The Article

MODEL 35/4 SPEAKERS FROM RMB

13th July 2026

A rather distinctive looking pair of floorstanders from Richard Best in the UK, Paul Rigby is beguiled

Speakers are the most visible part of any HiFi set up so you could say that aesthetics matter more in this part of the chain than in any other. Standing 1,150 x 250 x 340mm and weighing in at 20kg per speaker, the RMB Loudspeakers Model 35/4 will provide a Marmite response from many. Well, if my spot research is anything to go by. I’ve had, “They look like an abstract art installation.” All the way to “The look like a Space Invaders arcade cabinet.”

Some friends and colleagues love the look, others dislike them intensely. For me? Aesthetics are less important than the sound.

Sporting a 88db sensitivity (a 40W or more amplifier is required) these speakers sport two 170mm aluminium–magnesium alloy bass drivers, a single 54mm soft dome midrange unit and a 19mm fabric dome tweeter, with a rear bass port.

Surrounding that lot are 18mm thick, birch plywood cabinets with stiffening braces within.

At the rear of each cabinet is a single pair of copper alloy sockets with silver plating. These accept banana plugs, spades and bare wire.

Underneath

To enhance the bass, RMB recommends that the speakers be placed close to the rear wall. A total of 18-30cm is spouted on the website but experiment yourself. Start very close and slowly move away until you find a sweet spot.

So how do they sound? Let’s have a little listen.

SOUND QUALITY

I’m in a guitar picking mood of late so I began with a selection of Leo Kottke CDs. Some of which featured a bass guitar and percussion.

BASS CHAT

So let’s start from the ground up and talk about bass. I loved the lower frequencies on the Model 35/4. Firstly because it was certainly present but it remained balanced within the mix. It never dominated or swamped upper mid and treble detail. It added weight. Even to the guitar picking and background instruments via Leo Kottke. It gave the music balance and a foundation to work from.

When impact was required then the Model 35/4 provided that too. There was punch here but that punch was controlled. Saying that, bass wasn’t just a low tone. Here, it had character and shape. It played a part in the personality of the music.

What I like about the lower frequencies via the Model 35/4 was that it remained visible to the ear well after it initially appeared. So a plucked bass guitar string had immediate punch but then reverb could easily be heard along the floor of the music for many seconds after that string was plucked. The transparency from these speakers was highly effective. That is, you could push past the headline instruments and vocals and still hear that bass guitar string decay sloping off into the rear of the mix.

MIDS & TREBLE

Moving to Japan and the 12” single version of Visions of China and its B-side, Swing. This is a busy arrangement with a mass of varied percussive strikes combined with the lead vocal and double-tracked backing vocals, bass, synth excerpts and secondary percussion.

What impressed me here was how the Model 35/4 offered superb instrumental separation around the mids and treble. There was no blurring between instruments. No apparent clashing of elbows between one band member and another. A definitive space between each instrument meant that crisp and articulate detail was easily delivered to the ear.

COMPRESSION

Moving to Three Imaginary Boys via The Cure and the track 10:15 Saturday Night. This one has lots of compression applied to it. I was impressed by the contrast with the compressed, close-mic’d cymbal splashes plus the more distant and delicate cymbal taps in-between, the heavy bass guitar, how the harsh guitar solo contrasted with the occasional, delicate and subtle releases of breath at the microphone from Robert Smith.

Speaker sockets

I also loved how the vocals emerged from the centre of the soundstage instead of perched above it, as many speakers do.

I also noted at just how complex this track was. I’ve heard this one track dozens of times in the past on a variety of systems. This was the first time I had heard such an accurate rendering.

CONCLUSION

What I loved about the Model 35/4 from RMB Loudspeakers was their honesty. Listening to the Model 35/4 speakers was like listening to an emotional blueprint of a song. Every detail was there, presented in clear and simple terms. But that presentation was never cold or clinical. What the Model 35/4 also provided was a translation of the emotion behind that detail. There was warmth. Not warmth in terms of tone but warmth in terms of passion, intensity and even sentiment. The human factor, in other words.

These are speakers that deserve plenty of time to get to know. I felt that I only scratched the surface. Ideally, I would have preferred to listen to my entire record collection to get a better view. I just couldn’t spare the odd decade before I published this review. So, there was that.