Revel M55XC Outdoor Speaker Review

[bobbooo]

I definitely agree with you here. In fact I think I agree with everything you just wrote, and as a result I’m thinking perhaps this is all a natural misunderstanding due to different expectations / assumptions about what these review are actually claiming.

I don’t think anyone is seriously claiming that this single review (or any other handful of others on this site) conclusively disproves the Olive score, or conclusive proves that the parameters under which it operates/applies are wrong.

I think all that anyone hopes for here is for the subjective impressions to not be dismissed outright as having zero value. Aside from how insulting that is to accuse Amir of, it’s just objectively incorrect to say it has zero value — just as incorrect as it would be to say that this single review has suddenly conclusively disproved all existing speaker science.

Of course to consider a new theory a replacement to an old, we need equal scientific methods and perhaps equal weight of data to back it up before the new hypotheses graduate to the next level of widespread acceptance. Again, I don’t think anyone is trying to argue otherwise.

The are several hypotheses for alternate models that might be more successful than the Olive score. Again, I am not saying that the Olive score mode is conclusively invalidated, or that any alternate model has been conclusively proven

All I am saying is that there is too much low-effort drive-by dismissal going around here trying to portray the subjective part of this review as having zero value. It’s all too easy to post low effort quips like “no science has been done here”. That adds nothing constructive. Even reasonable argument as to there being any value in the subjective impressions (e.g. blind vs sighted) have been repeated endlessly over and over and over on every review. I’m not sure what anyone hopes to accomplish by repeating such things again. Do you think maybe that Amir, upon seeing the criticism for the 173,729th time, will suddenly have an epiphany and decide to change things?

If a fallacious argument is repeatedly stated by many on here, the counterargument to it will be repeatedly stated, so new or casual readers will not be misled. If the fallacious arguments stop, so will the counterarguments. I think we generally agree on everything else though. I would just say, I don't actually think there's much tension between the Olive rating and Amir's subjective impressions here when the speaker was judged in a similar scenario as Olive's listening tests i.e. actually within the scope of the model. Amir said (my emphasis):

I started testing with the M55XC in my usual location which is at least 4 feet from back wall and 3 foot from side wall. Lack of bass was quite obvious so I moved the speaker back so that it has my system and Reel-to-Reel and TV behind it. That nicely boosted the bass although the speaker was still a tad bright.

So lack of bass, and bright even after placing it in front of a TV which would act similarly to a wall in boosting bass, so subjectively likely even brighter overall spectral tilt without this. This is all reflected objectively in the measurements, which is in turn reflected in the low Olive score. So I don't see much disagreement here.

 

[riker1384]

And though a bit off-topic, to expand on my happiness in the diversity of speakers tested on this site (indoor, outdoor, large, small, expensive, cheap, active, passive), it would be really cool if ASR ever branches out even further to test waterproof speakers that are also battery powered and portable, like e.g. the JBL Boombox 2, which is even more interesting in terms of utility/versatility than mount-only waterproof speakers like these Revels.

There's a German fellow who has done reviews of many of these speakers, often with measurements, as well as some headphone reviews. He used to post reviews on his website, but he now only does video reviews on Youtube. He also includes sound clips of the speakers, recorded through binaural microphones and intended to be listened to on high-quality headphones. This isn't an ideal way to audition things since you're listening through the microphones and headphones, but the differences between a lot of these speakers are great enough that it works pretty well as a relative comparison.

http://www.oluvsgadgets.net
https://www.youtube.com/c/oluvsgadgets/videos

He even made a database that lets you quickly switch between all his sound samples in order to compare products:

http://switcher.oluvsgadgets.net

I bought a small Xiaomi Bluetooth speaker based on his recommendation. Check out these measurements, not too shabby for $30!:

It does sound very refined overall for a speaker of that kind, although the bass is muddy and the bass-boost at low volumes is annoying when listening to a podcast.

Here's his review of that JBL:

 

[EJ3]

Good numbers for tomato plants and performance in bass region, thanks review ..



M55XC animated model of estimated gain 1x boundery at 1 feet distance..

View attachment 74895

And if it were mounted to the wall (with perhaps a rubberized 3/16" gasket 0.188" or 4.78 mm thick [essentially 0 ft])?

