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Revel M22, Paradigm S2 or B&W 805S

I'm new. Been lurking a while. I want to upgrade my pair of CDM1NT's as 2 channel mains. I'll be using a Denon AVR-3805 for the time being with the possibility of adding a 2 ch. amp. down the road. I've heard the Revel M22's, the new 805S, but not the Paradigm S2. I have heard Paradigm S4's and was quite impressed. They handled my Telarc Also Sprach Zarathustra like no other small speaker I ever heard. But the S4's are a rather large for what I'm looking for. Are the S2's close? The Revel M22's were also quite impressive. Aesthetically I prefer the B&W's... I also have other B&W stuff (center, small sub and rears), but sonically I have reservations about how they do baritone male vocals and handle dynamics. The dealer's new demo pair may not be broken in. Any thoughts?
thechair
brianmgrarcom
1,317 posts
 
Hi Chris,

FWIW, the entire new 800 series now uses a 1st order cross over.

I have never heard Merlin speakers.

I have no idea if the S805's are suited to one design over the other, BUT the DK amp is not a low powered amp, it is 160 (?) watts and does not lack in power. The rest of your question can only be speculation and one could only know by trying each set up.

I will say this, the S805's for me (w/the Classe) have been the best speakers I have ever owned.
rich007's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
rich007
6 posts
 
Revel all the way but you'll never tell with the Denon. The B&W's probably sound best with Denon but not the best sounding of all.
Given a better pre speaker lineup the revels have it hands down.
169glazier
4 posts
 
I just purchased a pair of the Revel M22's and I love them.
I also own a pair of Revel Salon 1's and you can tell the M22 speakers are from the same family the mid is very smooth and the hi's have no brightness or hardness. The bass is incerdible. I have listened to the B & W 805's and could not stand them having NO BASS. and I heard the Paridigms and did not like the Hi's I thought they were a little bright. Im running the M22's with an Pass Labs Aleph 5 amp and a McCormack RLD-1 Preamp with a Cary 308 CD player, Von Gaylord Legend 2 Speaker Cable & Von Gaylord Chincilla Interconnects with all power cables are Shunyata Research Diamond Back.

That's my 2 cents
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