Clarity, soundstage,bass

Placement

for all thoes people out there that gave these speakers a rating of 1. really dont know what they are talking about. this is a Fantastic speaker. the quality of it is astounding. granted you have to find the "sweet spot" its well worth the moving around for a day or two to find it. for the price the speakers top most others, ive herd people say that they beat out B&W in the 3200 range. give em a listen if you have the chance.

Products used

Classe Cap 151
Classe cdp.3
Kimber Kables
NBS balanced interconnect

Similar Products Used:

Martin logan

Tonal balance, imaging, base second to none.

Very sensitive to placement and proper high frequency adjustment.

Associated Equipment

CJ MF 2250
Acurus ACT3
Sony DVD 7700

What struck me most about these speakers is the tonal balance. Instead of just getting sketches of the music I was finally hearing the full correct tonal colors. I have the privilage of listening to live music on a daily basis. Both my children must practice the piano for a full hour each day. The Revel performa F30 in my opinion most closely matches the tonal character of live music. I have only had the speaker for 2 weeks now and most of that time was spent breaking them in. I have not even begun to fine tune the imaging. The one thing I did notice was that the high frequency contour must be correctly adjusted otherwise the speaker does lack some detail. Over the next 3 weeks I will be working on their placement and fine tuning them.

In one months time I will have many friends over whose children are quite good with their instruments. I will report on their overall assesment to see if they agree with mine. But so far I would have to agree with professional reviewers that these speakers have characteristics quite rare at this price, the correct tonal balance!

Similar Products Used:

Vanderstein 5, Proac 2.5, Proac 3.5, AP tempo II, AP Virgo

None that I could hear

Where do I start?

Oh my gosh.
I have just come back from 2 hours of speaker testing. Dynaudios, KEF's, Clario's, B&W's, M- Shorts etc. They all had their strong points, some more than others, the best to my ears being the dynaudio contour 2.5 and the kef somethings.
But one speaker stood out as having no redeeming features whatsoever. And they were also the biggest, ugliest and most expensive. The Revels.At first, when switching to them, i thought they were broken. Some careful checking with the balance control proved this wrong. I then switched the dynaudio cables over to check that. Still totally wrong.

There is some kind of horrible resonant, phasey peak happening in the mid treble. It sounds like the cross-over and drivers are totally mismatched. I'm a mastering engineer and have super-sharp ears, and i know a resonant, phasey sound when i hear one. Whoever designed this speaker couldn't possibly have compared it to other hi-end speakers because the problem is so clear. Some people have said these speakers need working on to get them soundind nice, so as i didn't try, i'm not going to spoil the party by giving them a bad rating. What amazes me is how anyone could buy them in the hope that they would come good.

Similar Products Used:

Lots

Very Smooth - great low end extension - awesome imaging and detail

not quite as efficient as I would like

I have been in love with these speakers since I first heard them 2 years ago. Not QUITE the Salons, but damn close. And nothing comes near them for the price, or even for much more than the price. I was going to get the M20's but my dealer had a moving sale and I was able to get these for under $2,800. They were a floor model so were already broken in. Better have good electronics with these and use good wires.

Imaging is incredible and the detail is life like. It is hard to describe just how good these babies sound. I am now going back and listening to older CD's, hearing things that I never heard before. No coloration - you get exactly what the source has on it. The bass extension is a bonus because I never expected it too be this good. My sub speaks only on LOW effects with movies - the F30 takes care of everything else. I spent considerable time listening to other speakers and found that nothing anywhere close to the price comes anywhere close to the sound. This is the best upgrade I have ever made to my system and is the last speaker pair I will ever buy.

Similar Products Used:

there is nothing even remotely similar

see review

pointed bottoms hurt when they land on your feet

While some may look at this speaker as being just a large box, I look at it a bit differently. I see a highly engineered product made to address its design goals in the simplest way possible. Case in point: front-baffle diffraction. The designer could have used a radiused sloping front baffle or a very organic, curvy cabinet structure. This would also result in elevating manufacturing costs. Instead, Revel chose to step each driver bilaterally in a flush configuration front baffle. They then lined the front baffle with an application of thick planking. This is but one example of what I love in a product: good engineering with simple manufacturing.
The manufacturer recommends a widely spaced, long-wall setup. I tried this, but not initially, being too anxious to get the reviewing underway. (I was geeked, OK?) Midway through the review period, I rearranged the room for long-wall placement, and, indeed, imaging was improved, specifically in terms of image solidity and the speakers being able to disappear more completely as sources of sound. In this case, the speakers were 18" from the front wall, the closest side wall just over four feet. Speaker separation was ten feet, and the listening location was 8.5' away. Alas, in my room, this setup was not to be. I simply cannot balance the speaker position, right/left, midway into the room -- not even close. The result was a noticeable shift in midbass/bass reinforcement toward the right side. Back to the short wall for this room. I would, however, strongly suggest initial long-wall placement if your room will accommodate. Final positioning found the speakers three feet from the front wall, 14" to 18" from the side walls. The speakers were toed in to fire just behind the listening position ten feet away. While care should be taken to treat acoustically the first-reflection points along the side walls to keep the high frequencies under control, I feel the f30 will need little in the way of bass management. This was VERY surprising for such a large speaker in my concrete room. Even at $4k for the pair, the f30is one of the better values in high-end audio. It is rare that a large speaker actually delivers in its promise of low-end extension and driver integration. Even more scarce is the large speaker truly designed to work within the walls of a room. I’m of a mindset that has never placed much value in the large speakers on the market, usually preferring a well-set-up sat/sub system in terms of room integration. Well, I’ve learned one thing from the f30's: Sometimes, just sometimes, bigger truly is better.

