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Honest opinions on my two picks of loudspeakers

So I wanted to see what most of you thought or what your pick would be between the Revel Salon 2 towers and the McIntosh XR100's I'm torn between both with looks and performances with my choice leaning more toward Mac since I'd be powering them with the 452 and the whole matching thing, but I will also be pushing these quite hard at times (rock-metal) and I want a well built power capable speaker for the long haul..I was considering Wilson's as well and have not cut them out just wanted some respectable opinions on my two narrowed down choices we all are familiar with pricing and these two options have a considerable difference between the two so I'm torn which is the better bang for my bucks!! 

Thanks all..
128x128shawnscola
glennewdick's avatar
glennewdick
1,717 posts
 
"I like it extremely loud"

maybe a K-Horn  
shawnscola's avatar
shawnscola OP
7 posts
 
Thanks @elizabeth..same response really that I gave mijostyn I always thought they were top of the line? I also always knew they're stuff was expensive but well worth the cost for what you got quality wise no? Wilson's are also up there in price as well which I may revert back to from what I'm hearing about them..anyone have anything to add on the wilson Yvette or Sasha's?
elevick
2,638 posts
 
You will need all of that power for the Revels.  Keep in mind that you can blow any speaker if you crank it loud enough.  1 watt of distortion can do it.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
Shawn, It was the Grateful Dead's wall of sound designed by John Curl.
He did use Mac amps but not Mac speakers. It turned out to be too expensive and difficult to move from one venue to the next. But, it was knock out.
If you want clean SPLs get the new Klipsh Cornwalls version 3 I think. They will blow your doors off with 10 watts:)
mcreyn
293 posts
 
I would say Revel, but agree with others that while they can get reasonably loud, they are not SPL speakers. What about getting some outdoor speakers and amp and have a zone for outside music when you are out there? There are some great outdoor speakers, or you could even use something like some the self powered JBL EON 612 ($900 a pair) which will push 125db and are made for sound reinforcement.

Just a note, I am your age and you should be concerned about your hearing. Extended high level listening not only results in hearing loss, but tinnitus. As someone who has lived with tinnitus since being a teenager (loud explosion) and has trouble picking out voices in a crowd, you will care when it happens. The worst part is for many people, they then become sensitive to loud noises. I cannot go to a club without hearing protection or it is painful.

I would suggest you do some reading on the reference levels used in mixing as set forth by Bob Katz. Essentially, for a large room, you will set your volume to a 82-84db reference level. While 82-84 db sounds low, it is plenty loud and the level used by most good studios and there most mixes sound proper. Any louder and you quickly suffer from temporary hearing shifts and keep turning up the volume without it really sounding any better. Here is a basic read on level setting.

https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/establishing-project-studio-reference-monitoring-levels
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