Bass, depth of soundstage, dynamics, detail.

Big bulky, not real pretty but sound makes up for it

Great speaker! Deep full soundstage. Excellent at imaging with highly dynamic impact and power. Extended lows that do deliver the full "grunt" of a bass guitar, solid and tunefull. I've had many different speakers here and was looking for one that incorporated the strengths of each one. These come closer to anything I've had yet. I was going to go with a pair of Vandersteen 3A signatures but the Revels seemed to image better and provided more detail. Tweeter control on the back is a great option, if you have a bright room. The binding post are the most user friendly I have ever used and bi-wiring is a snap. Build quality is top-notch but these are bulky, heavy, and require some effort to set up and move around at 95lbs each. I would recommend a solid state amp with some good clean power. I have looked, and for a full range loudspeaker I can't find anything better in this price range.

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PSB Stratus Gold i , Vandersteen 3A (not sigs), Vandersteen 2ce sigs, Meadowlark Osprey, B & W 604 S3, Von Schweikert VR 2, JM Labs Cobalt 816 S, Magnepan MMG, Gallo Nucleus Reference III, Dynaudio Audience 52se, etc..

Mid range-outstanding Great upper range good bass detailed fast accurate

Lacks the deepest psycho-acoustic bass notes Break in time dependent on positioning Needs a large room

The Revel F30's and my associated equipment represent my first hi end purchases. I have been exposed to (and spoiled by) friends hi end equipment. The f30’s took a while to break in (200+ hours), but have yielded excellent results. I do not want for anything; deep bass, crisp real highs and the most convincing mids I have ever heard. My best friend has a pair of Revel Ultima Salons ($20,000 speakers), and the F30’s share some ‘house character’ with the Salons; namely their Mid range and Tweeter. I am getting 90%+ of the sound of the Salons, everything except for the deepest psycho-acoustic bass notes. The bass I am getting is definitely helped by the fact that I am driving the speakers with a Bryston 4B-ST; a renowned bass monster. I considered buying these as interim speakers with the long range goal of upgrading to perhaps Aerial Acoustics 8B’s. Now at 500 hours of listing time I have decided to keep the F30’s indefinitely. One note; you want to use good equipment with these speakers because they will yield what is put in them (sh*t in = sh*t out), and an amp that can produce good bass. Equipent used: ARC LS3 Preamp Naim CDX CD Player Bryston 4B-ST Amp Kimber Monocle-XL Speaker cables Kimber Hero Interconnects

Similar Products Used:

Similar Products Used: Have not owned but have extensive experience with: Revel Ultima Salon Dunlavy SC-V B&W CDM-NT

Mid range-outstanding Great upper range good bass detailed

Lacks the deepest psycho-acoustic bass notes Break in time dependent on positioning

The Revel F30's and my associated equipment represent my first hi end purchases. I have been exposed to (and spoiled by) friends hi end equipment. The f30’s took a while to break in (200+ hours), but have yielded excellent results. I do not want for anything; deep bass, crisp real highs and the most convincing mids I have ever heard. My best friend has a pair of Revel Ultima Salons ($20,000 speakers), and the F30’s share some ‘house character’ with the Salons; namely their Mid range and Tweeter. I am getting 90%+ of the sound of the Salons, everything except for the deepest psycho-acoustic bass notes. The bass I am getting is definitely helped by the fact that I am driving the speakers with a Bryston 4B-ST; a renowned bass monster. I considered buying these as interim speakers with the long range goal of upgrading to perhaps Aerial Acoustics 8B’s. Now at 500 hours of listing time I have decided to keep the F30’s indefinitely. One note; you want to use good equipment with these speakers because they will yield what is put in them (sh*t in = sh*t out), and an amp that can produce good bass. Equipent used: ARC LS3 Preamp Naim CDX CD Player Bryston 4B-ST Amp Kimber Monocle-XL Speaker cables Kimber Hero Interconnects

Similar Products Used:

Revel Ultima Salon Dunlavy SC-V B&W CDM-NT

Detail, Detail, and more detail

1. System Matching for treated rooms as they were designed for use in the usual untreated US domicile. 2. It isn't very pretty now, is it. Then again, that's what eyelids are for. 3. the giant rear port serves as way too much temptation for my 2 year old to keep her little toys away from. Thank God for nannies.

