Revel M106 Bookshelf Speaker Review

[bobbooo]

Use an amplifier with A/B speaker terminals and put one Revel speaker on the left channel, one Infinity on the right. Level match the speakers with say pink noise using the balance/gain controls on the amplifier.

Playing a mono source with one of each speaker side by side (single speaker of each) you can instantly switch between them using the A/B switch.

Won't having them side by side affect horizontal directivity/dispersion?

 

[MZKM]

Won't having them side by side affect horizontal directivity/dispersion?

But equally so, no?

 

[DubbyMcDubs]

Thanks so much for the review, @amirm. I have owned my M106's for about a year and really enjoy them. I do find that they are senstive to placement to the front and side walls. I read on another review that Revel suggest a minumum of 1.1m from any of those walls. I tested this, subjectively only, and it made a significant difference to me. Just interested in how they were setup for your testing.

Also, my good friend has a set of Salon 2's, like yourself, and I find that the M106 is quite similar apart from the low bass. What are your thoughts in this regard? I added a SVS SB-2000 sub to help in that respect.

 

[hardisj]

<snip>
Good agreement up to about 4-5kHz, after which Harman shows about 2dB more energy. I think this has happened with a few of the Revels, I wonder what's up with that, especially after the super-old infinity showed basically perfect agreement.

Seriously, though, that stood out to me, too. I would be curious if there is an explanation as to why we see such differences. But it would take someone at Harman getting involved in the discussion to find out.


Also the ~2dB difference between 200-400Hz would be nice to solve because that can be the difference in fullness of a female voice or kickdrum.

 

[bobbooo]

But equally so, no?

If they were the same size and shape, but they're not.

 

[BYRTT]

.....It looks like this speaker would actually perform better (more linearly) at the 10° axis. If someone here has the means, I would like to see directivity and CEA data generated using that as the reference axis. Not sure if you can do that easily in your software @amirm or if that's best left to one of the post-processing fellas here.....

For some reason 10º for right side and 20º for left side ...

 

[MZKM]

For some reason 10º for right side and 20º for left side .

I winder if Amir wasn't perfectly centered, as these difference look much greater compared to others:

Positive horizontal axis:

Negative horizontal axis:

And when I look at my heat map, -10 and on-axis are more similar than with 10:

Maybe @amirm needs a laser attachment

EDIT: Didn't see that he annotated this:

More anyone wondering, my shading uses neutral red for +/-1dB and 1dB for all others, whereas Klippel uses 1dB for all.

 

[Bear123]

88dB is fine for movies in most rooms.

12ft away and 50W would give you ~105dB.

Can you explain your math here? Lets assume an 8 ohms speaker.....any less than that will require more power.

88dB at 1m would probably be around 80 dB at 12 feet in room. We need to add 25 dB to hit reference level.
2w = 83
4w=86
8w=89
16w=92
32w=95
64w=98
128w=101
256w=104. Still not quite there....We are a massive distortion/clipping/compressoin generator before this point.

Wait, we forgot to factor in the 3-6 db of eq used, at minimum, below 300Hz or so. This takes us from 104 back to 98...and thats not happening since we are trying to dump 256 watts in the speaker.

For four ohms, double all the above power requirements. This is why -10 MV runs people out of the room with low sensitive speakers...."It's too loud!"..yes...distortion/compression/clipping is very offensive.

 

[MZKM]

Can you explain your math here? Lets assume an 8 ohms speaker.....any less than that will require more power.

88dB at 1m would probably be around 80 dB at 12 feet in room. We need to add 25 dB to hit reference level.
2w = 83
4w=86
8w=89
16w=92
32w=95
64w=98
128w=101
256w=104. Still not quite there....We are a massive distortion/clipping/compressoin generator before this point.

Wait, we forgot to factor in the 3-6 db of eq used, at minimum, below 300Hz or so. This takes us from 104 back to 98...and thats not happening since we are trying to dump 256 watts in the speaker.

For four ohms, double all the above power requirements. This is why -10 MV runs people out of the room with low sensitive speakers...."It's too loud!"..yes...distortion/compression/clipping is very offensive.

I stated in an later comment that I was using 100dB by mistake in the calculation (don't know how that happened), and 3dB room gain.

 

[Bear123]

I stated in an later comment that I was using 100dB by mistake in the calculation (don't know how that happened), and 3dB room gain.

Sensitivity is rated well above the point where room gain will play a part. I don't think any 88 dB speaker can approach clean reference level at 12 feet especially given real world conditions of eq etc.

IMO(and based on math and stuff), I think most low sensitivity systems crap out WAY below reference level. Most don't attribute it to crapping out, but rather just being too loud. I think the reality is that lack of capability is more often the culprit, but its largely based on perspective and experience. I've experienced true, fully reference capable theaters. Reference level is loud, powerful, dynamic, but entirely listenable, comfortably. Easier to listen to than typical(low sensitivity) systems at -10 MV.

