Opinions on why this system is uninvolving

I know this thread is very old, butI also had some studios that I bought as store demos. They had hundreds of hours on them. I tried MANY amps, MANY pre amps, and even ran a Cary 306/200 direct to the amp. I tried a Levinson 383 integrated, TERRIBLE. COld, thin, fatigue. I tried a pass labs pre, 300watt powergouse amps and nothing helped. I then bought Acoustic Zen cables, still did nothing. I had $20k in the system and it sounded like CRAP. I then hooked up a Cary V12i tube amp and they came alive, but still not enough for me to keep them. I never did like the Studios and believe me I TRIED! I ende dup with a pair of Avantgarde Unos whihc I loved for a year, then just sold those for some Sonus Faber Guarneris.

BTW, I recently heard some Studios with Mcintosh. (352 amp, 2200 pre) and it was awesome. Nice full sound. Pucnchy, dynamic and not thin and brittle.

BUT My little Sonus faber Signums (used $1400) smoked the revel Studios with imaging, soundstage, midrange naturalness...everything but bass. BUT the little Signums fill my 3 car garage room with bass anyway. Just not deep pounding bass.

The Guarneris are a lifetime "keeper" speaker, andthose can be found occasionaly for $5k

The Studios just did not really do it for me. They look cool, and have a very clear accurate sound. Just not very musical to my ears!

Studios must not be very good. I've been to two Revel dealers. When I tell them I own B&W they won't even let me listen to Revel. Waste of their time I guess.

I know why! All (most) are Stereophile recommended components. Listen before you buy!

Bwhite, I don't mean to take this thread off track but I can say one thing, I've talked to you before on this digital issue and you sure know your stuff on good sound, regardless of $$. I really enjoy your "reviews" !! ...Pat

I am the original poster and I'd like to update you all on how things worked out becasue I have made a lot of changes. I have finally gotten the Revels to sound great. I still have the Hovland and I took BWhite's advice and kept the EAD transport. I bought an Audiomeca Ekianthus (also BWhite's suggestion) and that helped a lot. Then added Cardas Golden Cross speaker cables and Neutral Reference interconnects, which got things smoother. Traded the MFA amps and the Proceed amp for Bruce Moore Custom 225 monoblocks and that made the greatest difference. Now I can finally play the Revels as loud as they should be without fatigue, but by the same token I can play them at lower levels and not feel deprived. Vocals are now fantastic although perhaps not as great as on the Quad ESL 63/Gradient subwoofer combo I also bought but am thinking about selling. The Quads on many recordings are more intitmate (e.g., real sounding; timbres, trasnperency, liquidity, etc.) than anything I have ever heard, but then on some recordings they simply can't match the dynamism of the Revels. I have also experimented with a REL sub with the Revels which seems to work well, but I haven't had one long-term enough yet to tell if I really want it, or whether what I'm hearing is simply novelty.

In any event, I really appreciate everyone's help.