Revel Performa 3 F206

[Robh3606]

I had been waiting for over a year for them to become available and then another 6 weeks after I ordered them. I finally got them delivered on Wednesday. Opened them up today and powered them up. I have too let them run in a little before I comment on how the sound. The fit and finish is really very nice and the walnut looks very good. I am running them with a PS1400 Sub to fill in the bottom end a bit. They replaced a pair of L20t3 I had running with the sub. So far so good the builders finally left, have a new house going up next door, hammering all day:banghead: Maybe tonight I can get a idea what they sound like.

Surprisingly Revel knows how to pack and ship speakers. The came mounted on a skid all wrapped up safe and sound. Good thing as the boxes themselves where not all that good and I think they would have bust if dropped.

Rob:)

[grumpy]

Very nice! Congrats. :applaud:
Will be interesting to get your opinion after you've lived with them awhile.

[Mr. Widget]

Very nice! Congrats. :applaud:
Will be interesting to get your opinion after you've lived with them awhile.
Ditto...

I saw prototypes at CES a year and a half ago. They were very pretty... looks like the real deal are nice too. Very curious about their sound!

Congratulations!!!!


Widget

[DavidF]

Ahh, another reason not to go out this weekend.

My one and only experience hearing one of the Revel family systems was at the audio show room Widget and Co. hosted couple years back. I liked them very much. I know the rap of audiophile sound. But they worked for me. Only if I didn't have a hang-up for big-ass woofers and my own room to accommodate such notions.

Looking forward to your impression.

[Robh3606]

Thanks guys! I have not really had all that much time listening but I have had them going to break them in a bit. So far so good more when I have time with them.

Rob:)

[JuniorJBL]

Congrats Rob!!

I hope they are everything you want them to be.:)

[Robh3606]

Well they are keepers. They look gorgeous, I finally peeled of all the protective plastic once I was sure I had them placed right. I am running them with a PS1400 sub-woofer crossed at 80Hz though the analog bass management in my preamp. Reason I did it was as good as they are they simply don't have that last octave. I have lived with solid 25Hz extension for so long that it's obvious to me when it's not there on any program material I am familiar with. I also figured it couldn't hurt to get the low stuff out of those 6 1/2" woofers. Only make things better. I must say though that the bass that is there is very good, articulate and solid above 40Hz.

I have 2 systems I consider my references, one my active HT mains and the Array 1400 clones. It interesting how they compare. I listened to the Revels and my HT mains only for a couple of weeks, once I had a good feel for how the Revels sounded and how they imaged I tried them up against the Arrays. In both cases the set-up is very similar except for the difference in the rooms.

They are remarkably similar although the Array's do have the edge. To me the Arrays's image better and have a bit more clarity. You also don't need a sub and they are effortless at any volume. The Revels also sound really good at any reasonable volume. They also do something I really about them, off axis they just don't change at all just like a good CD horn system like the Arrays. You can listen to them out of the sweet spot and still get a reasonable sound stage from them.

The Revels have really amazing clarity, the integration is great between the drivers. They did one hell of a job putting these together and for the money I think they are a great buy.

Rob:)

[4313B]

I am glad that you like them Rob. Quite a step up from the L20t3's without much of an increase in footrpint.

[Mr. Widget]

The Revels have really amazing clarity, the integration is great between the drivers. They did one hell of a job putting these together and for the money I think they are a great buy. How about their low sensitivity... do you notice that?

And, most importantly. :D Do you prefer their looks with grille on or off?


Widget

[Krunchy]

They look very nice Rob, I'm assuming these are being set up in your living room. Enjoy! :)

[jblnut]

. Quite a step up from the L20t3's....


As always, the master of understatement :-)

Nice speakers Rob!


jblnut

[Robh3606]

I have been enjoying the F206'S quite a bit. It's nice having a decent system upstairs and not in the "cave". I changed out my Crown PS-200 for the Emo -1L monoblocks. It got me more headroom and class A operation for most of the levels I use them for. They are already biamped thru the preamp to the subwoofer so most of the heavy stuff is handled by the sub. So far so good.

It's been so damn hot here I waited almost a week to unbox the amps and get them installed. I didn't want to sweat all over them. Got up early while it was still a cool 80 degrees. With the 100+ heat indexs if you move at all your wet. Can't wait for the rain tonight.

Don't beleive what you read on the Emo forum these amps do get hot. I know it's worst case becasue of the heat in the house, over 80, they get noticably hotter than any other amps I have and they should biased to run class A.

