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Revel C763L In-ceiling Speaker Review

Rate this speaker:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 60 50.0%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 49 40.8%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 11 9.2%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    120

rvsixer

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They do not do critical listening in that room, it is the living room with a kitchen bar & wide open kitchen/dining room open floor plan. If any critical listening where to occur, that would happen in the separate, closed off from the rest of the house, compute room (designated on the floor plan as a bedroom).
This is a husband & wife who are retired, never had nor wanted children, but love to stay busy and have better than average sound.
That they have managed to do.
Still wondering how any of this fits into this review thread or applies to my post...but very glad your friends have managed happiness with no kids and enjoy the full in-ceiling 5.x surround system.
 

Steve Dallas

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Interesting.

I have another variation on the angled design as my top middle Atmos speakers, the Polk 70-RT.

81AfX2lvMrL._AC_SL1500_.jpg


The instructions do not include any orientation information, so I installed them just in front of the sofa, in line with the arm rests, and pointed the midrange toward the MLP. Audyssey's average measured response looks like this:

Screenshot_20230207_210559_MultEQ.jpg



Screenshot_20230207_210605_MultEQ.jpg


So, we have a similar response above 1K. I just let Audyssey have its way with these and they sound fine for adding overhead ambience and effects, I suppose. I am tempted to rotate them 180 degrees and remeasure just to see if there is any meaningful difference.
 
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amirm

amirm

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I have another variation on the angled design as my top middle Atmos speakers, the Polk 70-RT.
They cost $200. If someone splits the cost with me, I can buy and measure it. Without angled drivers, it should be much easier to quantify its performance.
 

Steve Dallas

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They cost $200. If someone splits the cost with me, I can buy and measure it. Without angled drivers, it should be much easier to quantify its performance.
The stock photos do not show it well, but the midrange is angled at maybe 30 degrees. I took a photo of one of mine:

20230214_201339.jpg


About twice a year, these go on sale for $99. When I built my house in 2018, I purchased 2 of these and 4x 65-RT in walls for surrounds for $600 total. They are fine as noisemakers and make the wifey happy by being out of the way and painted to match the walls / ceiling.
 

EJ3

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It’s a large city things to reduce smog.
Yes, I understand.
Been in cities (in other countries) with as many as 38 million.
In cities like that, most live in apartments and forests, wildlife are very low on the problem list for good reason.
I think that (from an environmental look), air pollution (both indoor & outdoor) is the #1 problem. Unless it is not a modern city.
Having a 'no visible' emissions" rule (not for cooking, although I have seen some pretty Smokey restaurant cooking that I believe could still be done with high heat and /or flame that would be able to have the smoke captured); for ICE vehicles (thinking of people who don't take care of their older cars, [I would never want to ban older cars, I believe in recycling by keeping stuff out of the trash/recycling stream as much as possible]).
But, if an engine is so wore out that it is emitting visible emissions, it needs to come off the road until that is fixed.
Also, other people who modify their diesels to "roll coal" smoking as much as possible (you can make massive power & get great economy without generating visible smoke).
And 2 stroke mopeds (that don't smoke when running synthetic lubricant's at 80-100:1 ratios [this is a terrible problem in Bangkok]).
The electrification of the transportation system (particularly busses & light rail) is massively helpful.
There will still be pollution (and/or environmental destruction) at the point where the power is made, no matter what.
But it can be mitigated to a large extent (usually much better than concentrated in one area).
 

EJ3

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Still wondering how any of this fits into this review thread or applies to my post...but very glad your friends have managed happiness with no kids and enjoy the full in-ceiling 5.x surround system.
Not in-ceiling. All wiring was done so that it goes on the inside of the ceiling until it gets to the speaker. So visual disruption to others that are in home (the significant other, friends, etc.) is virtually non-existent.
The relation ship (my viewpoint, anyway): is that they were able to put a sound system up high that sounds pretty good. So speakers on or about the ceiling can be made to sound pretty good and do what one wants them to do.
So that leaves the question of how each person defines "pretty good" and would it meet your standard of that.
I think that if they succeeded at (my definition of "pretty good") that they would also succeed at my definition of "pretty good" ATMOS should they desire to do so.
I am sure that they are not the only ones who can do this. Therefore, other people, including you, should be able to succeed at "pretty good" or better ATMOS.
On the other hand, I may be wrong and you and others might not be capable of succeeding at pretty good anything.
But I put it politely out there as an example of some on ceiling speakers that managed to be set up in a way that met the peoples expectations of what they were doing.
In the hopes of inspiring others that it can be successfully done.
Maybe, in your case, what is visually on the floor doesn't matter. To many it does (and to some, so much that it is not possible for them to accept that the better sound is worth having things on the floor.
Perhaps this does not pertain to you. You do not seem to be borderline on these things.
Many here are here because they are learning (and not necessarily thigs that are as advanced as ATMOS).
But some are and might see the connection and think "Hey, I can do that". And still have things so that others in my life won't say negatives about about all this stuff on the floor.
Just as Steve Dallas mentions in the last line of post # 45.
 

AndreaT

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Decades of research have been spent to improve the source, the amplification, the speakers. Now that we finally have a ruler flat FR and inaudible distortion in the source, amplification, and almost, through speakers, the curved ball of in-ceiling speakers messes up our hard reached Nirvana for reproduced Music. While the wife and friends acceptance factor improves by hiding wires and speakers, the sound does not. When I experimented with 5.1 surround I was left unimpressed and my final take is this: to possibly obtain an acceptable result with 5.1 you must design a listening room from scratch and spend North of $ 50k for acoustic design of size, walls, absorbers, diffusers, measurements (by whom, btw?) and maybe reach a truly valuable emotional experience for critical listening. I am also left wondering what is the golden reference for surround? Sitting in the middle of a Symphonic Orchestra, between the strings and the brass players? I wonder if the same thoughts apply to the un-natural set up of Music coming from the ceiling in a 2.1 or 5.1 or even higher order system. So, I greatly appreciate the review, but until something truly revolutionary appears on the market, in-ceiling sources are a pass for me.
 

