I know this is a polarizing discussion point and was thus
hesitant to share unless I could keep it objective, helpful, and concise
I have no intention to be inflammatory, sway anyone’s current
opinion or beliefs
I merely want to share information in two specific areas, my
results of product performance and my experience with the manufacturer
Background and reference point
I replaced a pair of Revel F36. The F36 is the upper end of Revel’s lowest
tier floorstanding speakers and retails for $2,000 MSRP per pair
Took approx. 45 mins to unbox, level and connect
Like for like drop-in replacement, same location on the
floor as the F36s, the listening position did not change, identical electronics
and cables
We’ve all got our preferences, biases, different levels of
experience, etc; but share the common limitation that we just don’t know what
we don’t know
I’ve not heard a pair of 30K speakers but expect to someday
and envy those that own them
In my VERY limited understanding, it’s near impossible to pinpoint
how any specific system change will behave and perform across the board,
contingent on the variances in electronics, set up and room. These three items alone (electronics, setup
and room) make me think that while similar in nature, but at a critical
listening level, each combination is unique and a different snowflake or
fingerprint
Listening results
Product delivers as advertised
Meets or exceeds every performance expectation I had hoped
for
After approx. 5 hours of listening over 3 days I tried to
characterize the sound. The first
thought was neutral, but that was understating what I was hearing. I eventually landed on natural or real. The voices and the instruments sound VERY
real to me. This is as close as I have come
with my electronics, setup and room to sensing that someone is singing to me or
that someone or an entire band is playing for me
To date, each song that I’ve played, is the best version of
that song that I have heard in a playback, and I’ve listened to all of them
100s and 100s of times
Some of the improvement was by a small margin, but most
songs, 65% conservatively speaking, by a vast margin – night and day, game
changing stuff
Chet Baker didn’t sound like a presentation from 1958, it sounded
as fresh and real as a new recording with the benefits of 60 years of
technology advancements. Exile on Main
Street didn’t sound like a home recording from 1972 it sounded like 2022 with
many layers of percussion, keyboards, horns and background vocals
Is the sound of this $5,000 pair of speakers comparable to
the sound of a $30,000 pair of speakers?
I don’t know, as mentioned I’ve not heard a pair of $30,000 speakers.
What I do know is the $5,000 pair of speakers, simply put is
the best my system has sounded by a wide margin
Again in summary, it sounds real, like someone is singing to
me
Experience with the manufacturer
I had hemmed and hawed for 2 or 3 months before placing my
order. One day the website mentioned a
future price increase but until mmdd you could still order at the current price
I called and spoke with Tammy and told her I wanted to lock
in on the current price point but wasn’t sure what product or configuration I
wanted
She built an open-ended order with current pricing and told
me to contact her when I knew what I wanted
With work travel and other commitments it took me 4 months
to finalize which speaker, Moab, which upgrades, beryllium tweeters and Cardas
connectors, and what color, white
I was never pressured to make up my mind or that my window
for the lower costs was going to expire
Since I was the one dragging my feet, I offered multiple
times to pay for the product
Not once did they hint or take me up on my offer to pay in
advance
They did not bill me until the product shipped
Once I had made all the config decisions, the build and
delivery were again, as advertised
Tammy mentioned a 4–6-week supply chain delay with beryllium,
that arrived within her estimated timeframe
Once the beryllium arrived, she said she was waiting on
cabinets, eta 5-7 days, followed by build and paint, and shipping approx. 10
days after she received the cabinets
Within 2 weeks Tammy emailed my owner’s manual, unpacking
instructions and told me to expect a call from the freight company within the next
week
Freight company contacted me on that Fri and scheduled
delivery for the very next Mon, Aug 30
The boxes arrived scuffed and with multiple impact points
that dented the packing material
There are no blemishes or damage to either speaker cabinet,
the packing and packaging worked as designed
Upon unpacking, I didn’t experience a heavy smell of paint
or wood, if I put my nose to the cabinet, I could smell fresh paint
The cabinet finish or construction does not appear inferior
to anything else in my inventory, KEF, Revel, Klipsch, Paradigm, Polk, and Elac
– permission in advance to laugh
Enjoy the journey and happy listening
Respectfully
