Warning for Revel lovers


I have read these forums for some years, and have never contributed,  but feel I really must let people in on what is happening at Revel. I ordered a pair of Salon2's  in March '21 through the great folks down at USA Tube Audio in Scottsdale,  who I can unreservedly recommend for excellent customer service. After ordering the Salons, Revel estimated their delivery at the end of April. When that date approached the delivery was changed to end of June. Then it was changed to August, then November, then February.  '22. Just found out the new delivery date. It is August '22. Well, you might say, this is supply chain, pandemic related. Read on. During my year-long wait, Paul and Charlie down at USA Tube several times tried to find out what the story was for the delays. I also wrote to Revel to try to get updates; I had sent them 50% down to reserve the speakers. The most either I or USA Tube received back was a one or two terse sentences which shed no light on what the issues were effecting delivery targets. During this time, I sent some equipment in to Audio Research for factory restoration. It took them 6 months to get the job done, but they were excellent at keeping me in the loop, and I always knew when to expect them to finish the job. Just last week I canceled my order to Revel. I will receive a refund, but there was not one word from them apologizing or attempting to explain what happened. I have since ordered a pair of Aspen FR30's from PS Audio, and have already been contacted by them several times for updates and videos of in home installations. Anyway, they are delivering the first couple of pallets as I write this, and somehow are able to honor their commitments to their customers. Though I will have to wait for mine, I have high confidence they will arrive at my house when Paul and company say they will.

 

The point of my ramble is that the high end community is rather small, with many excellent companies competing for for business within it. It is sad to note that one of the absolute best, Revel, is now under the corporate umbrella of Harmon, which is under the corporate umbrella of Samsung. They have not been represented at the last two T.H.E. shows in Long Beach, home state for Revel. They sent me an email back in January, announcing a change in their management, along with no information on the status of my speakers. They appear to have had no interest in keeping a buyer of their flagship product either happy or informed, for an entire year. I am not a wealthy man. I've been trading and buying audio products for almost 40 years, and was excited to lay down a large commitment in capital for some amazing speakers. I am assuming that sometime in the recent past Revel, after having been absorbed by its corporate overlords, was "restructured" (read gutted), and is not currently equipped to supply a quality product to discerning audiophiles. It also appears that the parent company is content mass-marketing cell phones and "speakers that rock", but sound the same whether playing MP3, CD quality, or high rez. If anyone out there is thinking of sinking a bunch of money into a high end speaker, Caveat emptor! P.S. I own a pair of original Salons, and have always enjoyed Revel's products. Very sad

128x128bratscheboy

Sorry for the awful experience.

Somewhat related. I also had a Samsung fridge with an ice maker that was pretty useless.

My older Lexus has the "upgraded" ML sound system. To say it sucks would be a compliment. Because of it, I would never consider anything from that brand.

I have a Porsche with the extra coinage Burmeister sound system that sucks as well.  

The place I work has had been a Revel dealer since the company's founding as a Harman Luxury brand.  To say the least supply chain issues have plagued them worse than most due largely to their total reliance on Indonesian manufacturing.  Design is shared between Northridge, CA and SB Acoustics in Denmark, but production is all Indonesia.  And yes, Salon2s have been discontinued so the non-fulfillment of a new order is not surprising.  Did the dealer receive assurances it could be before placing?  A 50% deposit on a dubiously obtainable item for which the dealer would not be invoiced until the item ships is also questionable.  We are taking 10% or 20% on orders for hard to get items like McIntosh and Magnepan with predictable 8-12 week backorders.

@mtrot 

Thank you for the info. It sounds logical to me. I just never thought about turning the temp down in the refrig. I'll leave it there since this is off topic. I'll PM you with my results.

arte

Thank you all for the "revel"ations and insights. I guess I may have dodged a mahogany veneered bullet. Sure helps to interface with others and gain new insights on a changing high end hi-fi landscape. I have wonderful memories of listening to Revel products down through the years, but I think, luckily,  there are still many highly motivated, committed and amazingly knowledgeable people and manufacturers of audio products out there. I look forward to many more years of listening to and supporting them. High end audio is alive and well!