Revel F328Be Speaker Review

[YSC]

really nice speaker, but tbh it seems less smooth on axis and the bass don't dig as deep and roll off even compared to a 8030/8040? from speakers like the Adam T8V measurement which goes so low I didn't expect a floorstander with a few 8" woofer to roll off in bass this quick

 

[richard12511]

Many of the cost no object reference designs from the past had woofers both above and below the mid/tweeters. They obviously get pretty tall however.

Think Duntech Sovereign
View attachment 92655

Jamo Oriel
View attachment 92656

Dynaudio Consequence
View attachment 92657

Why is the tweeter so low on that last one? I guess it matters less if you sit back far enough. Similarly, the tweeter on this speaker is too high. I suppose it’s assumed that they won’t be used near field.

 

[restorer-john]

Why is the tweeter so low on that last one? I guess it matters less if you sit back far enough.

Few speakers have left such a lasting impression on me than those Dynaudio Consequences. I think it was the mid 80s when I heard them at an audio show. They were about $15,000pr at the time IIRC. They were just amazing and re-scaled domestic loudspeaker reproduction for me going forward.

Never heard a pair of Jamo Oriels, but their 707ii and 507a and the Concert V/VII of the early 90s were based on that research and design. Internal twin woofers to about 120Hz, ports and bass/mid/treble front facing. Low distortion designs where the woofers are true woofers, not trying to do midrange as well. This Revel has what appear to be woofers, mid woofer, midrange and treble and also very low distortion.

There are also plenty of speakers where the woofer sits above the tweeter in small bookshelf designs. Think older Mission, Jamo etc.

 

[BYRTT]

Interestingly, the measurements show little ripples in frequency response throughout the midrange and low-to-mid treble, just like Stereophile's measurements of the F228Be. here

They're probably far too small to be audible. But they're puzzling nonetheless. Anybody have any explanations for them?

It may be due to ports and woofers.....

My guess or input on subject is phenomen is related to transducers material and geometry is optimized to perform as high SPL sensitivity as possible within a tiny little threshold limit before those optimations cost on linearity performance front, transducers operating into that high sensitivity limit is often bit more nervous seen as micro ripples as a cost, measurements seems resolute and catch this stuff but not shure human ear will notice anything as its told to resolute as a 1/6 smoothing or REW's psychoacoustic smoothing.

Great thank the number 100 review Amir, pity back then you was in a hurry so F208 missed get the listening test but okay they probably sounded close the same ..

 

[Chromatischism]

I don't know...the measurements don't wow me that much. They look jagged.

 

[bobbooo]

Thanks for the 100 Klippel NFS speaker measurements!

Where's the panther @amirm?

It's a Revel, so it's pretty much guaranteed to get a golfing panther due to fervent non-objective fanboyism

 

[ROOSKIE]

Always bugged me:

All towers have different heights.

Here is the Reference line from KEF:

Across some lineups:

Well notice how with KEF the midrange/tweeter stays around the same height vs getting higher and higher.

 

[ROOSKIE]

I don't know...the measurements don't wow me that much. They look jagged.

Likely due to multiple drivers. This is normal for that arrangement. It will sound smooth and helps fill in interference modes and reflections.

 

[Ron Texas]

Thanks for the 100 Klippel NFS speaker measurements!

It's a Revel, so it's pretty much guaranteed to get a golfing panther due to fervent non-objective fanboyism

That's not nice and I want my panther!

 

[ROOSKIE]

Yeah, I went back and looked at the 8341 review, and it is a bit better. Odd that the Genelec extends deeper, I assume some of that is just dsp? The Revel also has a wider beamwidth, which some might prefer.

Dsp. No passive can equal a top tier DSP . that said just use some room eq and DSP with these to tailor even further.
Still impressed by the KEF R3 measurement for a top passive and would love to see a R series or even KEF Refrence series floorstander on these pages.

 

[Chromatischism]

Going off this, is there a reason more manufacturers don't stack woofers above the tweeter to match the woofers below? I know JTR does it with their biggest towers, but for the most part it seems that designers just put woofers below the tweeter. Is it just for aesthetics? Or are there dispersion consequences for doing that?

