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

Showing 9 responses by ritteri

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.

Oh, yes, I am a proud owner of a pair of Revel Salon's now BTW after having 2 of the 3 speakers auditioned directly in my home last August. I must also mention too that if your looking for Salon performance, the Studio has 99% of it. I used to have a pair of these too that were at my house when I sold audio gear a few years back. Stunning speakers, same exact build quality/finish etc.
Worldcat: You heard Studio's on Classe amplification, yet you own Theta equipment. Whats the point of the audition if your not doing direct AB comparisons with your OWN equipment? Kind of useless if you ask me. Most quality retailers will let you take the products home to do auditions on your own equipment in your OWN room for a true evaluation of what the sound entails. Doing an audition at a dealership in their setup is such a waste and is completely useless to the consumer(exept maybe aesthetics)Especially using foreign equipment on the rest of the audio chain.

Where did you hear them? How were they set up? Were levels set properly to do a proper comparison.After you answer these questions, realize they are still pointless to some degree. Room boundaries(size etc) alone can greatly alter sound quality.If you didnt do the audition in your home, then you really didnt audition them to begin with. You sure you didnt let the salesman talk you into what "sounded" best? Cardas,Aerial and Theta products(which I see you own)have rediculous markup, higher than most. I used to love selling Aerial speakers(and Wilson Audio)with their 60 point hike.
A flat speaker would be "boring" Cdc, but having a flat midrange is pretty crucial to picking up alot of musical nuances. Highs should be rolled off and the bass should be boosted a bit for our ears to percieve a natural response curve. But dips or peaks of 3db or greater in the midrange just inst acceptable and most Aerial products have one or two good sized dips where there shouldnt be any. But what do you expect when they use drivers that are better suited for midbass than midrange.
J: Markup on Revel's were 50 points. B&W's were also 50 points(but I know they have some independant deals where a retailer is moving ALOT of their product, they will get an even better deal or incentives of some kind) as is most companies. But a few mfg's like Aerial and Wilson go as high as 60-65 points. Basically the lowest markup you will find on a Speaker is 50 points.

Boston Acoustics had a deal with Tweeter where markup was as high as 70 points on certain products when I was working there awhile back. Employees were able to get accomadation cost at 75% off retail.
Craig: I will politely decline comment here. But be aware that "worldcat" has put evaluation on speakers I dont even think he ever physically heard in proper perspecitve(if at all even) in another thread, epsecially if he bought em from you(for obvious reasons). But to put it all in perspective, let the "children" rant about their high priced "toys". Ill end it on that note.
Stehno: Sure, its a garentee that Worldcat bought speakers and gear without truely auditioning them to begin with or even having and makes obvious comments that point towards that, and Craig doesnt keep any stock on hand for auditioning either. Worldcat basically bought what Craig has acess to(Theta,Cardas,Aerial are his main brands that he pushes)without actually ever even hearing how the gear sounds together first. Even Worldcats own statments show the fact that what he may have heard was done with completely foreign equipment with unknown room accoustics. Most true "audiophiles" I know of at least listen to gear in their own environment with their own equipment to see how the gear interacts with each other. When I picked up my Salons from Craig, I did so already having many Revel products on loan at one time or another and knew exactly what I wanted. My biggest question was whether or not I should blow my budget on a pair of stand alone Revel Salon's or a pair of Revel Studio's with a pair of B15 subs. As for speaker markup. I could very easily dig up some old dealer cost sheets from companies like Wilson Audio,Revel,Aerial,Vandersteen,ML etc scan them into my computer and post them here on Agon, but I would piss off alot of people up here in the NE area from which I still have alot of great contacts. Im not willing to jeopardize that and step on people's toes currently.

This thread was dead for over a month, so why are these responses poping up now Craig? You know Ive recommended alot of folks towards you. You treated me right, if you have common customers who want to debate or whatnot let em. Its not something important enough to make comments that you feel needed to be justified in all reality.

Anyway, Merry Xmas
Craig: Margins from 40-60 points is real world markup in this industry you and me both know it. Electronics range in the 40-45 point range.Speakers and cabling in the 45-65 point range. One example is Wadia. Average dealer markup is 40 points with them. Might as well give a few more example's. Later on Ill break out all my old dealer price sheets(which I just came across from cleaining out my attic) from 96'-01' and start scanning them into the computer since people here cant take a hint.......

Revel: Average dealer markup is 50 points, select dealers that carry other Madrigal products have even higher markup margin. Revel cranked up their "suggested retail pricing" but did so while minimizing dealer cost increase. In fact some dealers didnt even incur a cost increase on their part.

Transparant cable: 55-65 point markup

B&K 40 points

Sony:35-60 points depending on how many millions of units you sell of theirs and the ability to show the sales reps where the best escort services are located.

Phoenix Gold cabling: 55-65 point markup

MIT: 45 point markup

Rotel: 40 point markup.

Wilson Audio: Range from 50-60 points depending on sales volume and how much ass kissing you can accomplish with their sales reps.

Adcom: 40 point markup

Parasound: 40 point markup

Paradigm: 50-60 point markup volume dependant.

B&W: 50 point markup

Worldcat: At least I can honestly say that I physically "heard" the speaker I bought before I stated my opinion on its sound Q ability. Thats something you cant do. And at least 2 people here know that to be a fact.