Revel F208 - worth a try?

I had the Revel F206 speakers and they were excellent.  Go for it!!!!

Can’t go wrong with revel. I do think they need subs as they roll off a little high for me. You would have to spend a lot more to do better. 

You may want to see if parts are available if you happen to have an issue. I’ve never had any problems, fwiw, just something to consider.

Best-

Good choice. Solid all rounder for $4K. 

But Concertos were special. Don’t let them go until you’re sure you really upgraded!

I have the f228be’s which are based on the f208’s and they are sound amazing. Not using a sub. I highly recommend them for $4k

+1 for the F208's!

OP you said:

I listen to male/female vocals, blues/southern rock, some electronic remixes, and some music from the 70s for fun

Revel makes a great speaker but you might have a lot more FUN with JBL L100 Classic. A Revel/Harman dealer will likely carry both so you can compare:

I had the F206 for five years. Two SVS Sb3000 subs. I ran them with Anthem and Mcintosh. I preferred the Mcintosh. It was a great setup. I always thought about the 208s. I unfortunately didn’t have the space. For 4K you can’t go wrong. Enjoy!

Also I did smoke a mid driver and a tweeter. The customer service was fantastic. I had the two new drivers in less than 48 hours from the call. Not too shabby from Canada to Oregon. 

They measure very well.

Revels are a lot of fun.  I have Focal Spores now, but I do remember the Revels and liked them a lot.  The presented differently but I really enjoyed them and wish I could listen to them still. 

I agree they are solid speakers.  My only concern is that giving up a sub for large floorstanders you may give up some control over the tonal balance you have now.  Placement and room treatment may become more important.

I’m actually picking up a pair of F208’s today! Fully support OP getting them. For those who have had F208’s, I’m between a few options to drive them: 

• Rega Elex-r
• Audiolab 6000a play
• Rotel 1572 mk2
• Marantz 40n

anyone have experience / thoughts on any of the 4 above?

What about Revel M126Be as a solid choice of a nice sounding bookshelf speaker? They are in the Performa series and may be worth considering. 

matt_mccloat,

I run my Revel 228be on a McIntosh MC462 which I find as a nice combo I can listen all day. I also own Rotel amps in my home theater and I would not recommend “lower end” Rotel with Revel. It makes them sound a little cold and hard. On the Mac they are detailed and fatigue free at any volume.   

I had them. Very neutral. Switched back to dynaudio it's the sound I like. The revels are prettier, though for sure.

The F208s lack image projection and depth.If you enjoy a more 3D soundstage they would not be the best choice.

Hi Fi News commented on this when they reviewed them and that is how they sounded to me.The measurements confirm that sort of sound  -"the response has a clear concave trend with a suppressed presence band".

That sort of sound might be fine for orchestral music I suppose.

Hmm

The F208 are good speakers for the money, but paradigm founder series, speakers from Dali and even the kef r11 are comparably good and your room might be more important in finding the right combination. I do remember revel f208 needing big watts and some boost in the bass to get that full range sound.

@matt_mccloat , I can’t recommend what amp to get, I just want to add that you need to measure with a calibrated mic while placing and setting them up  for the in room frequency response you want before splashing cash on a new amp.

I have the F208 as well as the C208 for my center channel.  They do sound best with a good bit of power, I am bi-amping them with a Denon X6700H which has worked well for me and helps bring out a warm sound from them.  I have enjoyed the Revels with a wide range of music from rock to jazz to classical and many things in between.  They also excel at movies, especially when paired with a great sub, in my case a SVS SB-3000.  I highly recommend them, especially for speakers in their price range.  

A really nice polite speaker.  I sold my F208s a while back and replaced them with Spatial X5s.