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Revel Owners Thread - Page 117

post #3481 of 4263
3/20/13 at 6:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by comfynumb View Post

There are a bunch of different ways you can go Milt. My JBL center works really well, I can't tell it's a different speaker than my fronts biggrin.gif

I agree. If SQ is the only determining factor, a JBL center or any Revel speaker (like new Performa3) would be great.
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post #3482 of 4263
3/20/13 at 6:56am
I would of loved to have the matching C52 center, I just couldn't justify the price. I don't feel like I'm missing out, and the money saved is in my new subwoofer and amp piggy bank. When I started getting more serious with my sound quality I obviously overlooked the fine print. "The search for the perfect sound may be addicting and cause weight loss of your wallet"
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post #3483 of 4263
3/21/13 at 8:00am
I am brand new to AVS so forgive any faux paus. I am buying Salon 2's and wondered what speaker cables other Salon 2 owners were using.
Thanks for your response.
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post #3484 of 4263
3/21/13 at 8:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by AustinS46 View Post

I am brand new to AVS so forgive any faux paus. I am buying Salon 2's and wondered what speaker cables other Salon 2 owners were using.
Thanks for your response.



Hi, in your Revel manual it suggests the gauge wire to be used for a certain distance. All I can say is don't fall prey to the expensive interconnect speaker cable thing. There is no audible difference in these over priced wires. I'm using 10 awg speaker wire that are 413 strands for positive and the same on the negative side. My runs for my fronts are short at 10' apiece and surrounds are around 28' So my wire is overkill but I got a deal on it. I have the F52's but it makes no difference. I think others on here will agree with me. Hope this helps.
Edited by comfynumb - 3/22/13 at 12:28am
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post #3485 of 4263
3/21/13 at 11:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by AustinS46 View Post

I am brand new to AVS so forgive any faux paus. I am buying Salon 2's and wondered what speaker cables other Salon 2 owners were using.
Thanks for your response.

I'm using Kimber Kable 8PR (10 AWG), single-amp. A pair of 8ft is $132. They are prepared & stripped so you don't have to strip the cables yourself. You can hook the cable as bare wire or install your own Spades/ Banana plugs. You better get spades for the speaker end because of those doors on the Salon2. biggrin.gif The amp end can be banana. That's what I do. But bare wire is probably for the best on the speaker end. It's not like you can see the spade connector when you close that door. eek.gifbiggrin.gif

http://thecableco.com/Product/8PR

Do they sound better than cheaper cables? No. But $132 is not asking for too much for my $22,000 speakers IMO.

Edit: I have used Blue Jeans Cables many times. They are great. Love their locking banana plugs too. So I started out with BJC and ended up with Kimber Kable 8PR. Could have saved myself a lot of money by going with Kimber 8PR in the beginning.

So my Revel Salon2, B&W 802D2, KEF 201/2, & TAD 2201 get the Kimber Kable treatment, while my Philharmonic 3, Focal 826V, Dynaudio X32, and ATC SCM7 get the BJC treatment. biggrin.gif
Edited by AcuDefTechGuy - 3/22/13 at 11:13am
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post #3486 of 4263
3/21/13 at 12:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AustinS46 View Post

I am brand new to AVS so forgive any faux paus. I am buying Salon 2's and wondered what speaker cables other Salon 2 owners were using.
Thanks for your response.

I'm using Audioquest 14/4 which, give or take comes out to about 10 or 11 gauge if I recall correctly. I'm too lazy to redo the aggregate math. smile.gif

I needed custom lengths that go about 14 and 20 feet so I didn't use any pre-made cables. As AcuDefTech mentioned, I have bare cable on the speaker end and bananas to my amp end.
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post #3487 of 4263
3/21/13 at 7:13pm
If it doesn't make a difference, it's a waste of money. I guess people still believe in monster cables. Lol. Can't beat marketing! cool.gif
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post #3488 of 4263
3/21/13 at 7:54pm
The Revel manual is very uh, revealing in what they recommend for cable gauge based on length.
I'm using Blue Jeans 10 awg Belden for 10ft cables which is big time overkill per the list but at a buck a foot I don't really care.

thx, your 2 14awg cables are approximately equal to one 11awg cable.
You basically subtract 3 from the AWG when doubling.

