Revel F208 Tower Speaker Review

[Lsc]

I have no problems believing and accepting that f228be is better speaker than f208 and I wish I could afford it or at least had a chance to listen to it. My mere point was f208 does not give me fatigue unless on problematic records that is

I understand. I did a little test with this - listened to music for about 4 hours at my buddy’s house at loud volumes at times that generated zero listening fatigue - he has the salons. But at home with the F208 there was some listening fatigue. The tweeter imho has a little bit of graininess in the F208 that isn’t there with the beryllium tweeters. So there was probably some less than perfect recording thrown in which is probably realistic.
Also just in general I don’t think the F228Be is rational upgrade fo the F208. I was irrational in my upgrade choice which is also common among audiophiles.

 

[jaykay77]

Sooo...maybe no need to move up the revel chain...

Finally hooked up my (for sale) F208's to a very special to me denon pra 2000RG and to my benchmark ahb2...no subwoofer.

All i can say is it's a different way of hearing music...this preamp is making the magic happen with this combination.

Call it placebo, but i've had plenty of equipment in my life to know when I hear something special.

The dac is just a basic schiit that's super clean...in fact all of my stuff is super low noise - and it creates a very special sound...the benchmark's ability to play level across the spectrum up until clipping is big deal.

And...I can clip the amp fairly easily with bass heavy rock, etc... on these big revels with no subwoofer's help...so I WISH benchmark would make this amp in a 250 x 2 version! Holy smokes they'd have zero competition.

previously, this amp was hooked up to my denon and i was using audyssey. It's great. excellent for movies. But - let me just tell you, a fancy preamp sure did make things prettier sounding for stereo listening, audyssey be damned.

Just a purely subjective review, utilizing eqpuipment that looks pretty good objectively.

Cheers!

JKT

 

[jaykay77]

I understand. I did a little test with this - listened to music for about 4 hours at my buddy’s house at loud volumes at times that generated zero listening fatigue - he has the salons. But at home with the F208 there was some listening fatigue. The tweeter imho has a little bit of graininess in the F208 that isn’t there with the beryllium tweeters. So there was probably some less than perfect recording thrown in which is probably realistic.
Also just in general I don’t think the F228Be is rational upgrade fo the F208. I was irrational in my upgrade choice which is also common among audiophiles.

I think you need to consider the ancillary equipment...it's never JUST about the speakers...my bet is that if you swapped your F208's into his rig, you'd experience 90% of the sound of the salon's and no fatigue...

 

[Lsc]

I think you need to consider the ancillary equipment...it's never JUST about the speakers...my bet is that if you swapped your F208's into his rig, you'd experience 90% of the sound of the salon's and no fatigue...

Back then we had the same pre/pro and amplifier. And it’s pretty much the speaker unless someone has a really bad receiver- which doesn’t apply to most of us who have the F208 or other comparable speakers.

One of the main reasons why I made my irrational decision was due to the zero listening fatigue that the lower distortion beryllium tweeter provides. But if the F208 has no listening fatigue to others, that’s excellent...just saved a lot of money. We are splitting hairs here anyway, the F208 is a great speaker and the F228Be is marginally better in absolute terms but that margin makes all the difference in the listening experience to me. It certainly isn’t the looks as to why I upgraded.

 

[RichB]

Back then we had the same pre/pro and amplifier. And it’s pretty much the speaker unless someone has a really bad receiver- which doesn’t apply to most of us who have the F208 or other comparable speakers.

One of the main reasons why I made my irrational decision was due to the zero listening fatigue that the lower distortion beryllium tweeter provides. But if the F208 has no listening fatigue to others, that’s excellent...just saved a lot of money. We are splitting hairs here anyway, the F208 is a great speaker and the F228Be is marginally better in absolute terms but that margin makes all the difference in the listening experience to me. It certainly isn’t it looks as to why I upgraded.

Perhaps not cost effective, but definitely rational.

- Ridh

 

[restorer-john]

so I WISH benchmark would make this amp in a 250 x 2 version! Holy smokes they'd have zero competition.

Buy yourself the Denon POA-3000Z to match your PRA-2000RG, sell the little Benchmark and be done with it. The 3000Z easily puts outs 275W continuous at 8R both channels driven at around 0.004%.

There's just no comparison in sheer power, gorgeous looks and build (all 30kg of it). Even the window over those big meters is nearly an inch thick bevelled edge glass recessed into the front panel. The power and speaker switches are solid aluminium. There's 4 90V 30,000uF caps inside and an enormous toroid. 8 (2x4 paralleled) output devices per channel. That's how Denon built power amps, 30 years ago.

 

[jaykay77]

Buy yourself the Denon POA-3000Z to match your PRA-2000RG, sell the little Benchmark and be done with it. The 3000Z easily puts outs 275W continuous at 8R both channels driven at around 0.004%.

