Dynaudio v Revel

I purchased the Revel Studio's18 months ago. Im my opinion, I have not heard anything in the $10k price range that is their equal, including the Dynas which I listened to along with many others both more and less expensive. You did not mention what type of tubed equipment you are using, so I don't know what the power of your amp. While the Revels are fairly efficient and will work well with a variety of amps, they do like power and will easily handle as much as you throw at them. Be aware of one other thing with the Revels - these are highly detailed speakers that will accurately display everything in your audio chain from the CD you play to the components you use to the wires that deliver the sound. If you have poorly matched ( not necessarily cheap vs. expensive ) speaker cable, you simply will not get the best these remarkable speakers have to offer. Transparent Cables are a match made in heaven although I chose the new MIT 750 Magnums which use Oracle technology. One last thing, you are comparing two very different speakers. The Dynas are not nearly as detailed and are built to please regardless of what may be the weakest link in your audio chain. They will also distort as you increase volume. The Revels are built to show everything in your audio chain. I have not yet reached a distortion level no matter how loudly I drive them - I do't know where that level is.

owned Sonus Faber Extrema, Wilson Watt/Puppy 5.1, Genesis V, KEF Ref 3, and listened to everything under $20k, nothing come close to the Dynaudio Confidence 5. Any one can claim their speakers to have the best midrange, but I bet they never heard the C5 which can rival Quad without losing the impact. spend an hour listening to Revel Studio, but crossover point is very obvious and does not sound coherent. there is a major gap in between drivers if you listen hard.

My lean to the Confidence 3's are being pricipally motivated by a price of $4600. Yet, I suspect I could land the 5's for $5600. The dealer I have spoken to regarding the dyns is pushing the 3's versus the 5's based on better imaging and coherence. To Davidlin see my earlier post as to what I have foe electronics--What do you think?

Elinor- "The Dynas are not nearly as detailed" "They will also distort as you increase volume" I don't know what the heck you are talking about, and I wonder if you do. The Confidence 5s that I own are driven by Classe' CAM-350s and they don't distort anything. At points in the load curve the Classe is driving 500+ watts to each speaker. I wonder if you didn't just hear them driven by amps that lack the current to make these relatively inefficient speakers (86db?) shine. If you heard them with relatively low power tube amps, the distortion you heard was almost certainly generated by an overdriven amp trying to produce high volumes from a speaker it can't drive. The 5s are especially finicky about amps due to their compound woofer. The Esotar tweeter contained in both the C5 and C3 is widely recognized as possibly the best in existence by both audiophiles and speaker manufacturers. When comparing the Dynaudio to the Revel Ultima high found the Revel "harsh" some people may consider this "detailed".The idea that a $10,000 Dynaudio speaker is " built to please regardless of what may be the weakest link in your audio chain" is something I wish were true, because it would have saved me a lot of money on source and cabling. I am glad you like your Revels. I listened to the Revel Ultima and I liked it a lot. I like the Confidence 5s better.

MCINTOSH MC-1000'S AND A PAIR OF CONSEQUENCE DO THE TRICK FOR ME AND MY FAMILY DOUGGIE IN TORONTO