 

[TimVG]

But I can say that I bought the Salon2's knowing full well that their spin (and therefore likely their preference score) would suggest that these speakers should sound far worse than my Genelecs (again, by the canonical interpretation of the measurements). But they don't -- and in many ways (but granted, not all!) they achieve the most pleasant and enjoyable listening experience (in my medium/large room) of any speaker I've owned!

Off-topic/ Does it measure worse though? If we overlay the listening windows (granted of the 8341 here) .. above ~300Hz I wouldn't say they're very far apart in terms of direct sound.

 

[BYRTT]

And if it were mounted to the wall (with perhaps a rubberized 3/16" gasket 0.188" or 4.78 mm thick [essentially 0 ft])?

1x boundary gain with 0 feet distance is a flat smooth boost so it wont EQ below ASR analyzed anechoic response of M55XC, that said we shall remember a isolated pure 1x boundary simulation is not exactly real world because its based on infinite area of that boundary and thats not the case for a real front wall, also in a normal room there is 6x boundarys with 90º corner edges that will make diffraction interference and some of those other boundarys will come late relative to direct sounds first wavefront, on a second thought come to think about maybe Revel voiced it that bright looking because outdoor listening distances can probably get much longer than for indoor distances and then treble will loose its energy..

This simple filter curve will transfer M55XC out of box anechoic response very close to out of box anechoic response of Revel M16..

Here is reprinted graph of post 106 isolated 1x boundary effects at different distances, but this time added the black flat boost using 0 feet distance..

Beside boundary gain for indoor enviroment theres also the pressurerization gain effect if indoor enviroment is not leaky, in a modern house think the below simulation using 50% leakage is useable, notice its a huge gain of +12dB, also notice the larger the longest room dimension is the less pressurerization gain, will imagine Amir dont have much pressurerization gain because as i get it his upstairs lab is open to the rest of the house, black curve is kind of added for fun a huge +12dB boost shelf but then again think about the little room inside head phones and maybe thats why that poor little transducer can perform some decent low end frequencies..

 

[EJ3]

1x boundary gain with 0 feet distance is a flat smooth boost so it wont EQ below ASR analyzed anechoic response of M55XC, that said we shall remember a isolated pure 1x boundary simulation is not exactly real world because its based on infinite area of that boundary and thats not the case for a real front wall, also in a normal room there is 6x boundarys with 90º corner edges that will make diffraction interference and some of those other boundarys will come late relative to direct sounds first wavefront, on a second thought come to think about maybe Revel voiced it that bright looking because outdoor listening distances can probably get much longer than for indoor distances and then treble will loose its energy..

View attachment 76983

This simple filter curve will transfer M55XC out of box anechoic response very close to out of box anechoic response of Revel M16..
View attachment 76984
View attachment 76985

Here is reprinted graph of post 106 isolated 1x boundary effects at different distances, but this time added the black flat boost using 0 feet distance..
View attachment 76986

Beside boundary gain for indoor enviroment theres also the pressurerization gain effect if indoor enviroment is not leaky, in a modern house think the below simulation using 50% leakage is useable, notice its a huge gain of +12dB, also notice the larger the longest room dimension is the less pressurerization gain, will imagine Amir dont have much pressurerization gain because as i get it his upstairs lab is open to the rest of the house, black curve is kind of added for fun a huge +12dB boost shelf but then again think about the little room inside head phones and maybe thats why that poor little transducer can perform some decent low end frequencies..
View attachment 76987

Thank you! I am looking at using it mounted on the back porch (2 feet up from the ground, 10 ft deep & 30 ft wide concrete deck, no sides, roof or front; speakers mounted to the back brick wall of my house. So the only bass gain would be the wall it is mounted to. The bottom of the speaker would be about 5 feet up where it might get some bass gain from the overhang. Maybe mount it upside down to get more of that. They would be aimed at the back yard (from which my view is miles of navigable creeks and marsh). Probably use an NAD 2100 for each speaker.

 

[EJ3]

Thank you! I am looking at using it mounted on the back porch (2 feet up from the ground, 10 ft deep & 30 ft wide concrete deck, no sides, roof or front; speakers mounted to the back brick wall of my house. So the only bass gain would be the wall it is mounted to. The bottom of the speaker would be about 5 feet up where it might get some bass gain from the overhang. Maybe mount it upside down to get more of that. They would be aimed at the back yard (from which my view is miles of navigable creeks and marsh). Probably use an NAD 2100 for each speaker.

