Revel F208 Tower Speaker Review

[Soundstage]

A couple of measurements with MMM.... Among other issues I am concerned by the dip at 2khz followed by the bump at 3khz.
Left speaker

Right speaker:

Left + Right:

All combined:

Do you you think Dirac would do good job here?

 

[richard12511]

View attachment 81187

A couple of measurements with MMM.... Among other issues I am concerned by the dip at 2khz followed by the bump at 3khz.
Left speaker
View attachment 81182
Right speaker:
View attachment 81183
Left + Right:
View attachment 81184

All combined:
View attachment 81185

Do you you think Dirac would do good job here?

Are you able to add treatments? Are you able to experiment with different speaker/mlp placement? Do you use subs, and if not, can you?

Dirac will certainly help, but I doubt it’s capable of completely fixing many of those dips. The options I presented above are (IMO)what will best fix the issues seen here. Dirac can then be used to dial everything in perfectly. The good news is that you have exceptional speakers, so you know for sure that your problems are room related.

 

[TimVG]

View attachment 81187

A couple of measurements with MMM.... Among other issues I am concerned by the dip at 2khz followed by the bump at 3khz.
Left speaker
View attachment 81182
Right speaker:
View attachment 81183
Left + Right:
View attachment 81184

All combined:
View attachment 81185

Do you you think Dirac would do good job here?

Could you use a 40 or 50dB scale please?

 

[Absolute]

A couple of measurements with MMM.... Among other issues I am concerned by the dip at 2khz followed by the bump at 3khz.
Left speaker

Right speaker:

Left + Right:


All combined:


Do you you think Dirac would do good job here?

First of all, I love your room! Second, I hate the unsymmetrical placement of the TV-bench!
I wonder if it's the closer proximity to the left speaker that makes up for most of the left speakers more erratic response?

Could you take near-field measurements of the speaker to confirm that it's the speaker that is responsible for the dip at 2 k?

 

[Soundstage]

Could you use a 40 or 50dB scale please?

Are you able to add treatments? Are you able to experiment with different speaker/mlp placement? Do you use subs, and if not, can you?

Dirac will certainly help, but I doubt it’s capable of completely fixing many of those dips. The options I presented above are (IMO)what will best fix the issues seen here. Dirac can then be used to dial everything in perfectly. The good news is that you have exceptional speakers, so you know for sure that your problems are room related.

I am not using subs for now, but this could be an option for future investment, but for now I'd like to make the best use of these speakers.. Yes I am experimenting with speaker/mlp position in this room, but I am reluctant to add treatments except for bookshelves.

 

[Soundstage]

Could you use a 40 or 50dB scale please?

Is this what you mean?

 

[vavan]

now you have different smoothing
anyway I have similar peak on 3kHz

 

[Soundstage]

First of all, I love your room! Second, I hate the unsymmetrical placement of the TV-bench!
I wonder if it's the closer proximity to the left speaker that makes up for most of the left speakers more erratic response?

Could you take near-field measurements of the speaker to confirm that it's the speaker that is responsible for the dip at 2 k?

Thanks. This is an attic room of 45m2, which extends nicely with similar-sized terrasse on the lakeside.
Regarding the dip, I'll do some more measurements but I bet this is related to room.

Regarding the speaker/TV placement, the speaker are located at equal distance to the sidewall. But the wooden beam prevents me from a better location of the TV...

 

[carlob]

Is this what you mean?
View attachment 81198

could you use 5dB/division please

 

[Soundstage]

could you use 5dB/division please

 

[BYRTT]

.....A couple of measurements with MMM.... Among other issues I am concerned by the dip at 2khz followed by the bump at 3khz.....

Could you use a 40 or 50dB scale please?

Soundstage's MMM of left channel normalized and overlaid to Amir's spindata, think it looks quite normal there and not so bad below 500Hz as usual seen..

 

[richard12511]

View attachment 81200

Ahhh, I didn't realize that your first graph was using 1dB increments. This looks much easier to fix . I'd say Dirac should be able to greatly improve everything above 70Hz. Fixing below 70Hz will require separate subs, but true of almost every room, and Dirac should still be able to help down there as well.

 

[Soundstage]

Ahhh, I didn't realize that your first graph was using 1dB increments. This looks much easier to fix . I'd say Dirac should be able to greatly improve everything above 70Hz. Fixing below 70Hz will require separate subs, but true of almost every room, and Dirac should still be able to help down there as well.

