Revel Performa F228 Be speaker... thoughts?

Revel home audio outsources everything and because of it seems like a money grab. How can a company with the backing of HK not invest in their own tooling? I respect their chief engineer, but can’t help to think companies that can make some of their own products would be able to pass some savings to their customers 

Steve59,

That is just the way of the world these days. Happens less in highend audio I guess. I own an $8,000 mountain bike and not a single part is made by the company I bought it from. They design it and outsource everything, even assembly. 

As for Revel I think it shows in their fit and finish. It is not bad but they showed up with little things that would not happen with Wilson, Magico or B&W. Minor glue marks and some very small paint issues etc. 

But I still feel you can’t get a better speaker for the money sound wise. There might be one someone likes better but objectively it will not be better. The 228be is neutral, very detailed and seem to have limitless volume output in a domestic listening room anyway. As I get used to them the mids are very natural and effortless. In my demos the mids did not standout but now they have my attention. 

At the $6300 I paid for the 228be they are going to be hard to replace. I will have to spend a lot more (multiples of their cost) for something maybe just different. Like many people I am always looking for my next speaker. I would love to try some big JBL horns or own big Wilsons but not sure it is worth it at this point. 

I think I will just start playing with more room treatment. I have my entire ceiling treated now. I put 6” of dens mineral wool behind an acoustic drop tile. That made a huge different is the sound of the room. With the Thiels I had the tweeter was low and shot straight into my theater seats (big wide soft cloth seats), this kept the rear wall reflections to a minimum but the revels tweeter is above the seats and wow does it excite the room, so i need to do something with the rear wall now and will try some wide band bass traps at the first reflection points while I am at it. 

You have invested in the 228 be so I apologize if I suggested they were cheap. I have more against revels marketing strategy than their speakers and sometimes it leaks out. 

Steve59,


No, offense taken, Revels don’t fall in the pride of ownership category. They look too plain and the fit and finish is just not three. Not bad but clumsy/plastic looking next to Sonus Faber or Focal. 
They do however sound good in absolute terms and excellent for the money. cost no object most of use would own Rockports or similar brands with extreme attention to detail. 

 There is not a better speaker then the 228be in its price range. Just have to listen to things and see what you like. They are a flat accurate speaker and that does not mean you will like them but they are near perfect. 

Revels sound nothing like Harberths, having a modern, analytical house sound that I find cold/clinical. Be domes can also be generalized to be on the unforgiving side compared to fabric, but then again Harbeth uses metal domes, too. You should really go audition and judge for yourself.

Revel is good for live and home cinema,Harbeth is better for music.

As my goal, however unrealistic, is to have a 5.1 system that would sound as good for music on CD (and 24 bit downloads) as it would for DTS MA audio from BD movies. But just to be clear, a speaker's ability to play "loud", even to more realistically deliver BD movie special effects, is not a priority. My tentative plan was a pair of 228be's for the front-whose apparently excellent off axis response would even be close to ear level when sitting ~ 10 feet away. And then a pair of Revel 128be's in the rear; plus my Rythmik F12 subs.

But the big questions is how would my ears like the beryllium tweeter with my less than pristine 60s pop recordings TV episodes and movies-though mostly pressed on major label CDs, DVDs and BDs?

Can anyone who may own beryllium Revels, or other brands with such tweeters, offer any such experiences? Would they sound too unforgiving, analytical, harsh and/or fatiguing with the above sources?

If so, how much might the beryllium tweeter "coldness/harshness " be  "softened/warmed" by using the 228be's bi-amping option and driving the tweets and mids with a reasonably affordable 300B SET amp? Or even something like a First Watt F4 or J2 Class A solid state amp? Please share any such 228b3 bi-amping experiences.

In any case, I would also need to audition a pair of Harbeth's in the 228be's price range. But which Harbeth stand mount speakers for the rear? And which for the center speaker?