For you Studio\Salon owners, the door that covers the terminals is very easy to remove.
The hinge points are just a ball & socket deal and it takes very little pressure to remove the door.
It makes attaching cables much easier imo.
Edited by Milt99 - 3/21/13 at 9:34pm
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post #3489 of 4263
3/21/13 at 8:52pm
Buck a foot sounds good to me! I'm gonna get the same ones. smile.gif
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post #3490 of 4263
3/21/13 at 9:32pm
lsdec, I lied. It's 99 cents a foot.
They also have the Canare Star Quad cable at $1.35 p/ft.
I'm using those for some other speakers and they sound great as well.
They look more impressive because they're 4 14awg cables in a thick grey sheath but the effective awg is just shy of 11awg.

FWIW, I was using my brother's mildly expensive Furutech Ohno cables but I switched them out because I got a couple of monoblock amps.

The Furutechs are nicely terminated but are not split wide enough for the new amps and my Studio2s sound way better with the new amps and the cheap cables!
There's your proof. Any well-made, properly gauged cable will do wink.gif
Right now these are bare cable at both ends but I tinned the ends with Cardas solder.
Edited by Milt99 - 3/21/13 at 9:42pm
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post #3491 of 4263
3/22/13 at 12:25am
I don't own BJC speaker interconnects, but I do own several of their other cables. They make a quality cable and at a buck a foot I would buy the 10 awg ones in a second if I ever needed them smile.gif
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post #3492 of 4263
3/22/13 at 10:57am
I plan on using the 10 awg cable from Blue Jeans Cable when the F208s arrive. I need to figure out just what length I need, because I'd like to order the cables pre-terminated with their ultrasonically-welded termination option. According to their website they currently offer ultrasonically-welded banana plugs, and will be able to do ultrasonically-welded spade terminals "in the next few months". I will email them to check on the spades before I order.

btw- Blue Jeans Cable has been great to work with since I learned of them four years ago. I've had them make up a bunch of different interconnects, including a custom 12 ft. TRS balanced to RCA unbalanced subwoofer feed. After the initial contact, I emailed them a schematic diagram from the Grace m903 owners manual to get the configuration correct, and they responded with a wire recommendation, a price, and a payment option. I had the cable a few days later, though several times in the past I received orders by the second day. Lucky for me, BJC is local.

One last note: I really have to hand it to my local Revel dealer (in Bellevue, Washington). I've had the F208 demo in my home for going on two months now! They've done everything they could to let me keep using the demo pair while I wait for the new set (which I'm hoping to hear about soon). Hats off to these guys.
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post #3493 of 4263
3/22/13 at 11:06am
BJC has had the "Spades in a few months" on the web site for over a year. I was waiting to do spades on one end but the web site hasn't ever been updated.
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post #3494 of 4263
3/22/13 at 1:46pm
Milt99, what's your early impression of those amps? Do they have enough to drive thestudio2s?

Sound quality too / dynamic transient impressions...when u have a chance.
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post #3495 of 4263
3/22/13 at 7:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by denydog View Post

I plan on using the 10 awg cable from Blue Jeans Cable when the F208s arrive. I need to figure out just what length I need, because I'd like to order the cables pre-terminated with their ultrasonically-welded termination option. According to their website they currently offer ultrasonically-welded banana plugs, and will be able to do ultrasonically-welded spade terminals "in the next few months". I will email them to check on the spades before I order.

btw- Blue Jeans Cable has been great to work with since I learned of them four years ago. I've had them make up a bunch of different interconnects, including a custom 12 ft. TRS balanced to RCA unbalanced subwoofer feed. After the initial contact, I emailed them a schematic diagram from the Grace m903 owners manual to get the configuration correct, and they responded with a wire recommendation, a price, and a payment option. I had the cable a few days later, though several times in the past I received orders by the second day. Lucky for me, BJC is local.

One last note: I really have to hand it to my local Revel dealer (in Bellevue, Washington). I've had the F208 demo in my home for going on two months now! They've done everything they could to let me keep using the demo pair while I wait for the new set (which I'm hoping to hear about soon). Hats off to these guys.

denydog, I know where you bought your Revels. Madrona, right?
When I was looking to audition Studios they only had a pair of Salons and those were out on demo.
They're almost exclusively custom installation so they don't have much if any product on the floor.
One of the guys that works there, Bruce, has been a casual acquaintance of mine for years, I was there on a Saturday morning so we caught up, talked music, old times and checked out their theater room.
I hope you had a chance to check it out. By far the most amazing room I've ever seen\heard or could imagine.