Looks like a pair of subs is needed but mine only go UP TO 80 Hz. Looks like I need to assemble something that can cover 40-150 Hz and can be driven well with a NAD 2200 in stereo.

 

[BYRTT]

@EJ3 was it my setup i would start run the M55XC pair alone and hear what that sounds like also because Amir was some positive impressed in the M55XC mono test, myself had few times heard outdoor music at hotel and museum buildings and think entertainment is fine enough and the lack of sub bass is not a very big problem at a outdoor relaxed volume but okay maybe you have other needs, have best fun get system up running.

 

[EJ3]

@EJ3 was it my setup i would start run the M55XC pair alone and hear what that sounds like also because Amir was some positive impressed in the M55XC mono test, myself had few times heard outdoor music at hotel and museum buildings and think entertainment is fine enough and the lack of sub bass is not a very big problem at a outdoor relaxed volume but okay maybe you have other needs, have best fun get system up running.

Thank you very much for your input. At the moment this is a "future planning dept" thing for me. I have some extra (ancient [a pair of Frazier Super Monte Carlo] but very efficient) speakers that I bring out of the house for this purpose. I bought them new shortly after I bought my ADVENT 300 new (late 70's). I was out of the USA from 2001-2018 and during that time these speakers (which I had kept cosmetically new) disappeared from my home. I recently found them (serial #'s confirm) at a used Audio Shop. The non-removable grills had been replaced with some kind of junk and they were pretty well dinged up and had paint & other stains on them. Not knowing when they had disappeared or how (they were the only thing that I can say was gone, that I haven't found since I came back in 2018). But they sound about the same as I remember, so I bought them back for $90. So, I am attempting to make them at least presentable. Since I am in the process of selling both a car & business in Guam & then bringing my wife (& another car) from there to here (James Island, SC), most things have in my life been put into the future planning dept. for the moment. At the moment I would just bring them in if the weather turns wet. But being able to leave a good sounding speaker in place has an appeal. As you say, hook it up as APT for it's use, listen & then decide if it needs some help in it's application.

 

[Dj7675]

I received back the 3rd pair of these from Amir that he measured and have all 6 installed now in a 7.2.6 setup. They are great for this use. The built in integrated mounting systems is fantastic. I have 2 I installed above the screen, and 2 pairs installed on the ceiling. The mount enables them to be pointed towards the main listening position which is why I went this route instead of in ceiling. Audyssey recommended crossing them at 80 but I bumped them up to 100hz but may go up to 120hz. Turned out better than I could have hoped.

 

[seedragon]

I received back the 3rd pair of these from Amir that he measured and have all 6 installed now in a 7.2.6 setup. They are great for this use. The built in integrated mounting systems is fantastic. I have 2 I installed above the screen, and 2 pairs installed on the ceiling. The mount enables them to be pointed towards the main listening position which is why I went this route instead of in ceiling. Audyssey recommended crossing them at 80 but I bumped them up to 100hz but may go up to 120hz. Turned out better than I could have hoped.

@Dj7675 do you feel like you should have gone with MC80XC overhead to keep the crossover low? Or are they too big?

 

[Dj7675]

@Dj7675 do you feel like you should have gone with MC80XC overhead to keep the crossover low? Or are they too big?

I thought about it, but for my room the m80xc were just too large for my space. Plus the M80xc is 14lb compared to 8lb. I have 4 attached to the ceiling and the m55xc mounts nicely on the ceiling. I would want higher than 8ft ceilings to go to the larger speaker and a bit bigger room. In the end I decided not to worry about the crossovers being a little over 80 (even though Audyssey actually recommended 80hz). They do really sound great. I still need to take them down and listen to them in stereo and with a sub. Some day!

 

[Valentin R]

 

[Dj7675]

View attachment 80268

Had not seen those from Harman before. Thanks for posting. Have you seen the m80xc Spin?