EJ3

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When I experimented with 5.1 surround I was left unimpressed and my final take is this: to possibly obtain an acceptable result with 5.1 you must design a listening room from scratch and spend North of $ 50k for acoustic design of size, walls, absorbers, diffusers, measurements (by whom, btw?) and maybe reach a truly valuable emotional experience for critical listening. I am also left wondering what is the golden reference for surround?
Yes, in the 70's I had quad for a while, in 1990 I had 5.2 surround for about a year & a half. And went back to 2.2. Naturally, there have been improvements In recent times, but, I too, continue to be underwhelmed by what I would consider reasonably priced surround sound systems.
I had my 2.2 system down very well, until I moved into a newer 1964 excellence (even by todays standards) to 1968 mediocre standards of 1968. But a lot of work has brought it up. Yet, the room designs are not helpful at all in the audio realm (or in most other respects too). So even the 2.2 done well quest has started anew. Much less anything more chalenging.
 

KxDx

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We don't all live in Nort America. It certainly makes me uncomfortable when I see a US home renovation TV-Show and they finish a beautiful interior with a 65" TV hanging slightly below the ceiling.
Part of our home renovation package when we bought our house was gutting the fireplace and putting a wall over it. Zero regrets.
 

anphex

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martijn86

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Makes a lot of sense to mount the TV that way if you happen to have a dental chair in your living room.

c2270581e68dddc00816bafa11f62c0a.jpg
I know you're joking but I know of several people who tried to make a lounge area where a projector or a TV is mounted at 45° and you're supposed to be gaming or watching movies while lying down. It only sounded like a good idea in their head but it worked for none of them. I get that there is a personal preference (center of the TV at eye-level, top 1/3 line at eye-level) but the majority of the TV on the top half of the wall is only acceptable in a sports bar.
 
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thewas

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Ah this point you can just get a full range chassis and slap it into the wall. With FIR EQ it would probably be a state of the art in-wall speaker. For half of the price. Or even less. I actually looked it up.


This one with FIR and sub is probably all you'll ever need.
It won't sound the same like a tilted driver though as for example if you equalise it to the be flat at a 45° angle the 0° and also reverberant sound field (early reflections and sound power) will be quite treble heavy.
 

RichB

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I have a friend that has all of his 5.1 speakers (except the sub) mounted on locations of the ceiling that he sussed out when building the house many years ago.
They work very well.
They are on some kind of adjustable gimble mount.
The speakers are of the Mirage brand but I do not know what model # they are.
If the ones you are setting up for ATMOS work as well as his do for his setup, you'll be happy.
I have 4 Revel M20s and a C20 mounted about at about 8 feet angled down.
The sound is very much like a cinema where the speakers are above the listener.

I never really got to why cinemas needed above and more above sound.

My main system is 5.2 with 4 Revel Salon2s (front and rear) and a Voice2 center.
The Salon2s are high enough to be at each level and unobstructed, when seated.
The Voice2 is mounted above the screen angled down.

Some sound tracks put out serial bass from the surrounds.
IMAX and the new Dirac ARC may be able to take advantage of these full range surrounds.

Installing 2 to 4 overhead whizzers holds little attraction for me, especially after seeing the measurements.

- Rich
 

stevenswall

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Thanks for the review.

I’m really want to see someone send in Kef’s Meta in-wall/in-ceiling architectural speaker.

Ci250RRM-THX​


Agreed. Seems like the in ceiling placement and angling or not would be more forgiving with a coaxial speaker... It's hard to wrap my head around why companies like Revel and JBL avoid them so much for in ceiling and in wall speakers where they could shine.
 

Toxmarz

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Ouch, that's pushing it to a point where even someone who couldn't care less about audio can tell you that your backwall is quite "reflective".
On another note, I tend to forget about fireplace considerations. My city has banned wood burning for almost a decade. Is it still something common in the rest of the world?
Well if they ban wood burning, it doesn't make the fireplace disappear. You just can't burn in it anymore.
 

EJ3

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@amirm

Even with limited dispersion angle, wouldn't these be superior to a reflected height speaker? For example, the one on top of the Klipsch RP-8060 FA II that fires at an angle to the ceiling, relying on the bounce to the seating position? Or are those types scattered enough to have a wider cone?

I'm planning a new from scratch basement home theater in the fall and was just starting look at this kind of thing.

The limited directivity of the Revel, if targeted correctly, seems like it would be superior, especially since I don't have a smooth ceiling (yet).
Is it 'possible' that a 'popcorn' like ceiling helps disperse the sound? I have heard of this 'subjectively' happening with 'flocking' (like in a jewelry box) applied to the front speaker mounting board facing the room.
Whether it is true or not remains for someone to do with a baffle board and speaker mounted to it. How would a 'flocked' or 'popcorned' baffle board affect the measured sound?
I have never seen any measurements on this done, although I have seen it done (and heard speakers that it has been done to [which subjectively sounded fine to me but I don't know what they would have sounded like to me before that was done]) with 'flocking' on the so called 'monkey coffin' style of speaker.
It is said to have a similar effect as rounding the edges.
Does anyone have any measurements on this?
 

GWolfman

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Interesting speaker. Glad the small size doesn’t kill it, but the trough is in a pretty critical frequency range.

Thanks Amir for the extra efforts in measuring this odd duckling.
 
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