Revel F206 Tower Speaker Review

[Beave]

Doesn't the step response look pretty messy? Looks like timing misalignment and bad damping/too high cutoff of the mid range.
Just a hunch though.

How are you drawing those conclusions from looking at the step response? What about it do you think is "messy?"

 

[soundofsilence]

How come many of these are literally 50% off in the UK?

 

[cavedriver]

How come many of these are literally 50% off in the UK?

Are you talking about the Revels or the other speakers mentioned by people above? In the US Harman is a relatively big company in this industry and often has deep sales on the products, presumably due to efficiencies in manufacturing that give them wide margins to work with, or perhaps inventory balancing problems. Last year they were selling a couple of their JBL speakers at $200 a pair that normally cost $1000.

 

[CapMan]

How come many of these are literally 50% off in the UK?

End of line - clearing old stock I imagine

 

[anphex]

How are you drawing those conclusions from looking at the step response? What about it do you think is "messy?"

Okay, please bear with me, and correct me.

From what I see, my hunch is that the impulse get's not clearly routed to the tweeter as it should and also ends up on the mid or even sub woofer, thus the messy first part where it's like two bounces, the second shortly after the first one. As for the long decay, I can also only think of the woofer having trouble to "calm down". Or the tweeter itself has bad damping, but considering it's size it doesn't make sense.

 

[mns3dhm]

End of line - clearing old stock I imagine

This is a good guess - Revel introduced the Performa 3 line sometime around 2014 I think so it is probably due for an update or a new mid price line.

 

[CapMan]

This is a good guess - Revel introduced the Performa 3 line sometime around 2014 I think so it is probably due for an update or a new mid price line.

Their loss is our gain

 

[IamJF]

You ignored what I said above about using 5" + 10" sub before but that's okay

I don't interested neither in KH 150 or Revels, looking further I'd like to get either LYD 48 or A8H for my "mostly desktop" setup. Sort of proper 3-way with 8" LF driver and familiar signature.

(Sure, sure, KH 150 are better, newer technologies)

In that price range I would try KH120ii + KH750! Calibration to YOUR listening place is a big benefit in most rooms and MA-1 is better as Sonarworks or similar systems.
But A8h are for sure a step up from your setup.

Maybe we should get back to Revel ...sorry

 

[Beave]

Okay, please bear with me, and correct me.

From what I see, my hunch is that the impulse get's not clearly routed to the tweeter as it should and also ends up on the mid or even sub woofer, thus the messy first part where it's like two bounces, the second shortly after the first one. As for the long decay, I can also only think of the woofer having trouble to "calm down". Or the tweeter itself has bad damping, but considering it's size it doesn't make sense.

No, not at all. What you are seeing is a completely normal step response for a 3 way speaker. The tweeter response comes first, then the midrange response, then the woofer.

A step waveform doesn't just contain treble that goes to the tweeter. It is a full range signal. Some of it goes to the tweeter, some to the mid, some to the woofers.

Stereophile has measured and provided plots for step response for decades. Look through the various 3-way speaker measurements on their website, and you will see dozens of speakers with similar step response.

If any of the things you are concerned about were actual problems, they would show up in the frequency response curves because frequency response and step response are related mathematically. But there aren't any such problems in the frequency response.

 

[Gatordaddy]

Another great review Amir, thank you!

Interesting that the Revel F35 has been mentioned by another member. I am thinking about getting tower speakers for a music/HT setup and have considered the F206, the F35 and the JBL Studio 698. Does anyone have any recommendations or experiences with these speakers. After reading so many of Amir's excellent reviews, I always come back to the issue of putting more weight on flat frequency response and even horizontal dispersion, vs. dynamic capabilities and lack of distortion. I have been very impressed by horn speakers in how dynamic and realistic they can sound, and it seems like there are a few horn speakers that have seriously surprised Amir in how much he liked them, even if the graphs and data werent' very impressive. The JBL 4349 and JBL 4309 come to mind, but there are others.

The Performa line imo offers an audible improvement over the Concerta line. Their lower distortion and all around improved spins make voices sound more accurate and are just all around a little easier to live with since their flaws are very hard to pick out. The Concerta do sound very fun since they're voiced with an upper bass boost that accentuates percussion. When buying my first pair of "high end" speakers I initially preferred the punch of the M16 to the more refined M106. For music/HT I think the additional output afforded by the F36's larger drivers would be advantageous over the F35. I don't have any experience with the Studio 698 but they seem impressive.

These are three very different speakers at different price points. If its within a budget you've already allocated the F206 are very impressive at their closeout price.

 

[fritobugger]

The Performa line imo offers an audible improvement over the Concerta line. Their lower distortion and all around improved spins make voices sound more accurate and are just all around a little easier to live with since their flaws are very hard to pick out. The Concerta do sound very fun since they're voiced with an upper bass boost that accentuates percussion. When buying my first pair of "high end" speakers I initially preferred the punch of the M16 to the more refined M106. For music/HT I think the additional output afforded by the F36's larger drivers would be advantageous over the F35. I don't have any experience with the Studio 698 but they seem impressive.

