Great resolution, bass is full and defined, treble extended, overall balance is great, with an awesome midrange.

none

I was interested in upgrading from my Triangle Titus speakers. I read the reveiws here and in the magazines. So, I took a chance and bought a pair on E-Bay, along with the stock stands. I realize it may not be fair to compare the Titus and the M20s in view of the price difference, but these speakers are a whole world of improvement. The Titus are certainly a good speaker for $500. The M20s are much cleaner in sound, with a very noticeable improvement in resolution right away. The midrange in particular is so uncolored and right. The voices are hauntingly real, yet with all the warmth and lushness you would want. I have listened to familiar recordings and noticed details like background voices and sounds that I never noticed before. Bass extension and balance immediately improved, with the full measure of acoustic and electric bass expressed. Everything in the frequency spectrum is in balance. They sound fine withstock stands and I feel no need to upgrade. I used Blue Tack between the stands and speakers, and there is virtually no vibration in the stands.You may have read that these speakers are hard to drive, but I have used a Conrad Johnson MV-55 at 45 watts, and a Pathos Classic One at 70 watts, and the M20s do fine with no strain on the amp or speakers in my medium size listening room. Overall, these are simply very satisfying speakers, and they look great in sycamore. They are definitely keepers!

Similar Products Used:

Triangle Titus, Celestion, Acoustat 2+2

Performance and great value

Lack of deep bass. However this is room dependent.

I bought these speakers as replacements for Wilson Audio Watt/Puppies since I was relocating my system to a smaller room in the house. With the proper stands(a must)and the ears situated below the tweeters, I did not experience the lack of triple energy reported by other users. You do get a sound that is full bodied and natural. These 'little gems' do not try to impress you with sheer HiFi but rather they sound neutral and honest.

Similar Products Used:

Wilson Audio watt/puppies

as above

This is a follow-up to my earlier review. I just want to say that stands have a big effect on these speakers, and that the stands from Revel may not be as bad as everyone suggests. I have tried those, as well as a pair of very rigid, heavy stands. Witht the Revel stands, the sound was rich and full in the midrange, with soft, slightly thick or "soft-focus" highs, and nice bass, but not very tight. This is a pleasing sound in and of itself. With the rigid stands, detail, imaging and soundstaging, and everything else tightened up considerably, and the imaging and soundstaging were pretty remarkable. But the sound also lost its richness in the mids and became overall really too bright, with somewhat harsh highs. So you can take your choice on this depending on whether you like a more focused, but probably brighter sound, or a more relaxed and musical--but pretty "soft-focus" kind of sound. As an aside, I'm a little tired of professional reviewers giving their very highest ratings to $2000 speakers such as this (because I keep buying them and getting disappointed). I believe if you use a $15-20,000 transport-DAC combination, the best pre and power amps available, and $6,000 runs of speaker cable, you may well get "class A" sound out of speakers like this. But my own system is excellent (Meridian 508-24; Rowland Concentra II; Cardas Golden Reference interconnects; Audioquest Volcano speaker cables; Synergistic Research and Furutech power cords) and could probably support better speakers than this, but doesn't really give me the kind of sound I would expect based on the rave reviews I've seen. I just don't think class A recommendations are deserved unless a speaker can do just about EVERYthing really well. These fall short in the area of acoustic instruments, I think, and the highs can be a bit strident. I heard more beautiful sound for piano and harps on Triangle speakers, for example.

Similar Products Used:

Joseph Audio rms-22s, Triangle Celius.

That Revel voicing

Unforgiving of even hi-middle end electronics

Oh the search for that third system can be a headache huh. I've auditioned the m20s with practically every integrated amp at the dealers. Musical Fidelity A3s, Arcam FMJs, even VTL integrateds and the only thing that did it justice was the Levinson integrated that costs about as much as a second hand honda civic. I took them home and stuck them into good ole System 1 and they sounded great but I've already got its F30 older brothers in there. System No.2 Arcam FMJ integrated, Arcam CD92, Maggie SMGcs, didn't as in the showroom do it justce. So here comes System 3 Arcam CD92, CJ or AR tube-pre (still undecided) Levinson 23.5 Power Amp. Yup this would do it but now the m20s have a problem. COMPETITION. The M20 can hold its head high in its price range but really, there is just so much out there for 2000 dollars (the stands aren't exactly cheap either). In its PROPER element the M20s can really sing but so can the ProAc 1sc, the Dynaudio 1.3, heck even the 1.1, Veritas 2.2., Josephs, even Red Rose's baby spirit system. Not to mention the small floorstanders out there. It is definitely good. It just doesn't stand head and shoulders above the rest in its admittedly tight category. I'll give it a 4 then since a 5 would be for the product that can blow the M20 and its other direct competitors out of the water.

Similar Products Used:

all above

Full-bodied but clear midrange, good detail and imaging, overall balance that handles all music well.

Highs sound a bit dull or thick (or rolled-off); lacks sparkle and the last degree of resolution or finesse.

There are enough rave reviews here (and in Stereophile, etc.) that I won't elaborate much. Instead, I'll tell you what the limitations are. Its a good, all-round speaker, with full-bodied sound and solid bass for a "bookshelf" model, and very pleasing in its neutrality and ability to do many things well at its price point. The other speakers I tried at this price point didn't have its wonderful midrange or all-around combination of strengths. But the Joseph and the Triangle both had an airier, more open sound that gave me sparkling harpsichords and nicer piano sound than the M20. The highs seem to be the weakness of all the Revel speakers I've heard, sounding to my ears a little dull and thick. Oddly, the M20 does a great job with a sitar recording I have on the Nimbus label, but as I mentioned, is a little disappointing so far for things like piano and harpsichord. On the whole, though, this speaker allows me to listen comfortably to all the different kinds of music I have--rock, jazz, classical--because of its balance of strengths and its full sound, even if it lacks the final degree of refinement, sparkle, or finesse. I can't imagine a much better speaker at its price point.