On Blue Jeans, I've been getting their stuff for a like 10 years. Kurt used to be over in a warehouse by Magnolia bridge and I'd just pick up the stuff.
They've long since moved up the road on Eliot and don't like walk-ins.
ANYWAY, I would love to get the sonic-weld spades but I hate the spades they use. There's no angle to them, they're just straight and it's a pita, imo, to connect them to a terminal.
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post #3496 of 4263
3/22/13 at 7:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lsdec View Post

Milt99, what's your early impression of those amps? Do they have enough to drive thestudio2s?

Sound quality too / dynamic transient impressions...when u have a chance.

It's kind of a sad story but since you asked...
I ordered 2 Emotiva XPA-1L amps the first day they were available.
I stumbled upon the anoouncement about them awhile back and thought killer!
Basically a clone of the Pass Labs XA30.5 in monoblock config.
30 watts Class A switching to Class A/B to 250 watts.
Solid internal components. Good capacitance, beefy transformer, 16 transistors, etc.
Why not?
Well, the bad news is that the initial production run appears to not have been built to the final spec.
The amp kicks out of Class A within several minutes of power up whether it has a load or not.
Crap!
In any event, I still have mine and plan on keeping them unless they demand a return.
Emotiva has been up front, honest and really great about this.
Offering free return shipping, refunds or significant discounts for people if they want to hang on until a remedy is found.
One guy had sold his previous amp(s) and didn't have a substitute so they sent him a couple of loaners!
Now that is customer service imo.

I know that hasn't your question lsdec but I'll do so in my next post.
I need to freshen my drink smile.gif

UPDATE:
Dan Laufman has posted a fix to the amp issue. Yay!
I tried to post a reply on the Emotiva board but it looks like it has crashed.
Edited by Milt99 - 3/22/13 at 8:00pm
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post #3497 of 4263
3/22/13 at 9:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Milt99 View Post

denydog, I know where you bought your Revels. Madrona, right?
...One of the guys that works there, Bruce, has been a casual acquaintance of mine for years, I was there on a Saturday morning so we caught up, talked music, old times and checked out their theater room.
I hope you had a chance to check it out. By far the most amazing room I've ever seen\heard or could imagine.
I've been working with Bruce, though I don't know him well. We do seem to come from the same era, I used to haunt the Roosevelt hi-fi shops near the U-district back in the 70's. I was at the Madrona Digital showroom several times in late January/early February listening to the F208 before getting them sent home.

I'll be checking out the BJC spade terminal situation.
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post #3498 of 4263
3/23/13 at 3:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Milt99 View Post

It's kind of a sad story but since you asked...
I ordered 2 Emotiva XPA-1L amps the first day they were available.
I stumbled upon the anoouncement about them awhile back and thought killer!
Basically a clone of the Pass Labs XA30.5 in monoblock config.
30 watts Class A switching to Class A/B to 250 watts.
Solid internal components. Good capacitance, beefy transformer, 16 transistors, etc.
Why not?
Well, the bad news is that the initial production run appears to not have been built to the final spec.
The amp kicks out of Class A within several minutes of power up whether it has a load or not.
Crap!
In any event, I still have mine and plan on keeping them unless they demand a return.
Emotiva has been up front, honest and really great about this.
Offering free return shipping, refunds or significant discounts for people if they want to hang on until a remedy is found.
One guy had sold his previous amp(s) and didn't have a substitute so they sent him a couple of loaners!
Now that is customer service imo.

I know that hasn't your question lsdec but I'll do so in my next post.
I need to freshen my drink smile.gif

UPDATE:
Dan Laufman has posted a fix to the amp issue. Yay!
I tried to post a reply on the Emotiva board but it looks like it has crashed.



Milt I didn't know you were powering your Revel's with Emotiva amps. What other amps have you used over the years and how do the Emo amps compare to them?
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post #3499 of 4263
3/23/13 at 8:06am
I too am using Blue Jeans cable. It's the Belden white jacket, 10AWG, ultrasonically welded to the locking bananas. No complaints here.

