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New Revel Performa4 / Arcam Radia speaker line-up -- with Anechoic EQ

kyuu said:
Are there any plans to update the architectural lineup that you're aware of?
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Well there is the Be architectural line-up. It's only a few years old.

As I understand it they are still deliberating on updating the others. As with all things, it's driven by sales volume, and like I mentioned before, Revel has never sold as well as Harman would hope. That's part of why I'm hoping the Arcam versions really sell well in Europe - it would help justify more investment in the brand(s).
 
BobbyTimmons said:
I remember a review from you or maybe someone else who said when they first heard Kevin Voecks presenting the F36 in a demo they didn't realize it wasn't Revel's new top of the line speaker.
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That's true, it was me. My visit to Harman Academy in I think 2014 was the very first time I heard Revel. Kevin started with the F36 and my current business partner and I genuinely thought it was the flagship. The F36 was shockingly good.

It reminded me of when I first heard an Energy speaker during the 90s. As some may know, Energy was one of the first brands to adopt what was learned from Floyd's research at the NRC. I was working retail at the time and a friend brought a pair in to compare against the giant wall of speakers we sold at the A/V store I worked at. The little Energy bookshelf speaker sounded so much better that everything else we had in that room it was shocking.
 
A bit OT, but if anyone knows of one or more Revel Ultima Voice2 speakers in black for sale, please DM me.

Now that I have my base layer as Salon2’s and Studio2’s, I’m entertaining a long term goal of converting my 5 height channels over from JBL Professional SCS12’s to Voice2’s. Voice2’s in black don’t seem to pop up on the secondary market quite as often as mahogany, so it’ll take some time.
 
BobbyTimmons said:
Revel released the Concerta2 around 2015 which are some of the best designed cheap passive speakers in the world. And PerformaBe was only released in 2019 which are some of the best sounding passive speakers period.

A question is whether they will be able to keep up this high quality of design now Mark Glazer has retired and beryllium tweeters seem to be in limited supply.
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Agreed.
The Be line, specifically the M126Be intrigued me.
I really wanted to buy a pair but beyond what I could justify for the application & price.
By any measure the Ultima2 line has better driver (mid bass) & build quality than the Be line. SQ is subjective to a point
Concertas are probably the best price v performance == value.
That is an awesome feature of the heretofore Revel lineup. Multiple choices at multple levels.
IMO, options are always the best
 
John Schuermann said:
That's true, it was me. My visit to Harman Academy in I think 2014 was the very first time I heard Revel. Kevin started with the F36 and my current business partner and I genuinely thought it was the flagship. The F36 was shockingly good.

It reminded me of when I first heard an Energy speaker during the 90s. As some may know, Energy was one of the first brands to adopt what was learned from Floyd's research at the NRC. I was working retail at the time and a friend brought a pair in to compare against the giant wall of speakers we sold at the A/V store I worked at. The little Energy bookshelf speaker sounded so much better that everything else we had in that room it was shocking.
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I remember Energy speakers they were very nice and not too expensive
 
Has anybody found measurements for the f345s? I'm curious how they compare to the f226be. I'm pretty sure the be are slightly better, but I'm curious to see if it's really that noticeable considering the 345s much cheaper..
 
optrixx06 said:
Has anybody found measurements for the f345s? I'm curious how they compare to the f226be. I'm pretty sure the be are slightly better, but I'm curious to see if it's really that noticeable considering the 345s much cheaper..
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www.audiosciencereview.com

New Revel Performa4 / Arcam Radia speaker line-up -- with Anechoic EQ

I'm convinced that the Ultima line is discontinued. It's the Be line I'm most interested in Hope springs eternal for Ultima3 with me. I’m not sure if PerformaBe will coexist with Performa4 or not. From a performance perspective, Be tweeters deserve to live on, but I’ve heard there are supply...
www.audiosciencereview.com www.audiosciencereview.com
 
optrixx06 said:
Has anybody found measurements for the f345s? I'm curious how they compare to the f226be. I'm pretty sure the be are slightly better, but I'm curious to see if it's really that noticeable considering the 345s much cheaper..
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Why are you sure they better? Revel has positioned them in terms of performance and price below the 226be.

