2. amps-preamps
  3. 124838-19008

Why is an XA30.5 a bad match for Revel Ultima Salon II speakers?

I actually own Revel M106 speakers right now, but some day, I intend to replace them with full range speakers like the Wilson Sophia II or Revel Salon II.

People say you need a lot of power to drive the Salons. The M106 and Salon II have almost the same sensitivity, and the XA30.5 can play the M106 louder than I prefer to listen (FYI I have a Velodyne powered sub). I guess my ears are pretty sensitive to loud volumes.

Does having all the mass of driving full range woofers into the 20hz range increase or complicate the workload on the amp significantly?

What is it about these speakers and many others that would demand a larger amp even at moderate volumes? My XA30.5 is supposed to be good for about 190W into 4 ohms, but nobody, including Pass Labs, seems to recommend an amp of that size for the Revel Salon II.

If I were to buy the Salons but had no amp budget, would I be better off trading for a more powerful but somewhat lesser quality amp than the XA30.5 such as a Parasound?
sboje
stewart0722
184 posts
 
I had Revel Studio 2s, and originally drove them in a fairly large room
with a ARC VSI60 and on most material, it sounded fine......but
when dynamics showed themselves, it ran out of gas quickly.......
so I can emphatically say 60 watts of tubes aren't enough into that
4ohm load, with mediocre efficiency......I then went to Pass X350.5
and never had an issue..........but I eventually swapped the Studios
for Magnepan 3.7s, which are also 4 ohm with mediocre efficiency,
and they wanted even more than the X350.5, so I went to Bryston 7BSST2s with great results 900W into 4ohm......I now still have those speakers with Bryston 28BSST2's, nearly 2KW into 4 ohm and the Maggies just sing........I would never consider Revel again against these speakers, but I liked them while I had them........
ptss
1,964 posts
 
Stewart,what do you do for bass?

initforthemusic
282 posts
 
I have Revel Ultima Studios and the more quality power I feed into them the better they sound. So I imagine it would be even more so for the Salon's

I'm using Vincent SP998 Mono Blocks and they sound sublime.  300W into 8 ohms, 50W Class A. 600W into 4 ohms. They have the best grip on bass I have ever heard. Beautifuly musical sounding they make the Revel's come alive. They just cruise effortlessly. You would have to spend truckloads more to get this performance.


bombaywalla's avatar
bombaywalla
1,958 posts
 
thanks stewart0722, initforthemusic - you guys just consolidated the point I was making. 
bombaywalla's avatar
bombaywalla
1,958 posts
 
My amp drove the S8s (version 2) to ear splitting levels.
thanks again for the feedback bifwynne.
As you well know it’s the not ear-splitting levels we are trying to achieve. You could get that with a lesser amp too than your present ARC. What we want is loud without distortion - as you turn up the volume it should get louder but not distort. This is much harder to achieve than perceived....
sorry to read that the ARC 250W/ch is not in your cards....
seriously - you should look for a time-coherent speaker. Your quest for another speaker will end. Don’t waste your time with these wicked phase angle, crazy impedance curve speakers. They’ll leave you wanting for better sonics....FWIW.
More to discover