As far as running Emotiva with Revel, Dan Laufman (CEO & Owner of Emotiva) runs Revel speakers with his own electronics. Not sure if it means anything tangible, but I always like to hear that type of stuff because i'd bet he tests his own designs on the Revels...so maybe there's some good synergy there.

I also am driving my F208s with Emotiva, a pair of XPR-1s to be exact. I demo'd some music yesterday for a guest. "I can't believe this" was what the person said. Jaw on the floor.
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post #3500 of 4263
3/23/13 at 10:34am
Wow, XPR-1s, those are fracking monsters.
Do you have the 2 20 amp dedicated circuits they are supposed to require?
I have lots of dedicated circuits in my HT room but not in my living room.
Those are the same cables I'm using only un-terminated

So comfy, you want my amp history. Ok.
First amp: 1973 McIntosh MA-6100. First integrated amp that Mac made. 70 watts a channel.
Hooked up to Altec-Lansing 3-ways with a PE turntable.
Shoulda never sold that amp. I bet it still works to spec.

1979: Rappaport Amp-1. 100 watts class a. Precision Fidelity tube pre-amp. Harbeth HL-Mk1 speakers. Denon DP-80 TT.
A very rare, awesome sounding amp that ran hotter than hell.
No power switch just 2 cords.
Scary and impractical as hell. Shot pure DC into my Harbeths, welded the drivers solid.
Had beryllium oxide insulators and soft start switch installed by an EE who was an amp guru.
Added a Sony 610-ES cd player in 1983

1992: Mark Levinson ML-11(?) amp and matched pre-amp. Levinson's budget set up. 60 watts per channel but sounded like much more.
Cal Audio CD player. Harbeth HL-P3E(?) speakers and Audio Pro sub.
Nice little system.

2006: Built my Theater\Music Room.
Anthem D-1 pre\pro, BAT VK6200 3 channel amp 200 watts per channel(monster). Anthem A5 5 channel amp, 180(?) watts per channel for surrounds
Salk HT2s(3), Ellis Audio 1801 DIYs, SVS CS-Ultra subs(2).
Replaced the D1 with a D2 2008 I think.

Sept-Oct 2012: Dali Helicon 800 MK-Is, Jungson JA-88 integrated amp, 80 watts class A, Oppo-95.
Oct 31 2012- System ripped-off by scumbags.

January 2013: Revel Studio2s, Oppo-105, Anthem D2, DIY Amp built by my Bro, 100 watts per channel
March added the Emotiva XPA-1Ls monoblocks, 30 watts Class A, 250 watts A\B

So there you have it. My sordid system history
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post #3501 of 4263
3/23/13 at 10:45am
Speaking of high power Emotiva amps, has anyone ever tried using Harman's own Crown amps like the $600 XLS 2500 amp, which can be bridged and used as monoblocks capable of 2400 watts RMS into 4 ohms? Now that's freaking monster power right there. I've used 2 of these Crown amps on my Salon2, and they freaking rock!
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post #3502 of 4263
3/23/13 at 10:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Milt99 View Post

Wow, XPR-1s, those are fracking monsters.
Do you have the 2 20 amp dedicated circuits they are supposed to require?
I have lots of dedicated circuits in my HT room but not in my living room.
Those are the same cables I'm using only un-terminated

So comfy, you want my amp history. Ok.
First amp: 1973 McIntosh MA-6100. First integrated amp that Mac made. 70 watts a channel.
Hooked up to Altec-Lansing 3-ways with a PE turntable.
Shoulda never sold that amp. I bet it still works to spec.

1979: Rappaport Amp-1. 100 watts class a. Precision Fidelity tube pre-amp. Harbeth HL-Mk1 speakers. Denon DP-80 TT.
A very rare, awesome sounding amp that ran hotter than hell.
No power switch just 2 cords.
Scary and impractical as hell. Shot pure DC into my Harbeths, welded the drivers solid.
Had beryllium oxide insulators and soft start switch installed by an EE who was an amp guru.
Added a Sony 610-ES cd player in 1983

1992: Mark Levinson ML-11(?) amp and matched pre-amp. Levinson's budget set up. 60 watts per channel but sounded like much more.
Cal Audio CD player. Harbeth HL-P3E(?) speakers and Audio Pro sub.
Nice little system.