Anyway, here are the spins, from the AVS thread about them, via a dealer who received them from Samsung (ie, Harman).

One is the raw spin, and one shows the raw spin and then the EQ spin if one uses the Harman EQ.
 

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nathan said:
Why are you sure they better? Revel has positioned them in terms of performance and price below the 226be.

Anyway, here are the spins, from the AVS thread about them, via a dealer who received them from Samsung (ie, Harman).

One is the raw spin, and one shows the raw spin and then the EQ spin if one uses the Harman EQ.
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I said I'm sure the 226be is better, just wanted to know by how much. I can't stand the white drivers in the Be. I could out the grills on, but I like to see the driver's. The Be's are just fugly to me. I was hoping the 345 was not that far behind, so I can have something that sounds and looks good
 
optrixx06 said:
I said I'm sure the 226be is better, just wanted to know by how much. I can't stand the white drivers in the Be. I could out the grills on, but I like to see the driver's. The Be's are just fugly to me. I was hoping the 345 was not that far behind, so I can have something that sounds and looks good
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The on-axis response is similar enough between the two that I don't think you can conclude one is necessarily better than the other simply based on that. Both are quite neutral. The F226be does seem to have roughly 10Hz better bass extension.

It's doubtful we are going to get a full spinorama (plus other useful measurements) in the near future. Based on what we do have and Revel's history, if you like the look of the F345 I would say to go for it. Try to go through a dealer who will let you have a trial period if possible (also, if history is any guide, dealers will often be able to sell you Revel speakers for less than MSRP).
 
NanoGuidingStar said:
View attachment 543442

www.audiosciencereview.com

New Revel Performa4 / Arcam Radia speaker line-up -- with Anechoic EQ

I'm convinced that the Ultima line is discontinued. It's the Be line I'm most interested in Hope springs eternal for Ultima3 with me. I’m not sure if PerformaBe will coexist with Performa4 or not. From a performance perspective, Be tweeters deserve to live on, but I’ve heard there are supply...
www.audiosciencereview.com www.audiosciencereview.com
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What's up with that 17kHz peak. Did someone forget how to program crossovers?
 
kyuu said:
The on-axis response is similar enough between the two that I don't think you can conclude one is necessarily better than the other simply based on that. Both are quite neutral. The F226be does seem to have roughly 10Hz better bass extension.

It's doubtful we are going to get a full spinorama (plus other useful measurements) in the near future. Based on what we do have and Revel's history, if you like the look of the F345 I would say to go for it. Try to go through a dealer who will let you have a trial period if possible (also, if history is any guide, dealers will often be able to sell you Revel speakers for less than MSRP).
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The Revel F226Be bass will be noticeably superior to the Performa 4 and the highs will be smoother. If you have a Revel F226Be - there is absolutely no reason to even consider a Performa 4.
 
amper42 said:
What's up with that 17kHz peak. Did someone forget how to program crossovers?
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Crossover? What crossover is happening at 17kHz?
amper42 said:
The Revel F226Be bass will be noticeably superior to the Performa 4 and the highs will be smoother. If you have a Revel F226Be - there is absolutely no reason to even consider a Performa 4.
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Bass, maybe, although if you're running a sub then it's basically irrelevant. Smoother highs? Don't think so. The peaking above 15kHz is basically inaudible (and easily EQ'd out if it bothers your eyes).
 
kyuu said:
Crossover? What crossover is happening at 17kHz?

Bass, maybe, although if you're running a sub then it's basically irrelevant. Smoother highs? Don't think so. The peaking above 15kHz is basically inaudible (and easily EQ'd out if it bothers your eyes).
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Good points.

The crossover to the tweeter is at about 2khz, ie, handling about the top three octaves. Nowhere near 17khz which just about anyone who can afford these speakers can't hear well, anyway......

And the bass is going to depend so much more on the room and placement than the differences in anechoic response..... and anyway, if accurate bass is the goal, a set of subwoofers is going to win every time versus either of these speakers when those multiple subs are set up correctly.
 
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