Thanks. I will try to move things arounds (Speaker/listening position) and report on improvements.
I need to buy a power amp as the Akitika from the picture is usually my KEF LS50 downstairs. This could be a Purifi or a cheaper Ncore 250 combined the MiniDSP Shd or a Nad M33. Then I’ll think of subwoofers, but I am afraid by the learning curve if I have to set them up properly. So I thought Dirac Live bass management would come in handy but it seems to be only available for some Preamp and maybe the NAD in the future, but not the Minidsp.

 

[richard12511]

Thanks. I will try to move things arounds (Speaker/listening position) and report on improvements.
I need to buy a power amp as the Akitika from the picture is usually my KEF LS50 downstairs. This could be a Purifi or a cheaper Ncore 250 combined the MiniDSP Shd or a Nad M33. Then I’ll think of subwoofers, but I am afraid by the learning curve if I have to set them up properly. So I thought Dirac Live bass management would come in handy but it seems to be only available for some Preamp and maybe the NAD in the future, but not the Minidsp.

Indeed. I'm waiting to buy it myself. I'll buy it when it becomes available for the minidsp, but I'm not gonna drop $3k on some preamp I don't need just to get it.

 

[samysound]

Thanks. I will try to move things arounds (Speaker/listening position) and report on improvements.
I need to buy a power amp as the Akitika from the picture is usually my KEF LS50 downstairs. This could be a Purifi or a cheaper Ncore 250 combined the MiniDSP Shd or a Nad M33. Then I’ll think of subwoofers, but I am afraid by the learning curve if I have to set them up properly. So I thought Dirac Live bass management would come in handy but it seems to be only available for some Preamp and maybe the NAD in the future, but not the Minidsp.

I too am waiting on dirac bass control. Hope that it will become available with an update to the SHD but not sure if that is even possible with the current SHD platform. As far as I know its not currently available for the NAD M33, M10 or NAD preamp either

 

[carlob]

I too am waiting on dirac bass control. Hope that it will become available with an update to the SHD but not sure if that is even possible with the current SHD platform. As far as I know its not currently available for the NAD M33, M10 or NAD preamp either

You don't need dirac bass control.
https://www.minidsp.com/applications/audio-streaming/sub-integration-with-shd

 

[samysound]

You don't need dirac bass control.
https://www.minidsp.com/applications/audio-streaming/sub-integration-with-shd

dirac bass control would require less fiddling than the doing it "manually" with the SHD control. specially if you want to use the bass capability of your main speakers in conjunction with the subwoofers to optimize low frequencies.

 

[carlob]

dirac bass control would require less fiddling than the doing it "manually" with the SHD control. specially if you want to use the bass capability of your main speakers in conjunction with the subwoofers to optimize low frequencies.

well, no. First there is nothing to do "manually" besides setting crossovers and slope and running dirac (see the guide I linked above), second using "the bass capability of your main speakers" is largely dependent on how they measure in the LF and you can find out using dirac without the subwoofer connected (if you don't want to use REW). You can separately measure your main speakers and the subwoofer and pick the best subwoofer roll-off / crossover frequency, input that in the plugin, run Dirac and you are done.

 

[Alexanderc]

well, no. First there is nothing to do "manually" besides setting crossovers and slope and running dirac (see the guide I linked above), second using "the bass capability of your main speakers" is largely dependent on how they measure in the LF and you can find out using dirac without the subwoofer connected (if you don't want to use REW). You can separately measure your main speakers and the subwoofer and pick the best subwoofer roll-off / crossover frequency, input that in the plugin, run Dirac and you are done.

If the software isn’t deciding where the crossover should be and what the slope should be, then you are doing it manually. I’m used to Audyssey where I push a button on my remote and done. I can absolutely see why a person would want to do it manually the way you have to in the MiniDSP, but it is manual control.

 

[DonH56]

IME Audyssey rarely gets the crossover correct, but changing that is not a big deal, and I would not consider that a significant "manual" concern.

Dirac Live Bass Control (I think that's what they call it now) is different from basic Dirac Live or most other room correction programs in that it uses other speakers to provide an integrated bass field in the room. For most systems that takes an extra sub or more plus a lot of tinkering with some sort of external control (miniDSP + REW being popular) to manage the subs as a unit vs. individually.