Revel Salon 2 versus WP 8

Heard em both, at different dealers. The wilson's are the better speakers. Both sound and build. The wilsons have bigger and faster dynamics, more detail. They'll sound worse in a crappy room, though.

I have had extensive experience with the W/P 7s and the original Salons in my own system. So my comments are only relevant to the extent you believe the W/P 8s and the Salon 2s have adhered to the "house sound" of the immediately preceding models. (I don't personally know whether either of the new models has made a dramatic change in the overall personality of the speakers.)

That being said, I agree with some of the comments above that the W/Ps offer a more exciting, dynamic sound with faster bass. The W/Ps also soundstage incredibly well. The soundstage was impressively wider and taller than the soundstage of the Salons. (By comparison, the Salons offered a bit more soundtage depth.)

Nonetheless, I preferred the sound of the Salons in my system by a significant margin. In my system, the W/Ps tended to exhibit an electronic edge in the playback of recordings featuring acoustic instruments, especially classical music and the reproduction of violins. On the other hand, the Salons present the timbre of acoustic instruments with startling accuracy and have a natural, relaxed presentation that is more in keeping with the sound of acoustic instruments in a live venue.

I think that your preference between these two speakers will come down to the type of music you listen to and your personal preference/priorities. If you prize timbral accuracy and tonal balance and you listen primarily to acoustic music, I think you will gravitate toward the Salons. On the other hand, if you prioritize dynamics, quick bass response and soundstaging, you will probably be drawn to the Wilsons.

I hesitated to post here given that my experience relates to the preceding model for both of these speakers, but I went ahead and did so recognizing that these comments might not have continuing relevance to the extent the current models have made a dramatic departure from the sound of the preceding generation. However, given that successive generations of products often stay in the same general "school" or style and given that I had the unique ability to live with both of these older generation speakers in my own system for an extended period, I thought it made sense to go ahead and post for what it's worth.

Cincy bob, Thank you. You experience living with both is very rare and I respect the reference it gives you. Judging by your response you are obviously an excellent listener to the questions posed to you,a pleasure to see in these forums.

My understanding is that the System 8 sounds much more natural than the System 7.

I heard the Salon 2 this week at a dealer driven with Levinson gear. Unfortunately they kept the grills on, which probably killed the imaging.

I was quite impressed even so. I thought they had loads of inner midrange detail and the bass was quite extended and deep while being very controlled.

On a recent post of mine I mentioned someone that had done a shootout between WP7 and the Salon 2 and another speaker.