Similar Products Used:

BW 801 naut's

After listening carefully to the Performa 30's I was shocked to hear that their price was just $3,500. Why? When I compared them to the Aerial 7s and 8s they had a much more tonal quality, better dynamic range, and balance then the Aerials which were "too dark" (the Aerials are about $1,000 more at the least). When listening to an acoustic guitar I heard the individuals strings being plucked and stroked - it was a revel-ation!
Next was the Martin Logan SL IIIs. I enjoyed their smooth tendencies but could not get excited because clarity of individual part of voices and instruments was not there. Blended together it was clear but the dynamic range wasn't there and voices were muddled on several CDs that I was using.

Another speaker that was very comparable was the Canton Ergo 122. I enjoyed that speaker and would rate it number 2 out of the speakers we have discussed. However, it lacked by a slight margin the balance of the Revels. Its bass was more extended but the midrange could have had just a little more balance with the high end in the speaker. I would recommend the Canton, however.

The next speaker and last speaker I listened to in my comparison was the Hales Concept 5. This speaker was good but lacked the sound quality I was looking for in a speaker as expensive as this. It did not have good balance although the dynamic range was good and the bass was outstanding.

Dynamics, Nice imaging, smooth high-end, bass response, excellent finish quality.

Compared to the best speakers I've heard, they don't have the detail, the imaging is not quite as solid and deep, and they're a little rough in the high end. I'm also not crazy about the looks, but my spouse likes them. I got my in the Sycamore finish (very light, slightly yellowish wood).

I'm very surprised by these previous two reviews. I have two very high end systems (one for music, one for home theater), both of which I've selected Revel speakers for. My music system has Revel Gems and my home theater has Revel Studios, Voice, and Embraces. I've spent a lot of time at high-end stores and at shows such as CES and the Stereophile Hifi show over the past several years looking for the best components. Revel has continually impressed me with their incredible dynamics and bass response. They also have a very smooth energy response in the room resulting in excellent imaging. I've heard other speakers that compare with the high end Revels, such as the Duntechs and Engelstonworks in the same price range, but the Duntechs are just huge and the Engelstonworks are down right ugly.

Whey I was looking for a system for my vacation home, I didn't want to spend as much as I have in my primary systems. I again auditioned a number of different speakers. I was very dissappointed in the latest Magneplaners given the positive reviews they've received in the press. The Totems (several models) sounded nice with the right kind of music and under the right conditions (they seem to be more sensitive than most wrt amps, cables, etc.). But for the money, I couldn't beat the Revel F30s.

I was particularly impressed with their bass response, which is why I was so surprised by the previous reviews. I'm wondering if the stores where these were auditioned hadn't broken in the speakers yet. These speakers require a hundred hours or so before they sound their best.

I'm using the F30s with a Levinson 39 CD player and Levinson 383 integrated amp. Cables are Levinsion CZ-Gel balanced and Nordost Red Dawn speaker cable. I listen primarily to jazz, female vocals, and some classical.

Similar Products Used:

Magneplaner, B&W, Totem, other Revels extensively, many other products in brief auditions

Decent Midrange

Big, Ugly and bottom heavy

I too, like the previous reviewer, was told to wait until my dealer got the F30's before I made any purchse. So I did. To say that I was unmpressied if not completely turned off by the Revel would be an undersatment.

They had a midrange that was somewhat complementary of the other Revel speakers and convey enough of the imformation to make a musical point. Albeit a spurious one.

The bass, at least in this set-up/room had no contol and was overwhelming (in the bad way).

Appearence. UGLY. As in Butt-ugly. And Big, way too big. They would never, ever pass muster with the "x" factor in my home.

Similar Products Used:

Sonus Faber, B&W, ProAC, etc...

speed, accuracy, crystal clear, very good image and powerful, slam and rythm

nothing

I bought this mighty speakers and I and my wife begin to listen our huge cd library again.
I highly recommend this speakers.
Now I will buy the c-30 to match my front home theater speakers driving by the venerable Bryston 9BST THX. Heaven and Hell in my home.
Thanks Madigal Audio Labs

Similar Products Used:

paradigm studio 100, kef reference 3, kefreference 4, thiel cs 2.3, psb stratus goldi

This is a follow-up, and largely, a comment regarding J-Man's review. In my experience with these speakers, for over 1 year, set up correctly, and optimized, it seems to me that what he is hearing is what I heard from these speakers before they were fully broken in; I would say, based on his description the speakers are about 2/3 the way towards being broken in. That being said, with the right components, and broken in ( and please don't use bright components with this speaker set) these speakers sound more like real music than most other speakers in its price range. Yes, the Studio is better, but guess what, to get the bass the F30's have, you really have to go to the Salons! Needless to say, highly recommended, and a fine value.