There's just no comparison in sheer power, gorgeous looks and build (all 30kg of it). Even the window over those big meters is nearly an inch thick bevelled edge glass recessed into the front panel. The power and speaker switches are solid aluminium. There's 4 90V 30,000uF caps inside and an enormous toroid. 8 (2x4 paralleled) output devices per channel. That's how Denon built power amps, 30 years ago.

View attachment 133683

I’m looking for one

Know anyone?

There is one in Japan but not so sure about a transaction like that...

 

[restorer-john]

There is one in Japan but not so sure about a transaction like that...

The Japanese home market units are all 100V. Go for an EU (220/120V switchable) or world multivoltage unit if you are in one of those markets.

Stepdown 120 to 100V tx/formers are no fun for an amp that size.

 

[jaykay77]

The Japanese home market units are all 100V. Go for an EU (220/120V switchable) or world multivoltage unit if you are in one of those markets.

Stepdown 120 to 100V tx/formers are no fun for an amp that size.

If you have any tips on where to find one, let me know. I'm in Florida, USA

 

[restorer-john]

If you have any tips on where to find one, let me know. I'm in Florida, USA

Put a search into ebay for one in the US, save it and wait for the emails

Plenty in Japan (scroll down):
https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=Denon+POA-3000Z&_sacat=0&rt=nc&LH_PrefLoc=2

 

[McFly]

@restorer-john your numerous vintage amp musings convinced me to pick up a used Perreaux SA2/2150B combo. Boy am I glad I did. Its high time I bought a vintage piece from my homeland anyway. Bit of tx hum, no problem to me, but a high -110mV dc offset in one channel to sort out

@amirm quick question for you, the F208 woofer crossover is 270hz, why does this measurement suggest 470ish? Perhaps due to nearfield 1x woofer measurement and dual woofer output summing?

 

[restorer-john]

@restorer-john your numerous vintage amp musings convinced me to pick up a used Perreaux SA2/2150B combo. Boy am I glad I did. Its high time I bought a vintage piece from my homeland anyway. Bit of tx hum, no problem to me, but a high -110mV dc offset in one channel to sort out

Do you have a copy of the S/M? If not, PM me with an email address as the file is too big to attach to ASR's PMs. I can scan the original brochure I picked up at an Audio Show in 1985 if you want a copy.

Awesome, awesome amplifier. Watch the power switch- they fail due to the huge switch on currents.

https://www.perreaux.com/about/perreaux-history

 

[Laserjock]

Updated using new data on 5/19/21

Preference Rating
SCORE: 6.6
SCORE w/ sub: 7.7

What were the original scores?

 

[Pio]

What were the original scores?

original was:

Preference Rating
SCORE: 6.1
SCORE w/ sub: 8.2

1st test:
https://pierreaubert.github.io/spinorama/Revel F208/ASR/index_asr-v1-20200508.html

2nd test:
https://pierreaubert.github.io/spinorama/Revel F208/ASR/index_asr-v2-20210519.html

 

[Sluraad]

What is the generally recommendation for a good amp size to pair with the F206/F208? A hypex 252 125w@8 / 250w@4? Or the 502 250w@8 version?

 

[amirm]

@amirm quick question for you, the F208 woofer crossover is 270hz, why does this measurement suggest 470ish? Perhaps due to nearfield 1x woofer measurement and dual woofer output summing?

I don't know, I just work here.

 

[Laserjock]

What is the generally recommendation for a good amp size to pair with the F206/F208? A hypex 252 125w@8 / 250w@4? Or the 502 250w@8 version?

How big is your space? Sub/subs or no?

 

[Sluraad]

How big is your space? Sub/subs or no?

I have a sub. The size of the home theater is about 16 wide with the couch about 12 beyond from the front wall, but the kitchen opens behind that and there are hallways on the right side, so its not a sealed room. I'm getting great performance with my X3700h but I know that is going to just barely cover the power needs and I'm wondering what a good upgrade would look like

 

[symphara]

I listened to the Revel F208 when I went speaker shopping for a second location.

They’re precise to be sure, but I thought them a bit unexciting and overly polite.

Beyond the sound though, I have to totally disagree with @amirm on aesthetics. I thought they were probably the ugliest towers I’ve seen, particularly in walnut (the colour the dealer had in stock). They imparted no feeling of luxury to me, but more like really old fashioned furniture.

 

[jaykay77]

I listened to the Revel F208 when I went speaker shopping for a second location.

They’re precise to be sure, but I thought them a bit unexciting and overly polite.

Beyond the sound though, I have to totally disagree with @amirm on aesthetics. I thought they were probably the ugliest towers I’ve seen, particularly in walnut (the colour the dealer had in stock). They imparted no feeling of luxury to me, but more like really old fashioned furniture.

I totally agree with you about the sound...no matter what I did, I couldnt fall in love with them - But i do think they are gorgeous to look at!

I just got my special 40's hooked up last night and I'm in love with my system again and more than ever - I'm wondering why i ever even tried to cheat on dynaudio...