Reftone, the company created by engineers Dave Hampton and Lisa Chamblee, recently started shipping the LD-3B Ref-Cube. The cube-shaped monitor with a single 4-inch driver is a powered version of the company’s Ref-Cube monitors. The LD-3B is the first active model released by Reftone.
Available singly or in pairs, the LD-3B is capable of putting out 25 Watts at 8 Ohms. It offers two connection options: Bluetooth 4.2 or analog via a 3.5mm input.
The monitors are just 5 x 5 inches in size, weigh 5.5 pounds each, and are housed in magnetically sealed birch-plywood enclosures. Because they have no ports, the cabinets are less prone to resonance and offer extremely clear midrange reproduction. According to Reftone, they designed the Ref-Cubes to “allow you to hear full-range audio clearly at low volumes.”
The LD-3B provides more than just midrange, however. Thanks to its full-range driver, it boasts a frequency response of 70 Hz to 20 kHz, which is wider on both ends than similarly designed speakers from its competitors.
Read more Product of the Week: United Plugins/Soundevice Digital DIFIX.
You can purchase the LD-3B singly ($399) or as a pair ($599). For the latter, the left monitor functions as a satellite, which is connected to the right with an included speaker wire equipped with banana plugs.
According to Reftone, these powered Ref-Cubes are designed for a wide range of applications, including tracking, editing, mixing, mastering, broadcast and post-production. Due to their small dimensions, magnetic shielding and ability to connect to an audio source using Bluetooth, the LD-3Bs are easy to place in virtually any production environment.