These are three very different speakers at different price points. If its within a budget you've already allocated the F206 are very impressive at their closeout price.

I recently moved from the F36 to the F208, the F36 were great with a subwoofer and on paper look somewhat similar to the F206. The F208 could easily work for most music with a subwoofer. The F208 is very similar to the F36 except more bass and more distinct mids plus generally just better.

 

[fritobugger]

Their loss is our gain

I believe Revel officially discontinued production of the Performa3 line in mid-2023 and expects to put out the Performa4 (or whatever it will be called) later this year (or maybe early next year)

 

[anphex]

No, not at all. What you are seeing is a completely normal step response for a 3 way speaker. The tweeter response comes first, then the midrange response, then the woofer.

A step waveform doesn't just contain treble that goes to the tweeter. It is a full range signal. Some of it goes to the tweeter, some to the mid, some to the woofers.

Stereophile has measured and provided plots for step response for decades. Look through the various 3-way speaker measurements on their website, and you will see dozens of speakers with similar step response.

If any of the things you are concerned about were actual problems, they would show up in the frequency response curves because frequency response and step response are related mathematically. But there aren't any such problems in the frequency response.

Ooooh I always thought Step Response == Impulse Response. So Step Response is full spectrum and Impulse is infinitely high frequent signal in theory? That it all makes far more sense. Thank you.

 

[SPFC]

The Performa line imo offers an audible improvement over the Concerta line. Their lower distortion and all around improved spins make voices sound more accurate and are just all around a little easier to live with since their flaws are very hard to pick out. The Concerta do sound very fun since they're voiced with an upper bass boost that accentuates percussion. When buying my first pair of "high end" speakers I initially preferred the punch of the M16 to the more refined M106. For music/HT I think the additional output afforded by the F36's larger drivers would be advantageous over the F35. I don't have any experience with the Studio 698 but they seem impressive.

These are three very different speakers at different price points. If its within a budget you've already allocated the F206 are very impressive at their closeout price.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Very helpful.

 

[CapMan]

Listening to this great album on my F206s and it’s glorious. They play clean and clear, detailed but not etched. They seem very happy playing louder and louder with no distortion.

Dirac is helping to balance the lower end with the top and the balance seems just right to me.

Where a female vocalist has been close miced and decides to accentuate their sibilants, and breath all over the mic (yes you Diana Krall!) these speakers will tell you about it … but my take is that it is an accurate reproduction of what’s been recorded, mixed and mastered for better or worse. I hear the same on IEMs.

I think if you favour a warm
And polite sound - these may not be for you. If you seek transparency, detail and balance they are worth a look.

 

[fritobugger]

View attachment 364416

Listening to this great album on my F206s and it’s glorious. They play clean and clear, detailed but not etched. They seem very happy playing louder and louder with no distortion.

Dirac is helping to balance the lower end with the top and the balance seems just right to me.

Where a female vocalist has been close miced and decides to accentuate their sibilants, and breath all over the mic (yes you Diana Krall!) these speakers will tell you about it … but my take is that it is an accurate reproduction of what’s been recorded, mixed and mastered for better or worse. I hear the same on IEMs.

I think if you favour a warm
And polite sound - these may not be for you. If you seek transparency, detail and balance they are worth a look.

Great album. Love Mehldau's albums with Chris Thile also

 

[Sonic icons]

Ooooh I always thought Step Response == Impulse Response. So Step Response is full spectrum and Impulse is infinitely high frequent signal in theory? That it all makes far more sense. Thank you.

The frequency spectra of both an infinitely sharp step and an infinitely narrow pulse contain all frequencies from zero to infinity. According to the time-frequency uncertainty principle, 2pi * delta(f) * delta(t) >= 1, where delta(t) is the width in time (duration) of the pulse or step, and delta(f) is the width of the frequency spectrum. At the "other extreme", the only time-domain function that corresponds exactly to a single frequency is a sine wave that has continued / will continue forever: {a(t) = A0 sin (2pi * f * t), from t=-infinity to t=+infinity}.

There are various ways to demonstrate this by transforming functions between the time domain and frequency domain (Fourier transforms). One popular way, that requires less than infinite math knowledge , is to consider Gaussian functions in the time domain and frequency domain (a Gaussian is a special type of "bell-shaped" peak).
Time domain Gaussian: b(t) = B0 exp{-0.5*(t/t0)^2}, "Gaussian width" = t0
Frequency domain Gaussian: c(f) = C0{-0.5*(f/f0)^2}, "Gaussian width" = f0
Fourier transform of b(t) is a frequency domain Gaussian of width 1/(2pi * t0)
Similarly, Fourier transform of c(f) is a time domain Gaussian of width 1/(2pi * f0)

So the width of the Gaussian bell-shaped function in the [time domain / frequency domain] is inversely proportional to the width of its Fourier transform in the [frequency domain / time domain]. When the width of the time domain Gaussian goes to [zero / infinity], the width of the corresponding frequency domain Gaussian goes to [infinity / zero].

