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Revel vs. Aerial vs. B&W

I am looking at upgrading my KEF Ref 3's and am considering Aerial's new 20T. Has anyone heard them? I have heard the B&W Nautilus 802's and think they are great - especially for the money. A friend of mine said I should consider the Revel Studios. I have never heard those. Feedback on them would be appreciated. I am using a Krell 3250/Lexicon MC12, FYI. Thanks!
acolcer
worldcat
160 posts
 
You cannot compare the 20t's to the Revel studios the 20t's blow the revels away the revels are nice but they are not as good as the aerial 9's the mid range in the 9's are far more superier. The 20t's are the best speakers i have ever heard i will own a pair one day!
lrsky
1,118 posts
 
Eifel Tower, compared to mayonaise, compared to a cardigan sweater. Could they beee, any different?
Chandler Bing
rbstehno
1,495 posts
 
imo, no aerial speaker system will blow away a revel studio or salon speaker system! i grant you, the 20t sounds much better than the 10t (i like the smaller woofers in the 20t, tighter bass than the 10t, even the model 9 sounds better than the 10t). if you are auditioning speaker systems in the $20,000+ category, you ought to listen to the Joseph Pearl's, and the wilson watt puppy's along with the Revel's.
worldcat
160 posts
 
Aerial are much better than the Revels!
ritteri
223 posts
 
I have auditioned a pair of Revel Salon's directly with Aerial 20T's at my home side by side.

The Revel's from the very top octave all the way down the the lowest octave are superior. Especially their midrange transducer. Revel's imaging is rock solid and never wanders and its due to the fact that the crossover boards,components and drivers themselves are of a much higher grade than the Aerials. The bass on the Salon's is also untouched by the 802's or the 20T's. Each bass cabinet of the Salon consists of 3 8" drivers and a single 6.5" vs. just a pair of drivers for the 20T's or 802's. The Salon's are known to have the absolute best bass of any speaker at any pricepoint. Add this to the fact that you can contour the fz response at 50hz 4db to help match room placement too which is also a valuable tool. But the true heart of the Salon is its 4" titanium midrange driver and anodized 1.1" custom Scanspeak tweeter. Both integrate seamlessly and are perfectly flat in response for the best midrange I have ever heard. Alot of people compare Salon's with the best Ribbon/planer speakers made. Aerial's arent even in the same class. Even the cabinet and finish of the Salon(or Studio)is a step up from B&W and Aerial. The integration of the grills,automotive quality finish, the hardened anodized hex nuts, the port,the compressed sandwich style side panels(which play a huge key to why there is almost no resonation from the cabinet)etc all add to the Revel's classy appearance.

The 20T's are nice, but in every regard they are a step down from Revel's. B&W 800's would be a better comparison against a Revel Salon or Studio speaker.

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