Similar Products Used:

In this price range: Joseph Audio RMS22s, Triangle Celius.

Everything for the price...

None, just be careful because these are heavy speakers...

I have had these speakers for just over a month now and I love them, I went from a B&W 804 to these mostly because I wanted bookshelves. Dont get me wrong the 804s are excellent speakers all the way around, but I think that these revels have a more natural midrange and better soundstage. I have these hooked up to a Krell 300i and think they sound absolutely amazing, my next upgrade will be to add a Marantz SACD player to the combo. I can not think of one bad thing to say about these speakers, bass is awesome for a bookshelf it gets down there (you still need a sub) but its good midrange is absolutely smooth and natural and the whole system is very very clear. One other thing to mention is the beautiful build quality of this speaker, it is very solid with very good speaker cable posts.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Final, NHT, JMlabs, Definitive Technology, Gallo, and much much more

Incredible imaging, smooth sound, sycamore looks great, sounds good even without a subwoofer, and worth every dime!

None, other than having to get someone else to buy them for me because Revel does not ship across state lines.

I was about to make the mistake of purchasing a pair of B&W's when a friend strongly recommended the M20's. I live in a state that does not sell Revel and did not have opportunity to listen to these speakers prior to having a friend purchase and ship them to me. My decision to get these speakers was based on my audiophile friend's suggestion and the first 16 reviews on this website. These are the most incredible speakers I have ever heard! Everything previously written about the imaging is true. I have these two speakers powered by a Rotel RSX 1065 and fed through Purist Audio Maximus cables with a Velodyne SPL 1200 sub. Friends and family look for more speakers because the imaging makes it sound like I have surround sound. I absolutely love them and cannot wait until my dream performa home theater system is complete!

Similar Products Used:

I have spent hours listening to multiple B&W speakers, but am upgrading from a small, battery powered boom box/cd player. Huge upgrade!

Extremely neutral and natural from the mid-bass up to 20 KHz.

From below 120 Hz down to roughly 50 Hz the M20s sound a bit too full and the Stereophile Magazine measurements confirm this. At very high sound pressure levels they sound congested, losing detail. (Hey -- what do you expect from a two-way mini-monitor with a 6.5-inch woofer/midrange?)

From roughly 100 Hz up, these are simply wonderful speakers for everything except extremely loud sounds. I use them with a powered sub-woofer crossed over at around 100 Hz. To make this work I stuffed the M20's ports to eliminate the ports' slightly bloated contributions to the low bass. Mount them on high stands so that your ears are slightly below the tweeter level. Angle them in a bit. Move them out into the room so that they are away from the room boundaries.

Similar Products Used:

McCormack DNA 1 (amplifier) Meridian 506 (CD player, used as transport) Perpetual Technologies P3A (DAC) Adcom SLC-505 (passive pre-amp)

Presentation and presence...not overly analytical, and not overly warm

87 dcb sensativity....requires solid, clean power

As written before in the preceeding reviews, this is an absolutely outstanding speaker. Well defined with an incredible soundstage, never edgy or boomy, and balanced throughout the aural spectrum. Voices are clean and even the low end is outstanding! Ideal match for Levinson equipment in a small to medium sized room. Live music as it was meant to be heard!!! Associated equipment: Mark Levinson 380 preamp 360s DAC 37 Transport Odyssey Stratos Amp Acoustic Zen Cables

Everything! Great bass, mids and detail. No artificial flavoring. Soundstage is excellent. A very smooth sounding speaker.

None. The beat everything else in the price range as well as speakers 3 times their price.

After being forced to buy new speakers due to theft, I found myself in a quandry. What happened to the audio market? I have found lots of hype and large price tags but, the sound is gone. In it's place I've found artistic styling. I'm not looking for art, I'm looking for speakers. Never have I found speakers to be so lacking as the current crop of "high end". I have listened to almost every B&W (yes, even the Nautilus series) and every other foriegn made speaker that seems to be dominating the American market. Then I found the Revels. What joy! The M20's produce sound as it should be. I don't hear flaws from kevlar speakers or aluminum encased super wonders from Switzerland. I hear sound as the artist intended. The joy about these is that they do their job, not try to win me over by being another musical instrument. The recording artists played the instruments, let the audio gear play it back. Period! B&W's are hyped and I cannot understand the praises I've read on them. They are terrible and it's not just my "ear" that's off. When a $3000 speaker can't produce quality sounding music easily, something is wrong. The sound should be smooth and even across the scpectrum. Period. I would bet the mass produced speakers of the 70's that Sansui, Pioneer, Sony and the rest would sound better than the current crop of B&W's. Back to the Revels. The M20's are excellent and produce not only a wonderful soundstage but fill the room with music. While listening to them and being in another room I have found myself walking back out to the listening room thinking someone had walked into the house! The sound that they reproduce is excellent! (I had them running, breaking them in, during this audition which is why I was in another room and not sitting in front of them). They are not as small I had imagined. Perhaps that is part of their secret. They are not tiny little boxes trying to act big. They sound big! The low bass is astounding, especially kettle drums. The highs are wonderful as evident by Yello Gold Rush. I swear he was spitting on me during that vocalization. Tracy Chapman was sitting in front of me sweating from the hot lights that shown on her while singing her accapella The Wall. Metallica rocked the house. Vivaldis' concerto in C never sounded so good. The Kodo drummers can play in my house anytime.

Similar Products Used:

First small 2-way I have used. B&W CDM7NT, CDM9NT, Nautilus 800 series,Monitor Audio Silver 7i, Linn, Klipsch, Maggies,(old)Polk RTA-12C's, Bose 501