REVEL performa3 f208 or TEKTON Moab

I wouldn’t touch the Revel with a ten foot pole, if for no other reason than at only 88dB sensitivity you’ll never find an amp to drive them. A choice made even more tragic when the alternative Tekton Moab is such a superb speaker, a good 10dB more efficient, and one of the great bargains in high end audio. I’ve had mine about 6 months now and happier with them every day. My 50wpc tube amp drives them beautifully, and if you want, at crazy loud levels. But they do not need to be loud to open up and sound good.

They sound fabulous with every type of music, and I really do mean everything from rock to jazz and swing, classical, all of it. The midrange is perfect, the bass outstanding, and the whole presentation top to bottom is seamless. They are imaging champs capable of completely disappearing. Mine with the crossover, wiring and Cardas terminals upgrades came in right at $5k. About the only downside is the wait time. But rest assured they will be worth the wait!

It may really depend what your preferences are.

If you like the sound of the front row at Woodstock, Tekton.

If you like less aggressive, but more polite, sound, Revel.

If blasting is what I wanted, Tekton. They are hard to beat for energetic music excitement at that price.

If smooth and refined without exaggerations, Revel.

Tekton let’s you know it is there, Revel blends in. Not only by their looks.

Glupson makes Tekton sound like it belongs in the Klipsch camp.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  This is not a front row in your face kind of speaker.  It in my mind defines neutrality.  Nothing "aggressive" about it.  

I have about 5 grand to spend on loudspeakers. Of these 2, Tekton Moab and Revel performa3 f208, which one would you goners buy?

Have you had any opportunity to hear either/both?  
What kind of music do you listen to and at what levels?

I appreciate all your inputs.  Keep in mind I have a powerful amplifier ( Krell FPB 400CX). I heard the Revels and have Tekton ENZO XL's with 7 tweeter array so I know the Tekton sound. I feel the Revel's to be a better engineered loudspeaker. With in house high end drivers, a higher end crossover and a much more finished product. I like tekton for the value but the appearance looks like I could have bought a router and paint sprayer from home depot and built them myself. The Moab is intriguing though will those big eminence woofers and fabric dome arrays. Wish I could hear the Moab's. 

I listen to anything from Miles Davis to Metallica.  I Stream, play compact disc's and spin Vinyl so all formats are used. The system consists of a Krell FPB 400CX, Ayre K5xe mp preamp, Wadia 321 Dac, Audiolab 6000cdt transport, Bluesound node 2i, VPI CLassic with Ortofon black cartridge, Audio research PH3 SE phono stage, audioquest rocket 88 loudspeaker cable and cinnamon interconnects. REVEL PERFORMA3 F208 VS TEKTON MOAB.  Got 5 grand to spend and I have narrowed it down to these two loudspeakers.  

I do like to play loud.  I heard the Revels in a very large room hooked up to some 22k dollar 300 watt per channel McIntosh tube amps and they played insanely loud. My Tekton Enzo Xl's play insanely loud as well so its a given the Moab's will. My concern is that there is not a proper midrange in the Moab and that those tweeter clusters will lack dynamics because they have no excursion. If you look at Tektons higher end speakers they couple midbass drivers to them . 

Buy the better-engineered speaker! You already know which one!

Revel F208. Text book in room response. 

Just as an aside, whenever Stereophile measures the sensitivity of Tekton loudspeakers they never meet the manufacturer's specification.  They are not low sensitivity, but they measure at least 6db below the manufacturer's claims.

Do yourself a favor and get the Revels.  

98dB 2.83V@1m sensitivity, that is not 98db 1W. They offer it in 8 and 4 ohm, and you know this is going to be at 4ohm. So at best 95db, which is 6db over what Stereophile measured on the f208. As noted, Tekton has measured way below spec on their other speakers (6.5 db lower on the Impact, 5.9 on the Enzo).

I wouldn’t touch the Revel with a ten foot pole, if for no other reason than at only 88dB sensitivity you’ll never find an amp to drive them.

LOL.
Yes, all those poor Revel owners have been unable to find amps to drive them. 

This is why you have to be careful asking for advice on audiophile forums.  You can get a tad skewed view of things due to some extreme personal biases....;-)

(Any good 4 ohm rated amp will drive the Revels, as JA points out in the measurement section reviewing that model - hardly like having to find a unicorn in the audio world). 