I got these speakers (along with a C30) when the woofers of my Veritas 2.4s kept on conking out. A factory problem Energy has since quite admirably remedied. I wasn't exactly blown away but for what I could afford I would be a hypocrite to say that I wasn't at least moderately satisfied. In my customized room, the F30s gave me excellent detail from 300Hz and up but I was still looking for the tuneful bass of my oft busted 2.4s or the dynaudios of my dynonut buddies. A breakthrough came with the addition of the AVP2 upgrade for my Proceed AVP. I could suddenly distinguish the different notes on upright bass. Still, I was looking for more weight. Unlike our audiophile friends who have given up on commercial recordings for the absolute pursuit of sound quality, I still listen to a lot of rock and electronica for which some playful 40Hz is needed to really get your party going. That breakthrough came with the replacement of my Levison 23.5 with the Levinson 332. Same specs but I suspect the latter of having an edge current wise. Still, the upper registers were detailed but a tad forward, Balanced Music Links from Transparent widened, and deepend up the soundstage and helped smooth out that little bit of grain left. Now, I'm not even thinking of upgrading. Why? I'm no longer distracted by the system. I can just sit back and enjoy the music wether it be Tchaikovsky's Requiem or Tom Middleton's Sound of the Cosmos. For that I have to give it a big fat 5.

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Energy Veritas 2.4 (owned), Magnepan SMGc (owned), B&W CDM1 and CDM2 (owned) ,B&W 803 NT, Dynaudio contour 1.8 Mk2, ProAc 1sc and D15, Magnepan 1.6, Martin Logan Aerius, (all extensively auditioned fo

Midrange detail tweeter adjustment 3D imaging (depth) tight, clean bass (goes deep) strong presence Rosewood finish Solid build

Large/heavy (difficult to move)

The situation: the F30's represent my first major hi-end purchase. Without the luxury of expensive pre/pros and amps I decided to begin my climb to the upper end through speakers. Therefore, my journey began. I complied a list of nearby dealers w/ similar budget lines. Audition: following many auditions and return trips the F30s were judged superior. While the Nautilus 804's were close, the F30's detail midrange was so silky smooth just plain memorizing. Worried about my lively room, the deal allow a home demo which wasn't easy considering their size/weight. However, the home audition was well worth the effort. My very lively room made the tweeters a bit forward. Revel has an answer for this, the rear mounted adjustable tweeter control. What a blessing, turned down, the speakers compensated. Roomate: following 80hrs of break-in time, the speakers began to open up and shine. Immediately the soundstage wide and the imaging 3D. Now, band members have their own stage and each instrument its own depth. Midrange is ohh so sweet and revealing. Bass is tight and goes deep (THX optimizer on Star Wars II) tweeter is delicate and adjustable. Thoughts: CD's I've owned for many many years have new nuances and more than a few surprises. Physical appearance? well, lets say my wife isn't very happy. To me, they are beautiful. The Revel F30 makes no excuses and doesn't try to make a statement. It's old school, back to the days when speakers were designed to produce the best sound possible, nothing more...nothing less. Home Theater: currently, i'm without a center channel so i remove this from the Denon menu and the F30's handle double duty. However, a center is defintely missing. A C30 is in my future plans. No subwoofer needed as the F30 goes down to 20hz. Equipment: Surprisingly, my mid-level equipment sounds great with the Revel's. Although, some AV receivers may struggle as my Denon did. Sure, not as accurate as the dealer's Mark Levinson gear, but hey who has $20k for audio? Other equipment: Denon AVR-2801 (90x5 wpc) Denon DVD-1000 NAD 218THX (225x2 8ohms) Audioquest cables Hitiachi 50" RPTV

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Polk RT2000p (owned) B&W 804 Nautilus RBH (top shelf line) Def Tech towers (top shelf line) Monitor Audio (gold series, i think)

Good bass, great imaging, as close to live as it gets.

Very revealing, will require you to take accurate measurements and consider treating your room. These aren't as forgiving as B&W's and other stuff out there.

