Extrememly fast and accurate. Tonally acurate.

Cabinets design is not exactly pretty. Extreme difficulty in acquiring a pair.

I have owned these speakers for over six months. my first listen to them was at a dealer over a year ago and I was mesmerized. I have not heard anything else in the price range that was as good. I have heard better but for a price differential that is unexceptable to me. These speakers are a value.
They do require a break in period as detailed previously though mine required less as they were used. Once done, I found them to be tonally more accurate than just about any speaker I have listened to. They were also extrememly accurate, expecially in the bass. There is no slop in the bass. This is very difficult to do especially with things like kettle drums as there often is a resonance in a speaker that is not in the music. I also found them to be very fast. Nothing phases these speakers. Play your fastest speed metal or classical and you won't get these speakers to hiccup. More than anything this impressed me.
So what else can I say? The system I play them on is as follows:

Ah! Toejb 99 CD player
Harmon Kardon KF6950R Integrated Amplifier modified by Musical concepts
HK TU9600 Tuner
DH Labs silver Sonic BL-1 interconnects
Analysis Plus Oval-9 Speaker Cable

It is a great system for the money. That is what these speakers are. A value. They play music better than speakers costing much more. The ones that are better are better only by a few percentage points with a huge increase in cost. Take your pick but I think you could do much worse in general.

This is a follow-up. These speakers go through an interesting break-in period. Initially out of the box, they are nice. Around 50 - 60 hours into it, the speakers had a 'hooty' quality, almost a cupped hand quality. I thought I made a dreadful mistake, and thought that some of this speaker's detractors on this forum had a point. Move closer to 100 hours, those ills vanish, and the thinness vanishes. Now at about 125 hours, the bass is fully developed, and the midrange is smooth and well balanced and the treble is clean. Bottom line- if auditioning these speakers, unless they are fully broken in, you may be disappointed, because they do hit a significant rough spot during breakin. One last thing- in my application, I do not have the speakers toed in as much as the Revel manual suggests. Room accoustics are at play here-

Musical Accuracy, looks(to me) tonal balance. Incredible bang for the buck!

None (unless you dont like the looks)

Steve, Jim, and Fred......I'm highly dissapointed in you and really dont understand how you can call yourselves "audiophiles".........these are tremendous speakers and are probably the best I've ever heard in their price range(in fact much better than many speakers that cost a lot more). You all probably dont know how to set up speakers or even how to PROPERLY MATCH UP EQUIPMENT either. You dont just go and judge a speaker for 5 minutes and say its good or bad.....speakers sound different in different environments(ie rooms) the accoustical properties, the equipment used to power them, how all components are isolated, cabling,etc........ I am employed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and have been a professional violinist for almost 13 years now and I for one HAVE to have an accurate ear or I could not perform my job and my love for my instrument properly......so I understand the importance of exceptional equipment........I even go so far as to properly decouple all of my equipment from room resonances by placing weights and points on all my equipment to get the most benefit from my gear......I also properly sound deaden my listening room at critical reflection points(remember room accoustics play just as big a point as the speaker itself in sound quality)to help reduced reflection points........I employ a Wadia 860x cd player directly coupled to either a pair of Aragon Palladiums, or my Bryston 7b st's..........via balanced line Transparent Reference XLR cable, and also use Transparant Reference XL Biwire 8ft length speaker cable. My setup is extremly accurate at producing all the macro and micro dynamics that music has to offer including a fully realistic soundstage.
My favorite speakers at present are my Salons, while my wife enjoys her B@W's..........but to put it straight....swapping my F30's (which serve our bedroom) for the Salons in identical location using the identical equipment......They are phenominal sounding......the midrange is just as liquid and accurate with the sound stage equally as wide and deep, instruments are placed properly in their location.....the bass is just as rich with full bodied presence and plenty of articulation.....vs the Salons.....it is VERY CLOSE with bass articulation being minutely more detailed on the Salons with maybe a hint of more microdynamics being present in the midrange........but I'll tell you...it took me quite a few swaps to be able to fully discern the differences....and I was only able to do so seated in the optimum seating location.......that says a lot for a pair of speakers that cost me 10 grand less......people seem to forget that them more you spend doesn't necessarily mean youll get equal gains in sound quality....normally I've found out that the more money you spend the returns get more and more diminished(a lot of the expense in the revel Salons goes directly into the cabinet....they weigh 200lbs each)while the Performa uses a basic MDF cabinet to keep costs down.......but for 10 Grand less you get 95% of the performance......to me thats a deal and thats why I picked them up.....looks I can understand people either seem to love them or hate them......but sound quality???? LETS GET SERIOUS HERE!!!!! NONE OF YOU ARE AUDIOPHILES.....and if you feel otherwise I envite you to write or call me or even better....to visit my home and take a REAL LISTEN YOURSELVES!!!!!!!!
All in all a beautiful sounding speaker and the BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK YOU WILL GET IN THIS PRICE RANGE!!!!!!

