Revel Speakers

I also agree with Egrady, revels are some of the most transparent speakers out there, garbage in garbage out, one must partner them with good electronics and proper room treatments and placement. I spent a little time on the AVS revel forum and was dismayed at the poor advise being thrown around there, cheap blue ray player, done ! Home theater receiver and zip cord, done !! "Because of their wide dispersion they are not sensitive to room placement" It blew my mind how many people that could afford Salon 2s will never hear their true potential . Sad, and a waste.

Regarding the F series versus the new Performa3 models, I'm a bit skeptical about the change. Certainly it's possible that the new models are an improvement, but the Performa 3 line looks to me like it's central design brief was to hit new, lower price points, probably with better margins.

Chrissain,

I'm guilty. I listened to my Studio 2's for over a year before I went on the net and read everything I could find about speaker/chair placement. Cardas Audio and Galen Carol Audio have some very good tips. While my original placement was close, the speakers where almost the same distance from the side AND back walls. As I discovered, a real no-no.

Once I zeroed them in, wow! I feel this explains, at least in part, some of the difference of opinion on what a particular speaker sounds like. A good speaker properly placed in a great room is likely to out perform a great speaker in an average room. The room and placement are an enormous variable.

Unless you can hear the speaker in your room with your stuff, you just don't know. Not only that, it takes time and effort to find the optimal set up. The Ultima 2 does have an advantage I'm seeing more and more companies use. It is adjustable. A big plus, particularly if your room has issues.

The Studio 2 is so good in my room I've stopped looking. Any future upgrades will be elsewhere.

Drubin I was worried too, until I actually heard them. They are better in every way. Not a joke or hyperbole . They are lower in distortion, have better intergration between drivers, more inner definition and clarity, a much better tweeter . Their sound stage is wider and deeper. They are much closer to the sound of the ultima line than their older counterparts. Really what more could you ask for? And no I am not a dealer.

As far as the ultima line is concerned, I am around, on a constant basis, speakers that cost far more than the Salon 2s, that are not even close to the Salon 2 in performance. The irony is that for many in this hobby, they listen with their wallets and not with their ears, so the Revels are to cheap to be taken seriously.