My speakers are 91 dB sensitive, and I hold no illusions that I have clean reference level capability at 11-12 feet. REW sweeps, measured SPL levels, and distortion measurements bear this out.

 

[Tks]

Nice review !! It’s a pity Revel speaker’s are not easy to spot in Europe. I wish I could demo the M16 and this M106 and appreciate what Amir’s has listened.

The On-Axis is indeed very good but certainly not enough to achieve golfing panter, however everything gets fixed in a magical fashion with the PIR which is almost textbook.

@amirm With so much speakers measured already and the constant fact you keep enjoying speakers that has tilted down response (harman target). Can we start having some slight supposition that as a speaker manufacturer, the way to go is not to design for On Axis or LW flatnes/neutrality, but all it matters to achieve bliss comes into tailoring the PIR and low-distortion?

Im really intrigued which tricks or methods helps the design process to tailor PIR...or is it just trial and error empiric work until it gets the target ? Couls PIR be simulated by soft at designing stage before even start prototyping?

This is basically all I look for in devices anymore anyway. "Neutrality" and other such stuff can be remedied with DSP. And if the FR is so off target of anything resembling something sane, then the speaker is most likely screwed in other ways.

The reason I feel distortion metrics are the only thing that really matter at the end, is any edits with DSP is what allows for such headroom. Efficiency is also not of concern, just get a more powerful amp if you must. Room reflections also can be handled with corrections as well as we know. But distortion can never be improved upon when the design sucks. EQ'ing away peaks is nonsensical as that then goes against achieving the EQ you would want if you had a preference target you want to hit in the first place. So if the bass of a speaker is lacking at like 130Hz, but the speaker distorts at 125Hz to 200Hz insanely hard, where do you think you're going when trying to lower the FR there?

Manufacturers simply need to focus on having a sane FR, and just get distortion in-line. Their tweeter placements and contruction position of drivers can be something you focus on after that. But I don't want to even consider a speaker with drivers that distort much. Headphones and IEMs are my main preference and as a bonus have distortion eons ahead of speaker designs thankfully. And is why I don't really bother too much with speakers in the first place until the industry moves into a stage where all these distorting speakers become extinct.

For the price this thing costs, this should be the baseline expectation. Good performing drivers.

 

[xarkkon]

Preference Rating
SCORE: 5.8
SCORE w/ sub: 8.0

Sensitivity: 86dB
Frequency Response: +/-2.7dB 80Hz-20kHz
View attachment 70842View attachment 70843View attachment 70844View attachment 70845View attachment 70846View attachment 70847
All graphs/data

8.0? WHOA! That knocks this WAY out of the park!

I auditioned the M16 and M106 before. On AB testing, I ended up finding both to be very similar to my ears, but preferred the M16 just by a pinch (could be subjective bias due to the price point though). Was told it could be due to poorer amplification not driving the M106 properly and that I wasn't listening to them loud enough for the M106 to shine...

 

[temujin44]

how does it do with a full orchestra music, say mahler symphony? how about an opera aria or chamber music?

 

[restorer-john]

how does it do with a full orchestra music, say mahler symphony?

Or how about Michael Murray's classic 1983 Telarc recording of Bach's BWV-565 in the Los Angeles First Congregational Church?

That should warm up those voice coils.

 

[MZKM]

If anyone is interested... https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa2b95-revel-m106-black-pair-full-range

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Revel-Performa3-M106-Bookshelf-speakers-High-Gloss-Black-/303605972269?

 

[Rocky2019]

my reference track list

It would be gratefu if you can share the whole list!

 

[amirm]

Maybe @amirm needs a laser attachment

With these non-rectangular speakers it is very hard to get good alignment. I do try but don't kill myself over it.

 

[amirm]

It would be gratefu if you can share the whole list!

Then there will be no reason for you all to come and read my reviews. I will post them as we go along.

 

[headshake]

Or how about Michael Murray's classic 1983 Telarc recording of Bach's BWV-565 in the Los Angeles First Congregational Church?

That should warm up those voice coils.

I need to try that. This Telarc recording is in my test/demo playlist:

"Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture (Op.49), Capriccio Italien (Op.45 ), "Cossack Dance" from Mazeppa (LP), plus Marche slav, Op.31, Polonaise and Waltz from Eugene Onegin , Op.24, Festival Coronation March (CD).
Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Kiev Symphony Chorus; Children's Choir of Greater Cincinnati, Erich Kunzel cond. "

The song has 45db of dynamic range. It is on spotify and ....boom! The cannons are room-sized and shoot left, right, and center at the end.
https://www.stereophile.com/content/recording-october-1979-telarc-1812-overture

 

[vkvedam]

Even Stereophile concurs this time around