Revel Speakers

What??!! Me exaggerate. Never.

Uuhhm .... be careful. that sub may crack the foundation of you house. One reviewer called the Signature Sub 2 the "MOAS" (Mother of all Subs). I guess that makes Sub 1 the "SOAS" (Son of all Subs). :)

I have an earlier generation Signature Servo sub. The nice thing about the upper tier Paradigm subs like those just mentioned is that they can be adjusted for phase alignment, loudness and cut-off frequency. The more recent versions like MOAS and SOAS use a computer and mic based sound equalization system to adjust bass at the listening spot.

Don't know how much of an assist the Studios need. The S8s need a little help; but less bass is definitely more.

If you go shopping and get a chance to check out the S8s, please share your reactions.

Thanks and good luck.

Bruce

Chrissain, I surmise that a significant reason for the excellent performance of the Salons and Studios is because of the beryllium tweeter. It's an expensive component and hard to manufacaturer. But ... it's performance attributes are stellar. There's not many companies that manufacture beryllium tweets. Other than Revel, there's Magico, Focal, Usher and Paradigm.

I happend to own the Paradigm Signature 8s (v3). Another performer on steroids that is reasonably priced.

I've read the bench test specs on many other high-priced so-called darling speakers. Frankly ... I've been underwhelmed. I appreciate that there's no substituting for a live audition, but as many have lamented, not many B&M stores around any more. So we're left to trial and error.

Anyway, the Revel Studio 2 is on my short list to try (??) and listen to one day. In the meantime, I suggest that folks with good front ends and source input materials give a serious listen to the Paradigm S8s (v3).

A word of warning. I agree with the comment above -- this type of speaker is not forgiving of bad source material and they should be driven by a very high quality, high current, high power output SS amp. I kinda lucked out with my ARC tube Ref 150. But that's a story for a diffferent day. If interested, check my posts. It ultimately came down to power, low output voltage, and a very robust power supply.

Based on e mail correspondence I had in the last year with a reviewer who is very familiar with both lines, I understand that both Revel and Paradigm share many design attributes, particularly as regards the beryllium tweeters. The reviewer also mentioned that both companies base their designs on Canada's NRC research data.

But I repeat what I said above, at least as regards the Signature 8s. Crappy music will sound crappy. GI/GO. The S8s are "current" hungry and require lot of watts from a great amp to sound their best. I've read similar comments about the Revels.

Ricred1 ... if you could do me a favor as you check out the Revels, I would be very grateful. If the dealer also carries the S8s (v3), could you please give them a listen too. Hopefully the conditions will be similar and comparable. I would consider it a favor because as I mentioned above, there's not too many B&M stores around anymore. And certainly none that I know of that are close by who have both brands. Your comments would help me out a lot.

One caveat about A/B'ing the two speakers. I suspect the Salons and Studios will do a better job than the S8s in the low bass region. That's not an issue for me because I use a sub which I've blended in pretty well with the S8s.

Thanks in advance.

Bruce