Revel Salons - Do they really sound like this?

Sounds like a poorly set up system (was it even warmed up before you got there?) and a mismatch of components to me. Not an unusal set of circumstances in an audio store. Once you get your gear to a certain point, and properly set up, it is hard to hear an improvement in a store demo unless someone has gone to a lot of trouble to "do things right".

Your home system seems pretty competent, so in store rigs are going to have trouble measuring up. And, some of the gear in the setup may not be to your taste - example, if you like your Pass equipment, Levinson may not suit your ears.

And, as someone has already mentioned, your ears have already told you that something wasn't right. Try and see if you can arrange a home demo for the Revels, that will give you a better feel for the speakers. Or they simply might not be right for you. In that case, you can just continue to enjoy your Dunlavys (good speakers in their own right), or maybe check out the Wilson Sophia, and/or the Verity Parsifal Encore - also very good speakers in the same approximate price bracket.

i auditioned salons with a levison reference set up using all transparent reference xl cables and while it sounded good there is no way i would trade my dunlavy/vtl set up (wired with harmonic tech) for it other than to make a quick profit and then go back to dunlavy and VTL. way more air with my set up and imaging to die for. Keep what ya got would be my suggestion

Dear Cmpromo:

I neglected to mention that there seems to be some concensus in the threads that the Salons pair really well with Pass amplification (one thread in particular suggests that the Classe Omega and Pass mono amps are really, really good matches).

I also note that my friend who went from SC-V's to Salons uses Transparent cabling with great success (albeit with very different electronics than what you demo`d Salons with).

Good luck.

Cmpromo -

I am the friend to whom "Raquel" referred in his/her post (he's confused). I sold my Dunlavy SC-Vs about 15 months ago and bought a pair of Salons that I am currently running with CAT JL-1 Limited Edition monoblocks. I have been very pleased with the upgrade in sound quality I achieved as a result. The Salons bettered the performance of the Dunlavys in a number of areas:

1. Transparency - The Salons exhibit more detail and provide a more transparent view into the soundstage.

2. Treble response - The front and rear firing tweeters in the Salons provide substantially more treble energy than did the silk dome tweeters on my SC-Vs. To my ears, I found the resulting sound to be more "right" and true to the live experience with, for example, the shimmer on well recorded jazz cymbals.

3. Bass response - The Salons provide more and better bass extension. The Salons literally measure perfectly flat at 20Hz in my room (with the help of a small boost from a room node). The low bass response of the Salons is flat in its own right down to about 25Hz if my memory serves me.

The soundstaging of the Salons is very good. It certainly equaled the soundstaging capabilities of my SC-Vs. As mentioned in the threads above, the Salons are exceptionally revealing of the nuances and inner details of the music. As a result, when paired with the right electronics, you will have no problem hearing all the intimate details of the Diana Krall recording you mentioned. At the same time, any weaknesses in source electronics will be unflatteringly displayed. The Salons are exceptionally accurate and revealing of every element of their source signal.

There was definitely something wrong with the break-in, warm-up and/or set-up of the system you heard. I agree with an earlier post that the diffuse presentation and lack of soundstage sounds like the system was wired out of phase. The lack of treble energy you experienced is a mystery. If anything, some people find the Salons to be too bright (especially if paired with the wrong solid state amps). They are certainly not shelved down in their treble response. Also, the Salon's bass is very impressive, and it should have struck you that way.

If I remember correctly, Anthony Cordesman ran his Salons with big Pass amps. So I suspect the Salons would pair well with your Pass electronics.

One final note: I am currently using Transparent cables in my system. As a result, I can tell you that there is no inherent synergy issue between the Transparents and the Salons. What I do not know is how the Transparents pair with Levinson electronics and whether a synergy problem was introduced with that combination. (I doubt it.)

You should give these speakers another chance. Despite the large price tag, they are a very good value.

FYI, I am a hobbyist. I have no affiliation with Revel or any audio industry players.

It sounds to me one side has the phase reversed. I would check the speaker cable connections.