@roberjerman
  Buy the better-engineered speaker! You already know which one!

Yeah this guy is famous for spouting off about speakers he's never heard. Proceed with caution........

Tekton DI for years now and still very happy. Best purchase, along with oppo 205, I've made.

Consider the size and weight of MOAB. Revel looks prettier and has smaller footprint.

I have heard the revel F208 a couple of times and they sounded very good to me. Had enough details and a potent bass, even though they are front ported. They look beautiful too.Sorry, not heard the Tektons, so can't comment.

In one corner you have the Revels with big Harman R&D budget and the Tektons with good ole American ingenuity.  Tektons are made in the USA. Revels, Indonesia.  The Revels have amazing fit and finish, the Tektons look DIY. But its sound quality first for me. Going to be an interesting choice thats for sure. 

Crutchfield sells Revels with free shipping and 60 days to try out. Shipping back to them would be $20 total. I tried out some Martin Logans and it was a great and low cost experiment.

Reading through the comments its clear you either don't know anything about Tekton Moabs or worse have been misled into believing a lot of the blather which in turn comes from people who don't know anything about Tekton Moabs.  

The sensitivity thing has been covered to death. Whatever you measure the fact remains these are tremendously efficient speakers that will play crazy headbanger loud even with a relatively low power tube amp. My Melody is 50wpc and at half volume its louder than I can take it for more than a song or two, and that's in a 17x24x9 room. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367

The "proper midrange" canard, what you mean is it doesn't have a traditional midrange. Proper it most certainly is. Probably the best midrange you are likely ever to hear. The combined power of the MTM array is equivalent to a 9" midrange. 

But a 9" midrange is a lot of mass. So what normal makers do is spend a fortune on expensive materials and design trying to get the fast flat response the midrange requires. What Eric does instead is use the combined power of 15 tweeters. Each one of these measures flatter and faster than any 9" midrange. But he achieves this with relatively inexpensive off the shelf drivers.  

This works because the technology of MTM is so superior to the old tech of companies like Revel. 

The fear of tweeters not having excursion is of course totally unwarranted. First of all, you already know even the little Enzo XL plays plenty loud, and that is with fewer lower quality drivers. Moabs with 15 tweeters put out more power, faster and flatter, than just about any 9" midrange- certainly more than any midrange within your budget. 

The one thing I will grant the haters, these are not museum piece speakers. They are speakers for people who want the absolute best in sound quality their money can possibly buy. Sound quality. Not bragging rights to shiniest cool finish. They look just good enough to live with, and that is about it. Which is fine with me.

Listen, I don't really care which speakers you wind up with. That's your personal decision. Just don't want to stay silent while so much misleading information is flying around. Which it always is around here. Trying to keep up with the parrots blathering whatever it was they heard another parrot blather is a full time job around here. 

I do agree with the one who said buy the superior technology. That would have to be Tekton. Something that particular poster will realize for himself if only he takes the time to learn and consider and understand just what that technology actually is, instead of like the other haters making snide snarky comments and innuendo. Eric's MTM array and low stiction/friction/mass technology is so superior he is able to offer a $15k speaker for only $5k. 

There now. The haters ought to be triggered well and good after that little truth session. Good luck and happy listening!

I don’t understand why some people get so hung up on a certain spec that they somehow deem is the important criteria on which to base a choice. Yes, to some extent, those things matter, but in no way will they tell you the whole story, or what a speaker will sound like to you. Your ears should be the judge. I’ve heard the Revels at one of my local dealers, and they are not even close to the Moabs. I’m sure they sound fine to many people, and more so if you have never heard the Tektons.  

Happy without either of them.
If I was changing I'd build some Jagers.

corelli,

Glupson makes Tekton sound like it belongs in the Klipsch camp. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is not a front row in your face kind of speaker. It in my mind defines neutrality. Nothing "aggressive" about it.

That is the curse of asking for opinions on an Internet forum. You may get two opposite, and still honest, views rendering it all useless.

jeffvegas,

If  this is your amplifier, there is a chance that sensitivity of the speaker is not what you may need to pay attention to.

