CG23 MONITOR / CENTER CHANNEL – DISCONTINUED

These are amazing speakers! I’m not much of a audiophile, so my opinion may not be of much value, but these speakers are great for both music and movies! I watched Tenet after getting these and they handle all of the sound so well.

I had spent a lot of time in the Best Buy Magnolia room and after I got these speakers, I fail to see what more expensive speakers can do that these can’t. But again, I’m just a regular consumer. Love them.

Simply Awesome! These along with the CG3s were my entry into RSL. Had 3 of these for a front sound stage in a home theater setup. If it wasn’t for the CG5 line these would still be in my living room setup ( which now belongs to the CG5/25s I have now ). These now reside in my bedroom system...and rockin’ it! Great job RSL!

Just wow. That's my reaction to a small package that produces such phenomenal sound. A few years ago, after moving into a new house, we wanted to install a combined in-ceiling/on-wall solution for surround sound in the main living room. After much research, (during which I somehow did not discover RSL) we selected wall-mounted LCRs from a well known, well-distributed manufacturer and in-ceiling speakers from another.

The LCR solution was - OK - not brilliant, but certainly serviceable and light years ahead of TV sound. Two problems kept nagging at me, however - The first was that music just wasn't all that great. Due to geometric considerations and plans for the living room, I had to put my "big rig" that was in the living room of the old house into what is effectively the kids playroom. It made it less convenient to casually listen to music on the big system. The second problem was dialog clarity and lack of timbre and depth to voices. It was just never there.

Fast forward 4 years - and I finally decide it's time to upgrade. What I *really* wanted was to try CG5s for LR and a CG25 for center - but that just wasn't going to happen. After mocking an install up with boxes, it was way too obvious that wall mounting was going to look too weird for my wife and the situation wasn't right for stands. I finally "settled" on going with 3 CG23s for the LCRs up front - and holy cow do I not regret it. The 3 CG23s cost about a 1/3 less than the speakers they replaced and sound about 10 times better. My jaw dropped the first time I cranked up my critical listening playlist - and more importantly, so did my wife's!

For music, the CG23s put out more bass, smoother treble, better integrated sound and actually imaged! The soundstage was just phenomenal for less than ideally positioned, wall-mount speakers. Indeed, the image seems to exist slightly outside the speaker footprint. Really remarkable. Note this is a large room, easily 20x30, and there was no lack of sound.

Surround/Movie testing confirmed the music impressions. Wow was the dialog clarity better. Voices now had heft and were more precisely located. As a bonus, the punch from action scenes was also significantly dialed up with much more authority. The level of detail you could make out of the mix was greatly increased.

Suffice to say, I'm more than pleased with a purchase that cost less than the speakers they replaced and perform at much higher level. I actually enjoy listening to music now. Does this compare with the several thousand dollars in Focal speakers upstairs? Not exactly from a pure performance standpoint - but it *is* just as *fun* to listen to and that really matters. Next step is going to be a new receiver and a pair of CG3s for rear surrounds so that we can turn the in-ceiling surrounds into Atmos height speakers.

Highly recommended if you need a space-conscious speaker that delivers.

The weak link in my system was the center, where I had a Polk CS10, of which the less said the better. The CG23 blends perfectly with my Emotiva T1 mains, small Klipsch surrounds and heights, and BIC America sub. It's got the clarity and range of the T1s, which is a great trick for a much smaller, two-way box again three-way towers.Entirely pleasing.

I upgraded my man cave in February with large tower speakers and a complete surround sound system that was the best I have ever had. After I did that none of my older speakers seemed worth listening to. (Typical story of an audiophile, I guess.) So I decided that I needed to upgrade my living room to a better 2.1 system but large towers were out. I did a lot of research and got really excited when I found RSL and the CG3 series. After several emails with Joe from RSL I decided on two CG23's for a 2.1 system. I can't say enough good things about Joe and his support even though I'm sure this was a small sale for him.

Unpacking the two speakers I was struck with the build quality and how much smaller and heavier they were than I expected. After a 20 hour break-in period, I compared them to my larger, more expensive towers and was surprised at how well the little speakers held there own. (My wife preferred the RSL's on 3 of 4 songs I played her and I was about 50/50 after about 20 tracks) The first thing you will notice as they sound much larger than the size and as advertised they disappear. With them sitting on my towers, there were many times I could not be certain which speaker was playing. The vocal qualities are great and with good instrumental detail. They are more laidback than my large towers but not in a bad way. (Joe thinks a speedwoofer will solve that.)

I moved them to my living room which is 26x14 and I was immediately impressed with how well they can fill the room with sound. They will take power and put out lots of clear, sound. They absolutely blew away another pair of somewhat lower cost bookshelf speakers with larger drivers that I always liked. They also look much better and are smaller. I am using an older subwoofer right now to fill in the low end but I plan to add a speedwoofer in a couple of months.

I would recommend the CG23's to anyone that wants a small nice looking speaker at a good price. Someday I hope to compare these to a set of CG5's (maybe I'll get rid of my towers altogether.)

Me: 56 y/o audiophile/speaker freak since owning the very first Bose 301's to hit the market at 14-yrs.(?) of age, with very discerning ears.

Purchase: 2 "new" cg-23's initially for a 2.1 set up. Another one for center channel duty shortly thereafter. I WILL be purchasing another pair and their Speedwoofer 10S to complete a 5.1 system.

Impression: Okay.... so there seems to be some kind of wonderful sound physics at work here! I won't bore you with a bunch of technical gobbildy goop. What I will say is my Martinlogan lx-16's and Motion 30 are currently boxed up and heading to storage or eBay(I thought these words would never leave my mouth)!! This is quite a testament to the sound of these speakers! In comparison to the Martinlogan's they provide a fuller, richer sound to my ears, especially in the mid-range and low-end. When I hook up the M.L's there just seems to be something missing. It's kind of hard to explain. You almost have to hear the cg23's for yourself.

Suggestion: Buy them, give them sufficient time to break-in(see manufacturer suggested break-in period), and be amazed!

Rogersound labs has a great return policy if your not 100% impressed. Although I HIGHLY doubt this will be the case, unless your current setup costs about 3-4 times the price of these, but it's nice to have the option.

The ONLY thing I would have liked to receive with them is a Rogersound labs badge on the grilles.

These speakers are truly a treat for the ears!!

NOTE: THEY SOUND BETTER WITHOUT THE GRILLES. YOU GET A BIT MORE DETAIL. CHECK OUT THE SOUND DEMO VIDEO ON YOUTUBE!!!