What speaker brands would you consider better than Revel?

[andreasmaaan]

Kii3 is also excellent but it will be limited to 2ch music. With Genelecs, you can do both movies - 5.2.Atmos or 2 ch music If you want to have a set up for movies.

I'm not sure I understand. Why can Genelecs do this whereas Kiis cannot?

 

[richard12511]

How can you guys mention active speakers without at least some mention for the company thats been doing active dsp for consumers longer than anybody?

Do you happen to have measurements? The measurements I've seen show them to be excellent loudspeakers, though not quite as good as the best active speakers(Genelec, Neumann, Barefoot, D&D, Kii, GGNTKT, Mesanovic, etc.). I do think Meridian deserves mention though for their early adoption of active designs, even if there are better sounding active alternatives that exist today .

 

[Sprint]

I'm not sure I understand. Why can Genelecs do this whereas Kiis cannot?

Sure, Kii3 can but am not sure if anyone will go for such expensive speakers for surrounds. The total cost for 5 Kii3 will be around 25K. Whereas for a killer surround set up with Genelec, based on the room size, one can get a set up at a much cheaper price less than 5K if it 2way actives. For 25K, then there are other speakers like Steinway Lyngdorf with their processors.

 

[andreasmaaan]

Sure, Kii3 can but am not sure if anyone will go for such expensive speakers for surrounds. The total cost for 5 Kii3 will be around 25K. Whereas for a killer surround set up with Genelec, based on the room size, one can get a set up at a much cheaper price less than 5K if it 2way actives.

Ok now I understand. OTOH, I'm sure there are some who are willing and able with regard to the Kii...

 

[Purité Audio]

I have used Kiis in a multi speaker set-up they worked extremely well, now if there were a smaller version of the ‘three’ being released :-
Keith

 

[steve59]

Do you happen to have measurements

the only review with measurements ive found is for the legacy dsp8000 by Stereophile in 2000! In the measurements section he states the reason he didn’t state the fq‘s the cabinet vibrated at was because his tool found no measurable vibration, lucky they didn’t use concrete huh.

 

[richard12511]

It's interesting to hear that. KEFs speakers for some reason look to me to be lighter weight than equivalent size/class Revels (based on nothing but seeing them, ofc).

Not sure why I had that impression... perhaps because the only Revel speaker I've owned weighed 74kg each, and I've never had to lift up and carry a KEF...

What Revel speaker is 74kg? That's bigger than the Salon2 .

 

[Pearljam5000]

The D&D 8C should also be great.

 

[leeroy 85032]

Price to performance... Philharmonic audio ....i would guess the bmr holds its own against anything in the under $2000 category.. I haven't heard it , but Dennis modded some speakers for me that lend me to believe he knows how to get it done...

 

[tmtomh]

Neuman KH310s look like a real "sweet spot" speaker to me. I find the decent-sized woofer, three-way design, and sealed enclosure to be major plusses, the latter in particular for enabling precise bass and eliminating all the enclosure and room issues that come with ports. IMHO for home use they are ugly, and probably require more stable than usual stands, but still, for $4500USD/pr they seem like a great value.

 

[andreasmaaan]

What Revel speaker is 74kg? That's bigger than the Salon2 .

The first generation of Ultimas was heavy as all hell

According to the spec sheet the Salons weighed 108kg.

(I hope I'm remembering correctly that these weights are per speaker. It does seem wildly improbable on reflection LOL. But the Ultima Studios I owned were certainly not able to be lifted by one person.)

 

[detlev24]

Better in some ways, worse in others - if DIY qualifies for the OP's request - I would take the exceptional designs of 'Heißmann Acoustics' into consideration.

Their DXT-Wave-Fusion [also available in a passive version] is certainly up to delivering a state-of-the-art Spinorama plot. A drawback might be vertical dispersion, due to the d'appolito design and there is no information regarding distortion vs. [different] SPL. Given the chosen components and integration, it should be satisfactory [= inaudibly low] over the loudspeaker's intended listening range - just a guess.

 

[Steve Dallas]

Price to performance... Philharmonic audio ....i would guess the bmr holds its own against anything in the under $2000 category.. I haven't heard it , but Dennis modded some speakers for me that lend me to believe he knows how to get it done...

We will soon have a BMR vs. Revel F206 shootout of sorts. I am first on the listening tour, and the BMRs should be here late next week. There will be in-room measurements. And there will be DSP as time allows.

 

[Absolute]

What problems did you have with actives?

My Kii Threes suffered from a bad batch of hypex amplifiers and both of them died within weeks of each other. Since they had to be sent to Kii to be fixed, it was a real hassle. Unfortunate circumstances in shipping made it a whole 10 months before I got them back.

I refuse to go through such hassle again, so if I can't replace parts myself or have it serviced in my own city, I won't buy.

Active speakers should have outboard electronics, or at least mounted such a way that it's easy to screw off.

 

[andreasmaaan]

Unfortunate circumstances in shipping made it a whole 10 months before I got them back.

Horrifying

 

[Pearljam5000]

That's why I refuse to buy any monitor from a relatively new company.
On other hand 20-30 years old Genelecs in excellent condition are common so I don't think it's a problem with actives in general.

 

[leeroy 85032]

We will soon have a BMR vs. Revel F206 shootout of sorts. I am first on the listening tour, and the BMRs should be here late next week. There will be in-room measurements. And there will be DSP as time allows.

Oh my goodness... I'm looking forward to that...you must have some inside pull.. I'm thinking we may have talked b4

 

[richard12511]

There's no comparison between the Neumann KH80 and JBL M2, both active speakers. Unfortunately, in speaker-world at least, size matters greatly.

I've had three active speakers here, Devialet Phantom Silver, Kii Three and JBL M2. Small speakers is not big speakers.
I agree about problems with active speakers, I will never again buy speakers with built-in amplifiers. Outboard amps like the M2 is like any other passive speaker but with the advantage of actives.

Ignoring the huge output difference, how does the Kii Three compare to the M2 in your room?

 

[richard12511]

I wen't on a quest to find the best sounding speakers $10k could buy. First I demoed the new offerings from revel , focal, dynaudio, and paradigm then I started buying used speakers that listed for double what the new stuff did, but were significantly better{build quality) being more than twice the money before inflation. What did I learn? Our ears will notice the differences, no speaker is perfect, and the act of choosing your speaker will rely on what aspect of reproduction is most important to you, your ability to set up a pair to compliment your rooms acoustics, and despite 'all amps being equal' some speakers need amps with balls to really open up.

There's certainly still ample room for personal preference when choosing loudspeakers. That personal preference is still important is something that we tend to gloss over a bit too much when advising others on loudspeaker purchases. Blue is the most common "favorite color", but some people still prefer red. Same thing with food. I don't see why audio should be any different. I think measurements will tell us which speakers are most preferred by most people(with good certainty), but they're no guarantee for any one individual.

 

[Pearljam5000]

I like the FocL

There's certainly still ample room for personal preference when choosing loudspeakers. That personal preference is still important is something that we tend to gloss over a bit too much when advising others on loudspeaker purchases. Blue is the most common "favorite color", but some people still prefer red. Same thing with food. I don't see why audio should be any different. I think measurements will tell us which speakers are most preferred by most people(with good certainty), but they're no guarantee for any one individual.

I like the Focal sound (Solo 6) despite it being unpopular here and measuring badly(I think)
So yes I Agree.