Final comment: to get rid of that annoying 2pi factor that keeps popping up, we can define the angular frequency: omega (radians/s) = 2pi * f (Hz).

 

[CapMan]

Great album. Love Mehldau's albums with Chris Thile also

I’ll check those out

 

[AudioSceptic]

This is a review, listening tests, EQ, and detailed measurements of the Revel F206 Floor-standing speaker. It is on kind loan from a member (new) and costs US $1347.50 each.
View attachment 362815
Please excuse the mobile phone picture quality and plastics that are still on the speaker. I try to keep products as fresh as possible. The port is in front and not much in the back other than binding posts.

NOTE: Our company, Madrona Digital which is in the business of custom system integration is not in retail business but we are a dealer for Harman products including Revel. If I am not mistaken, the owner actually purchased this speaker from us. My measurements are standardized and no changes where made for testing of this speaker but feel free to read whatever level of bias you like in my subjective comments.

If you are not familiar with my speaker tests, please watch this video first:

Reference axis was that of the tweeter.

Revel F206 Speaker Measurements
As usual, we start with our suite of speaker frequency response measurements:
View attachment 362817
On axis response is (by speaker standards) essentially flat with a small peak around 4.5 kHz and minor dip around 200 Hz. There is also a bit of directivity error. For a non-DSP speaker, this is quite good. The port tuning is a bit low which I am starting to appreciate as it avoids room modes making the speaker too bass heavy:
View attachment 362819

You get extension into deep bass, going as low as 30 Hz.

Early window response is smooth:
View attachment 362820

I was very impressed in the way it all sums up to such a perfect predicted in-room response:
View attachment 362821

Directivity is not fully controlled but is wide which should give the kind of spatial effects I like:
View attachment 362824
View attachment 362825

The inclusion of mid-range gives more freedom as far as vertical listening axis is:
View attachment 362827

You buy a tower speaker with multiple drivers to get extra power handling/lower distortion doing it. And that is exactly what you get from F206 (and then some):
View attachment 362828

View attachment 362829

Notice the superbly low distortion in 1 to 2 kHz. We are talking distortion that is at least 65 dB lower than the response itself!

EDIT: Please don't run with the frequency responses shown in these graphs. They are near-field and not representative. But are fine for showing levels of distortions since the protocol is always the same.

Output gets a bit reduced at 102 dBSPL:
View attachment 362831

The reduction in the upper band is unlikely to be an issue as your ears would be ringing by then. And drop below 90 Hz is to be expected.

Edit: forgot the impedance plot:
View attachment 362921

I left the step response floor low to show more resonances:
View attachment 362833
I probably shouldn't have as I can't see that in the frequency response itself at 900 Hz.

Finally, here is the step response:
View attachment 362834


Revel F206 Listening Tests
As you see from the review picture above, speaker was too heavy to lug upstairs to listen in my 2-channel room. So it had to fill a very large space with a lot of harsh surfaces. First impression was, "man this thing sounds good and familiar!" I know, being a Revel speaker owner myself, that is to be expected but still, it was there. I don't put a lot of weight on this part of the test though. I like to EQ (usually on-axis response) and then do an AB so I did:
View attachment 362836
The bass fill is tricky as the room modes are still active there and for all we know, there may already be a boost there. Still, I adjusted that by ear. Same for the 4.5 kHz. Before and after was subtle but the signature with EQ was warmer bass and overall response. Without it, bass was tighter but highs a bit more forward. I suspect in any kind of controlled testing, it would be a draw as to whether EQ or stock sound is better.

Once there, going through my reference tracks delighted me across the board. So much so that I kept listening while the dogs looked at the speaker with annoying emotions! I closed my eye and the impression/halo of the sound was quite large which I like.

I was pleasantly surprised by the sub-bass response. Not only the F206 played them, but almost kept them 90% clean. There was just the slightest hint of distortion. More than acceptable. No 2-way bookshelf comes remotely close to this level of performance.

I ran out of amplification power before the speaker had any audible limit/distortion that I could detect. By then, I could barely hear my wife trying to tell me something.

Conclusions
We expect excellence from Revel and that is exactly what we get from F206 speaker. It is near perfect in all measurements despite its reasonable cost for such a stylish speaker. Subjective performance was better than I was expecting, truly giving me a "mini Revel Salon 2" experience. It has captured a special place in my heart for combining so many factors together so successfully.

I am going to highly recommend the Revel F206 speaker. But again consider potential sources of bias in my impressions per preface note.

------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

For anyone interested, there's a new white pair and new black pair for sale on UK ebay at 50% off (£1599/1699).

 

[robh36062]

I use mine with a high quality subwoofer. It's a great match!

Rob :}