Revel Owners Thread - Page 108

Originally Posted by comfynumb 

I hear you, the condensation freaked me out a little.

Originally Posted by Milt99 

Depends on the outside weather vs. the inside weather.
The greater the difference, cold moist outside, warm dry inside, bang!
Overnight outside the cartons and inside your house should be good.
A nice wipe down and light powder never hurts.
At least in my experience.

Originally Posted by jima4a 

That is so cool! I am glad you are enjoying them so much, although you could be entering the rabbit hole as many of us have - just the start of a new journey.

Originally Posted by comfynumb 

Thanks, and yeah my girlfriend is trying to keep me out of that blasted hole but she only has me by a shoestring haha. I have upgraded my pre/pro to the Marantz av8801. I'm keeping my surrounds for now but I definately need a new center channel. I went to look for my wallet and found it shaking uncontrollably in the corner of the room. So it might have to wait.

Originally Posted by jima4a 

Yes, I keep seeing the 8801 and SP3 calling me from deeper in hole...

Originally Posted by AcuDefTechGuy 

The Revel F52, like any high-end Revel, KEF, TAD, etc, is ultra accurate. So great recordings will sound great, and bad recordings will sound bad, as in too forward or too bright or too clinical or whatever the bad recording is doing.

They are neutral accurate speakers, so they will not "warm" or mask any bright or forward songs.

But if you play great neutral accurate music, the Revels will deliver just that.

Originally Posted by Milt99 

Glad you are loving your new speakers.
Always nice to get something that makes your like better, no?

So comfynumb, what source(s) gear are you using in your system?

Originally Posted by AcuDefTechGuy 

The Revel F52, like any high-end Revel, KEF, TAD, etc, is ultra accurate. So great recordings will sound great, and bad recordings will sound bad, as in too forward or too bright or too clinical or whatever the bad recording is doing.

They are neutral accurate speakers, so they will not "warm" or mask any bright or forward songs.

But if you play great neutral accurate music, the Revels will deliver just that.

Originally Posted by Thxtheater 

I just want to echo this sentiment. Whatever you deliver to the speakers is what you will get out of them. So having good source material and components is key. The Revels won't add any depth or width artificially to the recording, etc. This is one of the wonderful reasons, in my opinion, why you get such rich layering and detail from the Revels. The midrange is simply gorgeous.

Originally Posted by comfynumb 

Hi Milt, I just got the new Marantz av8801 pre/pre, amps are a Sunfire 200 wpc x 5 into 8 ohms. that is driving everything. I'm set up in 5.1 as I like SACD AND DVD-A. So I have the Oppo 93. A def tech supercube 1 (for now) and my surrounds are Pinnacle BD650's. I said amps as I'm trying a Parasound out on the Revels, but I ended up with a hum that's driving me nuts.

Originally Posted by Milt99 

I was just wondering because you are thinking about whether your Sunfire has enough power to do the F52s justice.
I'm nosy so another question, are you using the Oppo analog outputs for 2 channel?

It would be worth your while to test both outputs for SQ differences, imo, to compare the Oppo DACs to the DACs in your Marantz.
I know the Marantz is getting great reviews but I know nothing of it spec-wise.

FWIW, I think a well-balanced system is the smart way to go.
By that I mean using a cheapo disc player and spending $5k on a power amp is not a balanced system.
I'm also a big believer in having the best source device available, in relationship to the rest of the system, as everything down stream is affected by it.
Another FWIW, your system looks pretty well balanced imo.

I'm not surprised that the Sunfire sounds better to you than the Parasound, Bob Carver is nothing if not an amplifier guru.
While Parasound makes good solid gear, I think your system would deserve the Parasound Halo line.
Halos offer great quality, value and SQ, imo.

So the lesson is, you've had less than one day enjoy your new Revels.
TIME FOR UPGRADES!! :D:D

Originally Posted by Milt99 

Just joshin'.
But it's still true. I've had my Studios for a little over a month and I need a power amp.

Didn't I see a center channel speaker in the pics you posted?
Looks like a JBL?

I would check out Audiogon, bide your time and throughly check out the seller.

D-Sonic huh. That is one of the brands I've been considering.
Plus NCore. People are raving about those.
the nice thing about these amps is their size and efficiency

Emotiva is another brand I'm looking at.
They're scheduled to release a 30-watt pure class-a mono block this month which is on the other end of the spectrum from D-Sonic.
Their XPA-1 mono blocks are really nice amps.