2006: Built my Theater\Music Room.
Anthem D-1 pre\pro, BAT VK6200 3 channel amp 200 watts per channel(monster). Anthem A5 5 channel amp, 180(?) watts per channel for surrounds
Salk HT2s(3), Ellis Audio 1801 DIYs, SVS CS-Ultra subs(2).
Replaced the D1 with a D2 2008 I think.

Sept-Oct 2012: Dali Helicon 800 MK-Is, Jungson JA-88 integrated amp, 80 watts class A, Oppo-95.
Oct 31 2012- System ripped-off by scumbags.

January 2013: Revel Studio2s, Oppo-105, Anthem D2, DIY Amp built by my Bro, 100 watts per channel
March added the Emotiva XPA-1Ls monoblocks, 30 watts Class A, 250 watts A\B

So there you have it. My sordid system history




You've been at this awhile, nice setups.
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post #3503 of 4263
3/24/13 at 9:34am
Since I was 15.
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post #3504 of 4263
3/25/13 at 5:04am
Considering your only 29 now Milt, that's a bunch of different setups wink.gif
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post #3505 of 4263
3/26/13 at 10:47am
Does anyone have experience with Revel Ultima Embrace? I have S30 with F52s and Voice2 (Center). Planning to move to Studio2 soon replacing the F52s. But wondering, will it be worth moving to Embrace instead of S30 - since I do 70% movies? The price difference is significant, but not sure about the differentail gain... Help please!
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post #3506 of 4263
3/26/13 at 12:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AcuDefTechGuy View Post

Speaking of high power Emotiva amps, has anyone ever tried using Harman's own Crown amps like the $600 XLS 2500 amp, which can be bridged and used as monoblocks capable of 2400 watts RMS into 4 ohms? Now that's freaking monster power right there. I've used 2 of these Crown amps on my Salon2, and they freaking rock!



I wasn't aware Harman made Crown amps? There's a guy on the Marantz 8801 thread that swears by pro audio amps his are QSC amps and powers his home theatre with them, and another guy that uses Crown's for his passive subs I believe. Good specs, I've researched some of them.
Edited by comfynumb - 3/26/13 at 2:23pm
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post #3507 of 4263
3/27/13 at 3:18am
any feedback on M105 or M 106 speakersss
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post #3508 of 4263
3/27/13 at 3:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by nyaudio98 View Post

any feedback on M105 or M 106 speakersss



Hi, on the previous page there are some comments and pictures. Also some comments on the new towers. Not too many yet, but when the word gets out there will be more. By all accounts they are impressive.
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post #3509 of 4263
3/27/13 at 6:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Prosoft7 View Post

Does anyone have experience with Revel Ultima Embrace? I have S30 with F52s and Voice2 (Center). Planning to move to Studio2 soon replacing the F52s. But wondering, will it be worth moving to Embrace instead of S30 - since I do 70% movies? The price difference is significant, but not sure about the differentail gain... Help please!

I've personally not heard the Ultima Embrace, but my S30s were amazing when I had them. If you are considering them for the rears in a 7.1, I'd say stick with the S30s; however, if you have the cash and and to experience probably a bit more clarity, then you can likely make the jump and I think you'll notice a difference, but since it's a surround side, I think that there will certainly be a difference, but I think you will likely notice a bigger difference with a Gem2. If you were going with the Gem2s with the beryllium tweeter, I'd have a different opinion and be more encouraging of the move without hesitation. Again, all pie in the sky hypothesis :-)
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post #3510 of 4263
3/27/13 at 7:06am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by AustinS46 View Post

I am brand new to AVS so forgive any faux paus. I am buying Salon 2's and wondered what speaker cables other Salon 2 owners were using.
Thanks for your response.


I'm using some 10 gauge homemade cables.

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1301573/have-a-look-at-these-beauties-how-to-make-your-own-high-end-cables/1320#post_20830453

The thread this message is in has a lot of good info on DIY cables.

The amps I'm using are Theta Enterprise Monoblocks.
Edited by ehlarson - 3/27/13 at 7:11am
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