Revel F206 Tower Speaker Review

[CleanSound]

Great review! Performance is excellent which begs the question what does the beryllium tweeter bring to the party besides bragging rights?

It pushes up the breakup frequency, which is a cause of distortion. The material is also very light.

But if the speaker is designed holistically to work well with non Be tweeters, it shouldn't be an issue.

From what I have gathered and read (someone please correct me if I've mistaken), the easiest tweeter material to work with are soft dome. Metal dome tweeters are a bit harder to design around, hence all the use of "exotic" materials.

 

[Beave]

The mid woofer breakup not being suppressed is a bit disappointing. I believe this driver is the SB15 aluminum, which is known for its great performance, but also a nasty breakup mode if not properly controlled with a filter.

See post #30 in this thread: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-f206-tower-speaker-review.53691/post-1943769

 

[norman bates]

I see from the first page here on the f206 that there is a peak from the mid driver at 5khz, but it is 20db down, probably not a problem.

I believe the 4-5khz is from the speaker baffle edges (diffraction), as it is also on the m106/m16 that does not use that 5" mentioned above......

You can see an up down on the f208 also in that area, also in the impedance plot, they notched it down a little......


The F206, the waterfall isn't ringing (in time) down much at all near 5khz, it would if it was a driver resonance I believe......

 

[Beave]

I see from the first page here on the f206 that there is a peak from the mid driver at 5khz, but it is 20db down, probably not a problem.

I believe the 4-5khz is from the speaker baffle edges (diffraction), as it is also on the m106/m16 that does not use that 5" mentioned above......

You can see an up down on the f208 also in that area, also in the impedance plot, they notched it down a little......


The F206, the waterfall isn't ringing (in time) down much at all near 5khz, it would if it was a driver resonance I believe......

See my post directly above yours, which references my post here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-f206-tower-speaker-review.53691/post-1943769

 

[rynberg]

As a 3-year owner, I wish that very slight in-room bump around 3 kHz wasn't there, but it is really only noticeable with poor/harsh recordings. On any half-decent or better recording, the sound is wonderfully natural in my room. I only employ room correction up to 300 Hz. It should be noted that I use a subwoofer, but I have a listening mode setup where I can just listen to the F206 (with different room correction applied for full-range operation, thanks Anthem ARC) and they sound amazing with very solid and deep bass.

 

[Sonic icons]

View attachment 362863

Pop quiz. The Revel F206 is on the left. What speaker is on the right side?

Headphones.

To be serious, deep bass harmonic distortion performance of speakers correlates well with the total area of the bass drivers. The Revel F206 has two 6.5 in (diameter) drivers for a surface area of 2(pi/4)(6.5^2) = 66 in^2, the Revel F328Be has three 8 in drivers = 3(pi/4)(8^2) = 151 in^2 so has lower bass distortion at a given dB. If this simple idea is valid, we would expect a speaker with FOUR 6.5 in drivers = 133 in^2 to have similar or slightly higher bass distortion than the Revel F328Be. Confirmed for the KEF R11 : distortion shows a peak of 2.1% at 50 Hz (96 dB / 1m).

And I believe the reason headphones, with their tiny drivers, can show lower distortion at high SPL (Amir measures headphone distortion at 94, 104, 114 dB) than big tower speakers is more efficient coupling to our ears. In other words, a much higher fraction of the total sound power goes into the listener's ear for a headphone "can" than for a tower speaker 1 m away, let alone 3 m away which is a more typical in-room listening distance.

 

[Sean Olive]

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.

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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/

My main left /right speakers in my 7.4.4 setup. I’ve thought of replacing them with 226be but they are so good it’s hard to justify.

 

[lookstoomuch]

Great review! Performance is excellent which begs the question what does the beryllium tweeter bring to the party besides bragging rights?

If the comparison is the F226be, I understand the BE version also has a different design in the midwoofer (outlined in Erin's review of the 226be) giving a larger diameter diaphram relative to the surround which increases efficiency, etc...

Or perhaps I'm just trying to justify my purchase (226be owner here). Truthfully, had I been able to find a decent used set of F206 at the right price I'd probably still have them but my current 226be used set came at a price I could justify.....these + subs is potentially end game material for me (yah right).

 

[dtaylo1066]

Those were likely the Revel PerformaBe series, but they do NOT use SB Acoustics ceramic drivers.

OK, thanks for the correction. I never mind being corrected if I state something wrong. I did say "I believe" as in appearance they looked very similar to the SBA ceramic coated aluminum drivers, which by the way are terrific drivers, as I own a few. If those are Revel's own design, sourced elsewhere, then they simply are terrific, too. Among the best I have ever heard.

 

[JSmith]

Preference scores of 6.25 and 8.

Definitely not something to dwell upon anyway, comment from another thread;

I just dipped into this thread and have a request: please, please stop putting any reliance on the calculated "scores". Learn to interpret the spinorama curves. That will have to do until we have an "educated" AI version of sound quality prediction. The ratings that were calculated by the Harman research group were done to prove a scientific point, and that done, they ceased to be used even by the people who created them. We rely on visual interpretations of the family of curves.

