Revel F208 Tower Speaker Review

[RichB]

Buy munoch more WPC than you think you will ever need. Trust me, you will need for transients. Will not miss or notice said need until you no longer need. Don't miss what is never experienced.

There are no transients beyond 0 DBFS in a digital signal so my computations are based on that. This accounts for transients.
There is no reason to fret about needing more, but I did the measurements and math to allay fears.

The AHB2 has the excellent clip indicators, so if you have this amp, you will know if and when it is clipping.

- Rich

 

[Pio]

Check out these watt to DB converters:

https://www.rapidtables.com/electric/dBW.html#calculator
https://www.electrical4u.net/calculator/convert-watt-to-mw-kw-mw-gw-dbm-dbw-calculator/

Basically, @ 1meter a 100W amp will provide 20db of gain, so a speaker with a sensitivity of 87db in theory will produce a max (pre-clip) output of 107 db at one meter.
A 300W amp will give you +24.8 of gain, so going to 300W will get you an extra 4.8 db of output raising to 111.8 db output.

Benchmark explains in much more (and better!) detail:

https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/speaker-efficiency-and-amplifier-power

 

[RichB]

Check out these watt to DB converters:

https://www.rapidtables.com/electric/dBW.html#calculator
https://www.electrical4u.net/calculator/convert-watt-to-mw-kw-mw-gw-dbm-dbw-calculator/

Basically, @ 1meter a 100W amp will provide 20db of gain, so a speaker with a sensitivity of 87db in theory will produce a max (pre-clip) output of 107 db at one meter.
A 300W amp will give you +24.8 of gain, so going to 300W will get you an extra 4.8 db of output raising to 111.8 db output.

Benchmark explains in much more (and better!) detail:

https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/speaker-efficiency-and-amplifier-power

Yes, at 8 Ohms the gain is difference is 4.7 dB,
At 4 Ohms, the AHB2 is 180 wpc and the typical 300 amp is 450 wpc, the difference is now a little over 1.5 dB. Not earth shattering.

- Rich

 

[al2002]

4 dB actually.

Yes, at 8 Ohms the gain is difference is 4.7 dB,
At 4 Ohms, the AHB2 is 180 wpc and the typical 300 amp is 450 wpc, the difference is now a little over 1.5 dB. Not earth shattering.

- Rich

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

4 dB actually.

Lots of splaining.

 

[al2002]

Sorry, I don’t understand. Please explain what you mean..

Lots of splaining.

 

[fraa]

Thanks everyone for a lot of input. I think I am going to buy f206 or f208 but the question is which.
It seems as if more expensive Revels are going to disappear from Japan, seeing that newer Be models are already completely gone from the market and only some color of f206 and f208 are sold by only one merchant.
Anyway, I'll let you all know once I got a pair.

Alas, I just found out that all the Revels are sold out. Apparently the system at the sole merchant with them was malfunctioning. I finally made up my mind to buy f208 and found this out.

Now I am looking at KEF R7...

 

[amirm]

Now I am looking at KEF R7

If you do, and are in US, have one come my way for measurements.

But yes, availability of Revel products is very poor. To know if there is real stock, dealer must contact Harman and check and double check. Orders need to be put in immediately or stock changes.

 

[steve59]

I was going to suggest that if you’re really pining for the f208 to search the net.

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

Alas, I just found out that all the Revels are sold out. Apparently the system at the sole merchant with them was malfunctioning. I finally made up my mind to buy f208 and found this out.

Now I am looking at KEF R7...

If you do, and are in US, have one come my way for measurements.

+1 pls.

 

[MarkS]

If you do, and are in US

He's in Japan.

 

[fraa]

Yes, I am in Japan. Sorry about the confusion. While I would love a review of R7 here, I don't think I can help.
I plan to go to the KEF showroom here in Tokyo to actually listen to R5, R7, and R11 in September. I've found some local dealers, too.
Other suggestions are welcome but probably off topic in this thread.

 

[fraa]

I was going to suggest that if you’re really pining for the f208 to search the net.

I did. But there seems really no f208s or f206s left in the entire country. I also contacted a few online dealers in the US and Canada but they all say they can't ship to Japan due to their contract with Revel. I can hope some used ones pop up; but seeing that Revel seems to be pulling out of the country, they probably didn't sell too many.

 

[Nightlord]

While some dealers say speakers should be the least expensive component and it sounds like marketing bs, I found most 5 figure speakers have extreme amplifier requirements if they’re going to perform as advertised.

Best advice I can give - stop listening to/trusting dealers.

 

[steve59]

Best advice I can give - stop listening to/trusting dealers.

I was merely repeating things I’ve read . When it comes to believing... my dad gave me solid advice regarding that many moons ago.

 

[al2002]

In the US Salons and 328s are out of stock. I was told that the next shipment was pre-sold.

Anyone know if the 207/208/226/228 are also out of stock

Edit: As of now the Salon2 is not officially discontinued. The Studio 2 is. Reading the tea leaves, it may be only a matter of time before the Salon2 is discontinued too.

 

[Ron Texas]

Supply chain disruptions are the norm these days.

 

[Rottmannash]

One can call TJ @ 615-593-1037. He can tell you if they have stock.

 

[al2002]

I’m not in the market, but others might find this contact info useful.

 

[Dgob]

I have been fascinated by comparisons between the Revel 228 Be and the open baffle designs (especially the Spatial Audio X5). Having just bought the F208's new, I was nearly convinced that the performance of Revel speakers were like 'drinking warm cocoa'. I assume this analogy aimed to suggest that they are not dynamic and even boring. That was the phrase used to compare them to the X5's and it did spring to mind when I brought them home and began playing them on a single Benchmark AHB2 amplifier.

That was before a friend suggested I run them on mono blocks. Well, I bought a second and now run them on two Benchmark AHB2 power amps in bridged mono. The difference is huge. Better attack, bass extension, imaging, sound stage, detail and tonality. The speakers definitely like power and boy do they reward that gift. I suspect this will be the same regarding the F208's successors, the 228 Be's.