I agree with most of the reviews here that these speakers provide great imaging and dynamic soundstage. They are the best speakers (to me) for the money. However, I don't think you need incredible electronics to let these speakers sing. The harshness and other negative qualities posted are often functions of the room and setup. If the room isn't huge, try applying some room treatment. I'm using products from www.eighthnerve.com. They're cheap and they cured harshness that was a result of reflections. (I don't work for them, just a happy customer) My room is only 12' long and I have no fatigue and a great sound. I agree with the comments that you should listen in your home to any audio gear but, also, you should learn how to treat your room so that whatever you have sounds the best it can. I'd invest in room treatments before anything else. Associated gear: AI Modulus 2-d highly modified Aspen amplifier (www.aksaonline.com) Pioneer DVD (modified by www.modwright.com) Museatex Data II DAC modified by John Wright (www.museatex.com) Sony 600 TT

Similar Products Used:

B&W Nautilus, CDMNT series, old 802's Dynaudio 1.8 Excelleray Various experimental stuff

Refined, full-range frequency response which sounds like live music with good recordings.

Upper grilles are optional; the speakers' appearance is funky which may not appeal to everyone.

The F30’s are one of the few speakers at this price point that provide tight, well-controlled bass response into the low 30-Hz range along with very refined mid- and high-frequency performance. They are the only speakers I’ve ever owned which approach the sound of live music, and they do justice to all kinds of music including rock. I like to change equipment often, but after a year of using the F30’s, I can’t think of another speaker I’d rather listen to except maybe the Revel Studios, Wilson WATT/Puppies or Sophias, all of which are much more expensive. F30’s are a great bargain at full retail price and a downright steal on the used market.

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Vandersteen 2CE Signature, B&W Matrix 801 & 802, Martin-Logan Aerius, Magnepan MMG & MG-1.6R, Paradigm Studio 100, & others

clear and deep bass

if any i don't know yet

I read all of this review about this speaker and i have to be honest, there no speaker in the range below 5000.00 that can't be better. The F30 are very neutral, sweet in vocal recorder, very detail in air instrument, loud in guitar recorder. I have the toshiba sd9200 dvd as my cd player(Home theater mode) , a ref30 B&K pre amp, 2 adcom amp( bi amp mode-7500 in high and 5500 in low), in speaker cables i have terminator 2 in low and linn 400 in high,as interconector all of then are terminator 2 this combination is really a good one but a know that there are many better combination for this speaker

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NHT speaker yamaha receiver, mirage speaker, bose 901, legacy speaker and amp

Music presentation, soundstaging, bass and vocals

placement

I've had these speakers for a year now and even now they still amaze me. They really make music sound the way it is intended to sound. I just have a two channel set up because I am a serious music lover. These speakers play all the various types of music I listen to. I even went back to my old 80's cds to hear them again how they were intended to be heard. Like most of the others have said you have to use high quality components with them. I plan to get the rest of the set up as far as home theater eventually. Here is my setup. -Cambridge Audio D500SE CD -Audio Refinement Pre-5 -Proceed HPA2 Power amp -DH Lab Q-10 spkr wi -Dh Lab BL-1 Inter

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Klipsch, psb, B & W

Very detailed sound in good soundstage, image and bass.

no perfect speakers in the world

I agree some points of the last reviewer. Hoewever, it is really a nice high end speaker within its price range if you have a bigger space and well-matched components. Maybe someone who used to listen to the bookshelf speakers or speakers in a smaller field will find a little 'uncomfortable' from the F30. That should be the nomal feeling before you fall in love with the much bigger floorstandings. The soundstage, balance and image are so good will be easily found on F30. I used many speakers like Dynaudio, B&W and Spendor...(both in bookshelf or floorstanding). But, once you get the chance to listen to the Revel F30 or its upper models, you will begin to know what are really called floorstanding speakers for its balance and live sound and the VALUE ON HI-FI, and,and, you will be hard looking back below the range of US$5,000. It is too easy for anyone here knowing the ML is the one of the best hifi components in the world, yes, it could be well matching almost all the other speakers including the Revel. But do you know when you use the less better ML's components with the F30 at same time with other brands' speakers, the result would be obviously found that F30 was worth the 5 stars both on its performance and value. Fairly speaking, here we just talk about the speaker-F30, not the other components. If you want to get the better performance, the money could give you the surprise(the reason is open to any speaker). Good luck for everyone on your audiophile way here.

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Spendor, B&W, Dynaudio, JM Lab Utopia