 

[seedragon]

I thought about it, but for my room the m80xc were just too large for my space. Plus the M80xc is 14lb compared to 8lb. I have 4 attached to the ceiling and the m55xc mounts nicely on the ceiling. I would want higher than 8ft ceilings to go to the larger speaker and a bit bigger room. In the end I decided not to worry about the crossovers being a little over 80 (even though Audyssey actually recommended 80hz). They do really sound great. I still need to take them down and listen to them in stereo and with a sub. Some day!

@Dj7675 Great to know. Are you using MC55XC for side surround duties as well? I was considering S16 or M16 for side surrounds.

 

[Dj7675]

@Dj7675 Great to know. Are you using MC55XC for side surround duties as well? I was considering S16 or M16 for side surrounds.

3 M106 for LCR
4 S16 for surrounds
6 M55xc for atmos
The S16 is a great surround speaker. The M16 takes up quite a lot of space with its deep cabinet and rear port.

 

[Valentin R]

Had not seen those from Harman before. Thanks for posting. Have you seen the m80xc Spin?

here you go

 

[Dj7675]

Earlier in this thread, I mentioned that I would see how they sound in stereo with subs. In my theater I had 3 M106‘s that I recently sold in anticipation for 3 new main speakers. They have had a bit of a delay, so I was without any front speakers. I have 6 of the M55XC as atmos speakers, so took 2 of them down and set up to listen to in stereo with subs to see how they sounded.
I have a Denon X8500 with an NAD M27 amp and 3 Rythmik L12
-Turned off Audyssey
-Raised crossover from 80 to 100hz
-Using roon/airplay 2 played some songs
It sounded very good. It sounded very detailed but didn’t really sound bright, harsh or annoying. Listened to a couple of songs of female vocals and it sounded really good. Switched to other types of music with more bass and it still sounded good still but just not balanced. By eyeballing the response, Decided to use Roon to apply some EQ. My complete amateur stab at EQ using roon:

They sounded absolutely amazing, at even loud volume (I was at -10). I was listening at around 11-12 feet away, tweeters slightly above ear level and about 9 feet apart. Still a little shocked at how good they sound even at pretty loud volumes. Couple of things:
Anyone care to post different eq settings? I’m sure they can be improved.
Would they be better to cross over @ 120hz?

One thing, in case anyone uses them after they have installed them on the wall... when you take them down, and play them loudly, the clamping mechanism inside that secures to the ball, will vibrate and “jingle”. Had to stuff it so it would vibrate/make noise. For a moment I though I thought I blew the tweeter!

 

[Dj7675]

Response is easily corrected

View attachment 74909

Thanks for posting. Will try these (save me time importing it into REW.

 

[BYRTT]

Earlier in this thread, I mentioned that I would see how they sound in stereo with subs...

thanks share findings here..

...Couple of things:
Anyone care to post different eq settings? I’m sure they can be improved.
Would they be better to cross over @ 120hz?...

Thanks to Amir's good work and wonder robot we can see on objective paper M55XC looks be a nice performer and for directivity pattern within the listening window its actual smoother than all the other Revel's tested so far. Based on Amir's anechoic spindata have a M55XC EQ string suggestion meant for farfield listening (not less than 2 meter), my EQ string use DI curve (directivity index) as policy and not so far from yours and TimVG as seen in below overlaid animation..

Here is the relative short string using 20 times PEQs that will correct my suggested filter as seen above plus two choices of acoustic textbook high pass knees that will need to be added to the 20 times PEQ string, for the 4th order Linkwitz Riley @80Hz HP acoustic filter the blue symbol means 2nd order active HP and for the 2nd order Linkwitz Riley @120Hz HP acoustic filter the red symbol means active shelving low pass, now i dont know how acoustic low pass settings is for your sub but remember or notice if its of 2nd order and you pick the 2nd order LR @120Hz below then satelite needs to have polarity flipped in Roon else one get a suchout at slopes center frequency because 2nd order minimum phase slopes alway need one of the passbands to be polarity flipped and think its most right its the satelite because if system needs to cooperate with other systems then its most right than a positive pulse will move subs cone forward instead of inward..

Finally here you have detailed predictions for the 3 choises, animation toggles, 1) out of box, 2) the 20 times PEQ string, 3) the 20 times PEQ string + acoustic HP LR 4th @80Hz, 4) the 20 times PEQ string + acoustic HP LR 2nd @120Hz, have best fun if you try it out ..