I've been tempted to haul my BAT VK6200 3 channel from the basement theater room but that thing is a true beast and I mean beast to carry up or down stairs.
Plus if I really like it my theater would be kaput and I'll eventually have to haul it back down.

Originally Posted by AcuDefTechGuy 

They are definitely NOT. Sad, but true.

KEF Muon, Blade, & Reference are made in England, the rest are made in China.
B&W Nautilus & Diamond are made in England, the rest are made in China.
All Focal are made in France.
All ATC are made in England.
All Dynaudio are made in Denmark.
All Amphion are made in Finland.
Paradigm parts are made in China, but assembled in Canada.
PSB are all made in China.

Revel Ultima are made in Mexico, the rest are made in China.

Originally Posted by neutralguy 

Any Harman folks here care to comment on who the Rhythm2 is targeted towards? It's slotted in the Ultima2 line, and is shown at CES2013 with the Salon2, which suggests that it would be a good complement to the full range towers. However, the Salon2 is already -3db at 23Hz and quite capable of playing loud. The 6x 8-inch drivers on a pair of Salon2 has more surface area than a single Rhythm2's 18" driver. I can imagine there are still benefits, especially if multiple Rhythm2s are added, but I'd like to hear Harman's thinking on where the biggest gain would come from.

Originally Posted by comfynumb 

Ok great that's what I'm hearing thanks. On to my dilemma, I need a center channel but until I have the extra beans, no can do. I have two different bookshelves I can use. A PSB image B25, same type of tweeter almost but an aluminum woofer. Or an Infinity alpha 20. Some kind of dome tweeter and what looks like a treated paper woofer. Man I'll be lost without a center for movies and I kind of like the mids for music. Any ideas??

Originally Posted by comfynumb 

My thoughts on the 52's are holy crap I never knew some of my music sounded so good and wow I need to throw some of my media in the trash, because it really sounds like $hite. VERY revealing and even in my modest setup they nearly disappear. Acoustic guitar, acoustic bass and drums (especially symbols) sound like they are in my room. You know I've heard people say this but until now I always thought, yeah ok your delirious dude. Anyway I'm thrilled and wanted thank those that helped. Thanks guys!

Originally Posted by avkv 

Just a tip; set the HF level to +0.5dB. Enjoy!

Originally Posted by comfynumb 

Your statements are right on the money. Yes the midrange is amazing! I had hotel California in DVD-A cranked up and the vocals went right through me. So far that is my best sounding disc. I got such a great deal on them and it didn't matter to me that they were being replaced in the Performa line, because the reviews were off the charts.

Originally Posted by dsonic 

Performa3 Update

Earlier, someone asked about a comparison between the M106 and M105 speaker systems. I have had a chance to listen to both. Each of these bookshelf speakers was placed on top of my Studio2s and angled slightly down towards the listening position, so they were elevated approx 24" above where the factory stands would place them. Each system was given a listen crossed over to my Velodyne DD15+ subs at 80HZ and then full range without the subs.

No subs, full range:
At low listening levels, no difference. At moderate volume, the M106s started pulling away. At higher levels, the M106s rule, maintaining their natural dynamic ease/transparency.

With Subs:
Zero difference to my ears at low to moderate/high volume levels. At higher volume levels, I had to cross the M105s over at 100HZ to stay in the running. They sounded very good but started losing the dynamic transparency that remained with the M106s to very high SPLs (100dB).

Switching back to the Studio2s was not as dramatic as one might expect. Dynamics and timbre of the Performa3s is not that far off the Studios. The main difference is the effortless, transparent ease by which the Studios present each note of music. They maintain their uncompressed dynamics well above 100dB SPL.

The M106s and M105s are bookshelf speakers and clearly need a subwoofer to please anyone that wants an accurate lower octave and subsequent soundstage realism. The choice between the two should best be determined by room size and listening levels.

I am still waiting for the F208s and F206s. Shipments are now estimated for mid March. Using the M series as a reference, I believe these floor standers could set a new standard for loudspeakers in their price range.

Dennis

Originally Posted by avkv 

Rather than using a poorly- matched center, just set your processor to "no center," and all processors will generate a virtual center using the L and R, with perfect timbre match.

Originally Posted by avkv 

Ultima2 is made in our own factory in Mexico, as is Concerta. Performa3 is made in Asia in a factory that I personally selected, with excellent conditions. The assembly workers all live nearby and commute, and the food during the day is good.