I did put three hours plus on them last night, and this afternoon I put five hours plus on them. On the positive side (and since my memory is so short I’ll speak for today) I played a lot of my classical music CDs (and one SACD) which I am not really familiar with because it is not a genre I really like all that much, and . . . I did not find myself getting bored and wanting to take the disc out. Also on the positive side, although without the sub hooked up I can tell that the bass could really benefit from reinforcement, depending upon the CD, it was not totally pathetic.
I finished off a while ago playing tracks I really enjoy from older CDs that I am quite familiar with: Jackson Browne, The Highway Men, Brandy Carlile, and Eliza Gilkyson. I think I may have heard more texture in the vocal work than maybe I was hearing before. (I think/may have/maybe are all probably the operative words. But it is vocal work that I probably enjoy and pay most attention to. On the Highwaymen, for example, I listened to The Devil’s Right Hand written by Steve Earle and The Road Goes On Forever written by Robert Earle Keene and in each one of these songs, Johnny gets a verse then Willie then Kris then Waylon and I noticed what each one of these guys actually did with their voice on their part of the song, kind of like what a trumpet player might do with his or her particular solo. But with that typed, perhaps it was because I was listening more attentively, or perhaps it was the effect of the coffee I had been drinking since I started listening this afternoon.)
On the negative side, as much as I enjooyed what I listened to, it still didn’t make me say, "OMG, I feel like rolling on the floor and screaming in ecstasy and telling the world."
But I have more to say about that later, and I am fully cognizant that I only have 20 hours on them at this point and that you all have told me not to expect miracles until 100 to 200.
@ghdprentice , I always appreciate the tone of your posts. An old receiver would be an excellent idea. I do, in fact, have a couple of Rotel amps that I used back in my Dolby Prologic HT days and an older 12au7 preamp; however, the way my system is set up, I finally have it where interconnects/wires, power cords are not a tangled mass--they are nicely segregated--but it is a bitch to get to the backs of the stuff to work on them/meaning take stuff in and out, and I find it more relaxing to put the time in as opposed to take equipment in and out. If I had a spare CD player and I trusted that old preamp, I could put some continuous hours on them without messing with the main equipment while I did other things, but, to both those points: I don’t, and I don’t. (On the preamp, I don’t completely trust it anymore after what I have read here about DC voltage sneaking out of older preamps.) But it is no biggy . . . I can be a patient person, and I am fully believing that my patience will be rewarded in this case. And if it isn’t--it isn’t; I can deal with disappointment--I am not a stranger to it.
@soix , I always appreciate the tone in which you post in as well. I am liking the sound right now even though it hasn’t YET hit me like a punch in the face. I am attributing my appreciation to the fact that my B&Ws were sounding worn out and tired, and also my limited experience with different speakers means my standards may well be lower. I could probably expound on what I mean by that, but. . . .
@kennyc , thank you for the supportive comment. The B&Ws replaced a quite affordable pair of NHTs, and it was a big step up and at the time I was beyond happy with them. (The NHT s replaced a pair of "big Masonite boxes with paper cone drivers" that were part of a rack system, and I was happy with that upgrade also . . . at the time. But I hear you, and I also hear the Revels, and I like what I hear with them also.
@grislybutter , I liked the Revels when I first heard them, and I believe that I will like them way more in a hundred hours or so. I’ve also enjoyed the discussion.
I apologize in advance for the typos I am sure I made and don’t have time to correct as I am late to run an errand.
Thank you all for your thoughts and advice. I am pretty much a happy man right now, but the caffeine may have some bearing on that as well.