Quick Specs: 
1 1.1" German silk tweeter
1 6.5" kevlar midrange
2 8" metal alloy woofers
Efficiency: 88 dB Frequency: 27Hz-20kHz
Weigh: 71.5 lbs
Real rosewood, black laquer finished endcaps, bi-ampable banana plugs, gold plated spiked feet, 8ohm impedence, 3 way 4 driver system, shielded, black cloth grill w/ wood supports.

    

Quick Specs: 
1 1.1" top mounted German silk tweeter
1 2" soft dome midrange
2 6.5" metal alloy woofers
Power handling: 20-100 watts
Frequency: 68Hz-20KHz
Weigh: 33lb
Real rosewood, black laquer finished endcaps, w/ brass 5 way binding post, 4 driver system, shielded, black cloth grill w/ wood supports.
 

Initial C3 Reaction: 
First off, like the main speakers, both the C3 and R3 were carefully packed in huge boxes and came with cloth covers (and they were heavy). The binding posts are smaller than Diva's main speakers. Although they have not been broken in yet, I tried them out with various DVD movies and some DVD audio. I reset all my speakers to 0db and set them all to "small" on the receiver.

For the C3, I was looking to test two things (1) voice quality and (2) timbre matching. In the openning scene of Zorro, you hear Zorro walk from the right speaker to the center flawlessly. Next I put in Rounders. This movie has a lot of hard to hear whispering. I listened for awhile and felt like I could read lips, although I could hear all the surround noises better due to the R3, I could clearly hear what the characters were saying without having to turn up the center channel or volume at all. Finally I tried Matrix. There is one scene near the beginning where Trinity whispers into Neo's ear at the club, and I always have to turn it up....not this time. I could hear every word they were saying and even heard differences in their tone depending on which side of their face the camera was on...ohh, I ended up watching the rest of it.

For DVD audio, I was even more impressed. I had to get up to make sure that my center was on. This tells me two things. One, I am so used to the great soundstage of the Diva 6.1, and two, the center (which was on) blended perfectly with the mains to form one focal point for voices. When instrument or singer moved around, the transition was smooth and transparent. The one thing that I noticed is that the C3's midrange seems to be a lot more laid back right out of the box than the 6.1, which took some heavy breaking in. My only dislike is that the midrange is not centered between the top and bottom, it is closer to the top. This is just a little annoying to me.
 

Quick Specs: 
2 1.1" German silk tweeter
2 6.5" metal alloy mid/woofer
Semi-Dipolar
Power handling: 20-100 watts
Weigh: 25.7 lb each!
Real rosewood, black laquer finished endcaps, w/ brass 5 way binding post
 

     

Initial R3 Reaction: 

I was really impressed by the R3s. I was surprised by how much bass I was missing. I first put in Air Force One (ch33) and was not that shocked. I am used to this movie having great surround and I knew what to expect. The planes sounded more powerful flying by and the guns louder. What got me was when I put in a movie like Rounders (to test the C3). This was a movie that I thought had no surround sound. Now all of a sudden the shady little gambling room was alive. Voices, commotion, and I even heard a deck of cards being shuffled.

To me the real test was DVD audio. Would they sound pinpoint enough, would they blend with the front, and can they handle music? I tried this one song from a demo DVD-audio disc that came with my JVC. I starts with a female voice singing in the right rear, then she goes back and forth between the rears, and finally the voice jumps to the center while different instrument fill the other speakers. Her voice sounded nice and tight in both rears and as it moved to the center I thought to myself, "She is a fast walker". I tried several other songs and one that stood out had a bass guitar playing in the main right and rear right. It actually threw up a soundstage that made it sound like the guitar was midway between the two.

I think that have made the right choice for rears. For movies, imagine having a pair of 2.1 on each side. These dual in phase, 6.5" mid/woofers are anything but ambient. They are not as pinpoint, but they are very directional. I find them to be a lot more directional and focal than dipoles that are at 180 degrees. I was surprised how well they sounded with music. The R3 blended perfectly, not only with each other, but with the center and mains. My only problem with the R3 is that the wood is darker than the mains and center, and the grill has this plastic matrix rather than just cloth like the center and mains (you can see it if you look at the picture closely)...Ohh, and now I have to buy sturdier stands...damn.
 

 
I purchased the speaker wire unterminated to save some money ($2.40/ft), so I got a good look at the make up of this wire. It is comprised of 3 positive and 3 negative solid "oxygen free" copper wires that is well shielded in a triple-layer jacket. Each of the 3 solid copper wires are of different thickness (which I found out the hard way when trying to twist them together and solder them to the bannana plug)...yep the thin one broke and I had to stip some more wire.

I believe each thickness is meant for a specific frequency range and the total equals about 12-14 guage. The total thickness is about 2 12guage zip wires put together. Onix offers spades and bananas for the termination. I choose bananas, which fit more snug than other bannanas plugs that I have owned.

There has always been contraversy about audible differences between speaker wires. One thing I noticed is that they are better shielded than typical zip cord speaker wire because any cord/cable interference that I had went away. That alone is worth the small price difference in my book and I plan to get some more for my center channel.

       
      

 
Inside the R3: 
I figured that I would open up my R3s and find out exactly how it is hooked up and answer a few qustions, like are they identical or mirror images, and what is out of phase and what is in phase. First off, let me apologize for the confussing description below. I would suggest reading it slowly and making a diagram for a better picture.

Looking at the R3 from the front I found the following: The two tweeters are connected in series. The right tweeter is out of phase, and the left is in phase. The right has 2 sets of wires on each terminal. One set comes from the back and are connected red to black and black to red (out of phase) the second set are red to red and black to black. The second set goes from the right tweeter to the left tweeter and are connected to the left tweeter red to red and black to black (in phase).

This would make this R3 ideal for the right side of your listening position as the front tweeter is in phase with your main speakers. When I oppened the other R3 I saw the same thing. This means that the speakers are in fact identical and not mirror images.

Out of curiosity I oppened up the mid/woofers....heavy. They are also in series, however, this time the left side has the 2 sets of wires on each terminal. They are both red to red and black to black (in phase). One set goes to the right mid/woofers and are also connected red to red and black to black (in phase) meaning that the pair of mid/woofers are in a bipolar configuration.

How to make ther R3s a mirror image pair:
Before deciding to alter your R3, realize that it may void your warrenty. Check with your dealer.

There are a few ways to change your tweeter's polarity. The quickest and fastet way that I can see is to simply open the right tweeter on one of your R3s. Next swap both sets of wires from each terminal. This requires a sodder gun. This makes the right tweeter in phase and the left tweeter is now out of phase. This R3 is now ideal for the left surrround. Label this R3 or make note of the serial number. One side's serial number should end with an "A" and the other ends with a "B".

This modification will not make a big audible difference, as an out of phase rear tweeter facing an in phase main tweeter will not result in any sound cancellation. This would more critical if the mid/woofers were set in a dipole configuration and the speakers were, again, identical. I just thought I would add this info for those who wanted a mirrored set rather than an identical set.