Revel C208 Distortion/Harshness

[ripziro]

So here’s my setup: denon x3700h (preamp rca out, audyssey xt32 flat) -> Monoprice Monolith 5x200 (rca in banana plugs out) -> revel c208 (Tweeter Switch set to 0db)

Playing movies on Apple TV 4K I notice a bit of distortion/crackling come from the revel c208 — sometimes and usually for short periods of time. It’s something I need to really squint/focus to hear, 90% of the time I don’t notice any problems. But when I do hear it, I think the effect is more obvious at higher volumes.

Has anyone experienced something like this with the revel c208 before? Am I likely to have a defective unit?

Also I may have flipped the tweeter level switch while audio was playing a few times before I realized the manual cautions against this — is this dangerous/likely to have damaged the tweeter?

 

[Dj7675]

So here’s my setup: denon x3700h (preamp rca out, audyssey xt32 flat) -> Monoprice Monolith 5x200 (rca in banana plugs out) -> revel c208 (Tweeter Switch set to 0db)

Playing movies on Apple TV 4K I notice a bit of distortion/crackling come from the revel c208 — sometimes and usually for short periods of time. It’s something I need to really squint/focus to hear, 90% of the time I don’t notice any problems. But when I do hear it, I think the effect is more obvious at higher volumes.

Has anyone experienced something like this with the revel c208 before? Am I likely to have a defective unit?

Also I may have flipped the tweeter level switch while audio was playing a few times before I realized the manual cautions against this — is this dangerous/likely to have damaged the tweeter?

Edit... Whoops I see it is a C208 and not an F208.... But the same applies regarding Audyssey flat... It isn't out of the realm of possibility for there to be a problem with the speaker though. I am using 3 C208's below my screen and I had one new one shipped new that had an issue. If you have REW, you can take a measurment of the speaker from 3 feet or so to see what the response looks like and/or measure distortion.

Before jumping to a defective tweeter... do you have the $20 audyssey app? I would first limit correction to 300-500hz. The F208 is a great measuring speaker. Audyssey flat will take your in room response from something like the estimated in room response to a flat line. It most likely will sound harsh/bright. It would be a shame to take such a great speaker and have Audyssey flat ruin it. Do give it a try. Could simply be audyssey flat ruinning it...

 

[ripziro]

Before jumping to a defective tweeter... do you have the $20 audyssey app? I would first limit correction to 300-500hz. The F208 is a great measuring speaker. Audyssey flat will take your in room response from something like the estimated in room response to a flat line. It most likely will sound harsh/bright. It would be a shame to take such a great speaker and have Audyssey flat ruin it. Do give it a try. Could simply be audyssey flat ruinning it...

View attachment 192267

Huh, never realized it was recommended to limit audyssey to 500hz. Does that mean once I limit it and send it to my receiver I should use the "Reference" curve?

Are there any other gotchas with room-correction I that could play a role here?

 

[Dj7675]

Huh, never realized it was recommended to limit audyssey to 500hz. Does that mean once I limit it and send it to my receiver I should use the "Reference" curve?

Are there any other gotchas with room-correction I that could play a role here?

I would say a very large percentage of people here would tell you not to use Audyssey flat. Whether or not you EQ the full range is a different question. With the Audyssey app, you can either limit the range of correction, or you can EQ it to a custom room curve. With that speaker I would try it without EQ over 500hz first. It should change how it sounds quite a bit. After that you might try some type of harman curve with a downward slope and see what you like better. When you use the app, you do need to use the reference curve and not flat.

 

[ripziro]

I would say a very large percentage of people here would tell you not to use Audyssey flat. Whether or not you EQ the full range is a different question. With the Audyssey app, you can either limit the range of correction, or you can EQ it to a custom room curve. With that speaker I would try it without EQ over 500hz first. It should change how it sounds quite a bit. After that you might try some type of harman curve with a downward slope and see what you like better. When you use the app, you do need to use the reference curve and not flat.

Cutting off eq at 500hz and 300hz doesn't quite seem to do it, but I tried listening to some of the same sources on a different device and I noticed similar distortion in the exact same areas that I notice it on the revel c208. So it seems that the source audio for the show I'm watching might have some anomalies, which is quite surprising. I think the revel c208 just makes those anomalies more notice-able.