JSmith

 

[Short38]

Aah, make that, I'm curious if you use 100hz xover point with your subs close by whatever speakers you're using?

 

[Hans Of Matrix]

Please forgive my poor knowledge and language. I have a pair of F 206 in my living room a couple of days allready as a kind of a test. This is the first time I get to hear Revel loudspeakers in my place. The room is about 43m², with an open ceiling. The 206 are 1m away from the front wall, 2.6m between them and 1.5m from the side walls. They are toed in, their "beams" are crossing about 50cm in front of me. My MLP is 3m away from the speakers. No rug, some book shelves and "bare" furmiture, bare walls, and some thin drapes.

There are many positive attributes to their sound, compared with the ultra old B&W 802 Matrix S3 I have. (I know, their spinorama must be garbage)

My problem is, there is generally a "metallic tube-ly" quality in the sound of the Revels, something I don't get from my 802's.. The human voice, male and female suffers the most. And I came up with the toeing in because their high frequencies were very harsh for my ears in this room.

Any suggestions how to tame these problems? I don't think the speakers sound really like this, it must be the room and the surfaces.

 

[Short38]

Two things converged today:

An article in MoneyWise about the late Charlie Munger of Berkshire Hathaway wherein he observed that envy not greed made the world go round and asked “Who the hell needs a Rolex…?”

The latest issue of Stereophile has reviews of two passive loudspeakers costing multiples of the reviewed Revels. Response curves of the high priced speakers are simply odd. How can a manufacturer come up with a speaker with s**t measurements at price points north of $30K?

On a room volume adjusted basis seems like the Revels and many others at prices below $5K do the job.

 

[Rottmannash]

I was sad that back in the day you did not have time to do the listening test for f208 (which I have four), but now I feel it should be safe to extrapolate your positive listening impressions of f206 to f208

Owners of 206/208: do you use the tweeter volume dial at the back to reduce the highs? For me after bass management or even in pure direct mode on Denon AVR they are too bright and I dial down the tweeter by one click.

No-due to my age related HF hearing loss I bump them up one notch.

 

[dshreter]

THD <100Hz doesn't matter once you add a sub.

THD <100Hz may not matter if you add a sub and cross over above that frequency.

 

[Steve Dallas]

Please forgive my poor knowledge and language. I have a pair of F 206 in my living room a couple of days allready as a kind of a test. This is the first time I get to hear Revel loudspeakers in my place. The room is about 43m², with an open ceiling. The 206 are 1m away from the front wall, 2.6m between them and 1.5m from the side walls. They are toed in, their "beams" are crossing about 50cm in front of me. My MLP is 3m away from the speakers. No rug, some book shelves and "bare" furmiture, bare walls, and some thin drapes.

There are many positive attributes to their sound, compared with the ultra old B&W 802 Matrix S3 I have. (I know, their spinorama must be garbage)

My problem is, there is generally a "metallic tube-ly" quality in the sound of the Revels, something I don't get from my 802's.. The human voice, male and female suffers the most. And I came up with the toeing in because their high frequencies were very harsh for my ears in this room.

Any suggestions how to tame these problems? I don't think the speakers sound really like this, it must be the room and the surfaces.

Start by pointing them straight ahead with no toe-in. Toe them in incrementally from there. I have not worked out the degrees of toe-in for my speakers, but they are only toed in about 1/2" from corner to corner vs. the front wall. That gives me the best imaging and frequency response in my room.

 

[Lsc]

Great review! Performance is excellent which begs the question what does the beryllium tweeter bring to the party besides bragging rights?

If bragging rights is a reason for someone to own the performaBe or ultima2 speakers, that’s a horrible reason. There is a genuine performance improvement with the beryllium tweeter but it doesn’t diminish how good the performa3 F206 is.

I owned the F208 for 7 years before upgrading to the F228Be the to the salon2. The beryllium tweeters allow for listening for longer periods without any fatigue. The performaBe is more than just the beryllium tweeter though as every driver and crossover was improved resulting in more detail, power handling, dynamics and clarity. It’s a marginal but clear improvement. Having said that, the F206 / F208 is obviously a much better value. They are discontinued now so last wraps on getting them new.

The only negative thing (at least for me) was the reuse of the same cabinet…that’s a huge minus and is what motivated me to upgrade to the salon2.

 

[thewas]

That the Be version causes less fatigue can be also a result of its smoother directivity and sound power in the tonically important for such presence region, as I had written the little widening above 3 kHz can be audible:

 

[pma]

Bass extension of this speaker seems to be insufficient?

 

[Koeitje]

For €2200 (incl. 21% VAT) a piece in my country I would look at something else. I imported my M106 from the UK a while back for a bargain price (€1100 for the pair), but would never pay full price for Revel in Europe.