Krell FPB 400cx 800-watt stereo Class-A Power Amp (hifiheaven.net)

Wow Miller Carbon!!! You should open up your own Tekton showroom!  You make me want to call Tammy and put a pair of Moab's on order right now. The problem I have is that my Enzo Xl's with 7 tweeter array sound good but you do hear the cheap drivers and poor cabinet construction. If you look at Moabs, it's a lot of the same. Chinese made wavecor tweeters, woofers that were designed for guitar amps, and a cabinet that has horrible resonances. The Revel has far superior engineered drivers, a resonance free cabinet, home decor friendly looks and designed by Kevin Voecks who has forgotten more than Erik Alexander will ever know about how to design a loudspeaker.  

Yes glupson, I have a Krell FPB 400CX that has been serviced recently by Krell. It does 400 a channel into 8 ohms, 800 a channel into 4 ohms and 1600 a channel into 2 ohms. I could care less about sensitivity in a loudspeaker.  My neighbors complained about how loud my Tekton Enzo's are with the Krell. I told them I am sorry but I do take song requests. 

Buy the Revel and don't look back.

2 * sqrt(14 * (1/2)^2) = 3.75" not 9"


Not sure where that 9" midrange area came from, but whoever came up with that is bad at math.

Used to have 90db/watt speakers being driven by a 50 watt Sugden with a lot of headroom. Those speakers had dual-8" woofers and my room was similar to Miller's but lower ceilings 7.5-8'.  Never had any issue "shaking the walls" or reaching listening levels beyond what most would enjoy.

Some say the Tektons are very ugly. I wouldn't say I'm in love with the look but the Revels to me are extremely boring looking and I also somewhat find their sound this way as well. 
The Tekton will be more dynamic and lots more fun IMO. If I ever buy another speaker it will likely be the Moab or maybe Encore or whatever else he has out at that time because I greatly enjoyed my Double Impacts. 

I know a guy who owns the Tektons and he also owns Spatial Audio speakers.  I was wondering what speakers he favored.  He liked both for different reasons so although Tektons are mentioned here as such a superb speaker, to each his own. 

Apples and oranges. Will come down to personal preference. The Tektons will probably do somewhat better technically with tube or more modestly powered amps.

"If you look at Moabs, it's a lot of the same. Chinese made wavecor tweeters..."

Hold on, did you just say "Chinese made" in Moabs? Is that for real? That would explain why they would pair well with Melody amplifier. In fact, do two speakers pair with an amplifier, or do they threesome with it?

For what it's worth i literally just got Tektons after doing months of research and watching reviews. I put my Perfect SET 2-10 through some paces last night and today and when listening they melt away and I forget they are even there. They sound amazing with Steely Dan Aja and with skinny puppy and with Johnny Cash etc. I had to remind myself they music I was hearing was not coming from my record player in the center but the speakers on either side of my room.

Save for the Revel Ultima 2 line (used). End of game.

I was in a similar boat, looking between various Tekton models and the Revel F208. I have never heard Tekton speakers and have nothing against them. Ultimately though, I went with the Revels in the end. Tekton has so many speaker designs and seems to be constantly releasing something new. Revel has more resources being under the Harman umbrella and seems to put much more R&D in before releasing a finished product. The styling and quality of finish on the Revels was also much more to my liking. After being able to listen to the Revels at a local stereo shop my mind was made up and I happily forgot about the Tektons.

First, that krell can drive any speaker. Second, you’re in a nice situation to purchase new speakers but an even better one if you buy used. The choices in the 5k range are great. I’d say you could get a better used speaker at this price range than new. Keep searching. I have an old krell ksa 100 with some newer Sonus Faber olympicas and its sublime. You have many options. 

wow, An either or option. Hmm.....  please don’t be so lazy and limited. Take your amp and other sound equipment and go see some people that have speakers you are interested in. Don’t limit yourself, be a prick if need be, you are the customer. You got some good stuff to go tickle some drivers. Be the driver. Something may surprise you.  You are looking for the match for your system. I’m more Tekton, but that’s me.  Go and be you with the set of ears God gave you. Go LISTEN.  

