwards Sean and Sarah described the process of putting these mods together - cutting the wire, tinning the various piece of wire, attaching the components with liquid nails to the board, etc. It's a shame that since craftsman/woman-ship attention to detail is hidden from view. Sean also described how there are THREE XO boards for the RSC200. That separating them decreases the interference between them and allowed for cleaner sound. The mid range and tweeter boards are mounted close together but they are rotated so they are perpendicular to each other. Again to eliminate interference between the components.

So, if you're looking for the ultimate RSC200, the Ninja is it. If you can't swing the $130-$300 for a Ninja, the $89 Sig upgrade is well worth it.

 

- PAW