Rob:)

[BMWCCA]

Seems like the Emotiva rack mounts are the most expensive thing they sell, and even then they don't offer them for the XDA-2.

Are your amps sitting on rack shelves?

[Robh3606]

Hello BMWCCA

Strange isn't it?? My amps are on shelves. The pair of shelves cost me less than what a pair of their rack ears would have cost if they had them. I really wanted the rack ears for my other system and between them not being available for everything and the ones they had being out of stock I just gave up on them. You would think they would have ears for everything but I guess they don't see it as something people might want??

How do you like your new ear-less DAC?? I am happy with it's predecessor.

Rob:)

[Mr. Widget]

Seems like the Emotiva rack mounts are the most expensive thing they sell, and even then they don't offer them for the XDA-2.

Are your amps sitting on rack shelves?I was curious... all I found were $49 and $59 for rack ears... that seems very reasonable to me. You can always get a Middle Atlantic RSH shelf with brushed aluminum custom faceplate, but they do cost a couple of hundred bucks each.

So how is the system sounding?


Widget

[BMWCCA]

I was curious... all I found were $49 and $59 for rack ears... that seems very reasonable to me. Their rack-mount "ears" are either $49 or $59 per pair but they don't offer them for every product. For instance, they don't have them for the XDA-1 or XDA-2 DAC even though they've talked about "working on it" since I first inquired well over a year ago. The price isn't unreasonable unless you consider that the XDA-1 itself was selling for something like $225 at one time. That means the rack-mount ears would be 22% of the price of the component. I think part of the problem is the components appear to be built with rack-mount ears under the end caps but those are only decorative elements. The end-caps themselves are $20 if you choose to order the black ones for your Emotiva component. I'm just going to paint mine!

My XDA-2 DAC is working fine. I had false-start last night when I turned the system on, turned the DAC on, and got no audio. The DAC showed the bit rate of the two sources in the display but no analog output. I cycled the power with the remote with no luck and then pulled the unit out and cycled the rear-mounted power switch and everything worked fine. Hmm. And, no, it wasn't using the USB input at the time but one coax and one optical and neither worked. Hope I don't have to try out their 5-year warranty this soon.

On a similar note, I ordered Adcom RM-3 three-inch rack-mount ears and received instead the RM-3.5. Seems they no longer offer the 3-inch! And their's are no more than L-shaped aluminum for $44. I guess no one racks anymore?

[Mr. Widget]

The price isn't unreasonable unless you consider that the XDA-1 itself was selling for something like $225 at one time. That means the rack-mount ears would be 22% of the price of the component.Kinda makes you wonder when basic steel costs more than the goodies inside. ;) It is probably the numbers... they probably sell box car loads of product and only truck loads of rack ears.


I cycled the power with the remote with no luck and then pulled the unit out and cycled the rear-mounted power switch and everything worked fine.This is quite common. I find most products with a power switch do not actually power cycle the device.



I guess no one racks anymore?We do. Here are some being built... :)


Widget

[BMWCCA]

Cool.

So, who makes the Steinway-Lyngdorf amplifiers for them??

[Mr. Widget]

Cool.

So, who makes the Steinway-Lyngdorf amplifiers for them??They are made in-house in Denmark.


Widget

[Robh3606]

So how is the system sounding?

Hello Widget

Very nice I am very happy with them. They were a good choice thanks for the suggestion. Have you heard the matching subs at all?? They finally posted some decent information on the Revel site and the EQ available with them looks quite impressive. You use software to make filters against a target curve they provide. The target curve really surprised me as I have been using almost the same curve for years for my L+R subs in my HT. Check it out if you get a chance the software is downloaded right from the Revel page. So is the manual and a test signal as well.

I am also happy with the EMO amps as well. They do run hot in class A mode compared to class A/B. They sound really nice with the Revels. As far as the sensitivity they were about the same as the original L20t3 so it didn't really cause any issues. When I put in the new Emo's I had to redo the sub level. The combo of the new amps or maybe just getting the sub better integrated made a nice difference for the better.

Rob:)

[Mr. Widget]

Hi Rob,

Glad to hear they're working out for you... and that EMO gear seems to also be a good value. On the Class A topic, my amps run Class A for the first 25-30 watts and damn, they heat up the room!

I have not heard the new subs yet... I did buy one of the 12" B112 subs a month or so ago but have been too busy to try it out. I haven't decided yet if it will be put into my as yet uninstalled HT setup or used to augment my Everests. Based on what I've heard, I have high expectations for it.


Widget