MC - Your comment: "Reading through the comments its clear you either don’t know anything about Tekton Moabs or worse have been misled into believing a lot of the blather which in turn comes from people who don’t know anything about Tekton Moabs."
MC, you don’t have a clue on what good sound is. You are the person who told people your moabs were better than the $1M Wilson (Wilson doesn’t make a $1M speaker), now you are saying stay away from revel. Give it up!!!
If you want a cheap speaker that can play loud, get a Moab, if you want a good speaker up to some of the best speakers, get something else like the revel or many other brands. For example, I would take a used Revel M20 stand mount speaker over any tekton I have heard for sound quality, the M20's won't play as loud, but their sound was very very good, and that's from a 20 year old speaker.
The sensitivity of a speaker is not a show stopper. I had 86db totem speakers hooked up to McIntosh 1000 watt mono blocks and they sounded fantastic. BTW, your tekton speaker sensitivity ratings have been scrutinized because in tests, they actually have a lower sensitivity rating than company specs.

I own the Moabs and Magnepan 3.7's.  The Moabs have a very rich involving sound but the fact that they are cheaply made, poorly damped, box speakers also shows up in the way they sound.  The Magnepan's are a little less involving but technically I would say they are better if you have the space to properly position them.  I like them both for different reasons but if you held a gun to my head I would choose the Maggies first. The planar sound coupled with a pair of subwoofers is incredible. If you like tubes the Maggies aren't really an option without a much bigger budget. Ultimately, it is apples and oranges and a very personal preference.  I have never listened to the Revels or any other high end speakers except for the Spatial Audio X3's which I suspect are better than either the Maggies or Moabs but again different sounds for different tastes.

I too have heard Krell amps and Sonus Faber speakers sound quite sublime together. A combo I could easily live with. Just saying.

In case this (from Tekton website) is true...

"I looked at the tweeters by shining a flashlight through the rear ports. I could see that the MOABs are using Wavecor TW030WA06 4ohm tweeters.

These are high quality drivers used in expensive speakers. Each costs $87.

https://www.parts-express.com/wavecor-tw030wa06-30mm-textile-dome-tweeter-with-rear-chamber-with-ferrofluid-4-ohm--298-1110

There are 30 Wavecor drivers in the MOAB pair!

The retail price on these tweeter alone is $87 x 30 = $2,610."

...could Moabs be considered largely a Chinese product?

Wavecor | HiFiCompass

Customer Testimonials - Tekton Design | Improve your hearing

I was knocking the Revels by them being made in Indonesia but me finding out that the tekton Moab tweeters come from China makes the Revels feel like David Wilson built them himself.  

Do not worry and do not mix, just match them with a Chinese made amplifier and you are good to go. Try Melody, I have read they go really well together ( Chuck Miller's System - Virtual Systems (audiogon.com) ) and you even get patriotic bonus points. I am just not quite sure from which country, though.

You’re in luck.  Both give you 60 days to try them out in home.

Why listen to the goners when you can trust your own ears?

BTW, I own Tektons, drive them with 80W Schiit  Aegirs.  It’s heaven.

@dougthebiker... how do you like the Aegirs? I was initially interested but from reading reviews and 3rd party measurements they sh!t the bed on anything below an 8 ohm load. Measurements obviously aren't everything but I didn't pursue it any further. I continue to wonder though. Seems like they need a high efficiency speaker to shine.

I’d strongly recommend the Tektons. I auditioned at least 15 pairs of speakers including Revel (sorry, can’t remember the model at this point) and ended up going with Tekton.I’ve owned Tekton Pendragons for aprox a year and a half, and still have no desire to upgrade. 

I stopped auditioning speakers after hearing the Tekton DI. They are so good no need to look any further. The price is just icing on the cake. +1 for Tekton.
(I really hope Eric doesn't raise prices soon)

jeffvegas... see: http://usaudiomart .com/ revel performaBE f228Be NEW less 3000.

All speaker manufacturers should publish truthful sensitivity measurements.
Per John Atkinson very few do.
Most upgrade just 2 or 3 dB.
Tekton goes for 5 to 8 dB
Bargepoles come to mind.  If they are dishonest about one thing, chances are they will be the same on others.

And if you do buy Tekton, don't forget to order the optional large size black plastic bin liners to hide their toytown ugliness.