John
lilrevel@juno.com

Similar Products Used:

Have in my possesion Revel Salons, B@W Nautilus 802's,.....have had in past Revel Gems, B@W Nautilus, Dunlevy SCIV's

Good bang for the buck

Idiosyncratic physical appearance

I do not own these speakers but I listened to them in a well built room in a specialty store. I took the time to listen critically having them reproduce some of my reference CDs including choral, chamber, jazz and rock. I don't understand why would anyone want to see reviews only of owned gear. While owning does give a longer exposure to the sound, it would transform "Audioreview" in a forum with mostly positive reviews, or otherwise why would anyone buy a product he/she didn't like.
Here's my opinion about this speaker. (1) Appearance. This is not the kind of "love it or hate it" product. The finish is good, but it doesn't have the glossy appearance of the Thiels, neither the smoothness of the B&Ws. The speaker is not ugly, but I personally prefer the Thiels or B&Ws in this respect. Nor they are beautiful (especially because of their feet), although some people will disagree here, as expected.
(2)Now the most important part, the sound. I was delighted by their overall sound, smoothness, total lack of listening fatigue, detail, satisfactory bass. All of these considering the price.(3) Comparisons. ***Thiel CS2.3 . Just about the same price, but they sound distinctly different.
The Revels are smoother and easier to listen to when matched with bright-sounding electronics. The bass is more generous.
The Thiels are brighter and more open sounding, the soundstage is more precise and the sound more coherent. The bass-lines are better delineated. The Thiels' overall sound, to my ears, holds more excitement, keeping me surprised when hearing new details and a precise spatial reproduction on otherwise familiar CDs. Which one is the winner? Very tough call! In my opinion both of them for the price. They will do better with different kinds of music and for different listeners. Or in different systems.
***Now because some reviewers raised this issue, how does this speaker compare with the more expensive competition?
To say that this speaker is as good as the Sonus Faber Amati Homage or even better (!!!) is wrong, although I haven't personally listened to the Amatis. It only creates a hype surrounding the Revels and the expected result will be a series of 1-star reviews posted by justifiably angry reviewers. Both extremes are wrong, because, while this is not a 1-star speaker under any circumstance, it's not the Amati's equal either. While the Revel's sound reminds me of Aerial 10T's at twice the price, the Thiel CS6,the B&W N802 and the Wilson WATT/Puppy 5.1 are all better, as they should at 2.5-5 times the price. The closest experience to compare the Revels with is B&W N802, which combines the best of the Thiel 2.3 and Revel F30. Well, at $8,000, the B&Ws are clearly better than the Revel F30. No doubt. I don't know yet how the B&W N802 compares with the Revel Studio at $10k, but that's not the point here. The point made here is that, while the F30 has a good sound at its price, it is not a five star when compared with the more expensive ones. But since my review of the Thiel 2.3 ended with a 5-star rating, would be unfair for this one not to.
My guess is that this speaker is going to be classified as a high-value ($$$) Class B Full range speaker in Stereophile at its current price of $3.6k.

Similar Products Used:

B&W Nautilus 802, 805, Thiel CS 2.3, CS6, Wilsons.

effortless, clean sound. Oustanding midrange. Acurate.

revealing. May sound harsh or bright with wrong front end. Takes over 100hrs to break in. Almost but not quite full range.

First of all, I love the sound of the Aerial 10t's. I found that the Revel F-30's sounded very similar at less than half the cost. Vocals are stunning in their clarity. Bass is very tight although drops off around 25-30Hz. This is not a problem for me. I have experienced no listening fatigue. They are revealing so good electronics make a bid difference. I simply cannot believe these speakers are around $3k. An excellent value.

Similar Products Used:

Aerial 10-t

Solid construction, enveloping soundstage, powerful bass response, superb midrange

Fiancee acceptance factor is low (although not as low as some)

Out of all the speakers I have in-home demoed (all the ones mentioned in the list above) I have decided to stick with the F30s. The soundstaging is excellent but forgiving because the sweet spot is larger than most. It's appearance leaves something to be desired but, hey, I haven't seen too many speakers that are aesthetically pleasing. As far as bass response goes, I had no problem enjoying my "booty" music without the use of a sub. I can't wait for my C30 to come in and for the release of the S30s so that I may complete my speaker upgrade (still to determine which sub).

Similar Products Used:

B&W 804, Martin Logan SL3, Legacy Audio Focus and Empire, Aerial Acoustics 7B, PSB Stratus Gold, Paradigm Reference 100, Sonus Faber Grand Piano, Vienna Acoustics Beethoven, Thiel 2.3

music reproduction

none that i can forsee

Wow.......3 months use.........incredible sounding......have a parasound hca 3500 mono block setup with a wadia 830 cd player....the setup for me is a dream come true.Speakers just completely disappear into the background.

Similar Products Used:

B@W, Sonus Faber, Martin Logan

smooth midrange, great value.

None

The review in Sterephile says it all. Has the midrange of a electrostatic speaker with fast transients. I own the speakers and love them. Now I have an upconverter for 24/96k. I love the sound and just cannot stop listening to this speaker.
As for the review from below David from Houston needs to get a life. And stop bringing down the rating of this speaker. Did somebody from Madrigal piss you off David? Or are you just trying to bring down the resale value so you can get these babies cheap? Or do you work for one of the other speaker manufactures? I have a problem with people who don't own the speaker and put in repeated reviews, just to bring down the ratings. These speakers are an oustanding value and will continue to resurface in all the literature as such.

Similar Products Used:

Audio physics, ProAc, Thiel, Magies.

Midrange and base

None

Long break in. Requires good associated electronics. Every tweak makes a definitive change to the end result. These speakers pass on the true emotion of music. I have finally stopped makeing changes and am spending more time buying music.

Similar Products Used:

Audio physics virgo, Tempo II, Vandersteen.