You may already know this, but the further you get from a boundary (in this case the floor), the more constructive and destructive interference you'll see in the bass. If you want to eliminate them all, take your planned crossover (looks like they have the bass drivers going through the 200-300 Hz range and crossing at about 210) and calculate the max distance off the floor before running into interference within the bandwidth of those drivers.

Cancellation always occurs at ¼ the wavelength from your wall, regardless of the phase of the wave hitting the wall.

Why? Because a quarter wavelength from your wall, the total travel difference (for a wave reflecting back on itself) is half a wavelength. This means the reflected and direct sound are 180 degrees out of phase.

http://arqen.com/acoustics-101/speaker-placement-boundary-interference/

Also like others said...their lawyers probably don't like top-heavy speakers

 

[wwenze]

Going off this, is there a reason more manufacturers don't stack woofers above the tweeter to match the woofers below? I know JTR does it with their biggest towers, but for the most part it seems that designers just put woofers below the tweeter. Is it just for aesthetics? Or are there dispersion consequences for doing that?

You have to keep the sound-emitting sources close together w.r.t. to the wavelength, or you get destructive interference.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Distortion seems to be the missing piece in the Olive preference score (and its resultant effect on clean SPL).

 

[Newman]

Thanks Amir great to see a high-end speaker tested. Being a Revel the results and impressions are what I expected.

Can’t help feeling it is terrible value in terms of sound alone. This sonic performance should be available for 1/4 the outlay. And I guess it is — Genelec, Neumann....

$12,000 for beautification....

Not buying the subjectively super-integrated bass. Can’t see any reason not to get the same from sub-sat. Also pure luck if the bass sounds that good without bespoke room EQ. DSP of bass should bring potential improvements, and freedom to place subs in ideal locations should expand on that.

cheers

 

[stunta]

Thank you @amirm, especially for the extra effort towards a listening test.

100 speaker reviews! Wow does this mean you've been averaging one every 3 days this year? Even paid reviewers don't go at this rate I think.

 

[Chromatischism]

Can’t help feeling it is terrible value in terms of sound alone. This sonic performance should be available for 1/4 the outlay. And I guess it is — Genelec, Neumann....

$12,000 for beautification....

Well, it is beautiful, but it's also output that you're paying for. These are THX capable, whereas I wouldn't say so with the others.

 

[richard12511]

I don't know...the measurements don't wow me that much. They look jagged.

I tend to view those really small jaggies as not very audible, especially if they're low in magnitude(like they are here), but perhaps I'm wrong to do so. There are a lot of them here, though, for sure.

What could be causing that? Is it possible that it's the extra 1000 measurement points Amir took for this speaker? Comparing it to the F208, it's really interesting. They have almost the exact same low Q peaks/dips. The only difference seems to be that the F328Be also has a bunch of really tiny high Q peaks/dips within those low Q peaks/dips that it shares with the F208.

For example, compare the areas circled in red on the left and right images, then compare the areas circled in blue. Look at the broad(low Q) peaks and valleys, where they are, and how deep/high they are. If you ignore all the high Q jaggies of the graph on the left, it's almost like you're looking at the exact same speaker. The image on the left - to me - looks like a higher resolution copy of the image on the right. Is it possible that all the extra jagginess(and most of the lower Olive score) is attributable to the extra measurements that Amir took for this speaker?

After all, these speakers do share a lot of the same attributes, with the main difference being the Be tweeter.

Bass is different, for sure, and that's actually the biggest difference I notice(if I'm ignoring the higher resolution peaks/dips on the left). Weirdly, the F208 seems to have noticeably better bass. The bass on the F328Be seems kinda lackluster, considering the speakers size and price.

In summary, I do see the 328 as the better speaker, but just barely. To my eyes, you're basically buying an F208 clone with lower distortion.
Is it worth 2x the price? From a value perspective, probably not, but such is the nature of diminishing returns. That last 5% of performance is always the most expensive.

 

[Valentin R]

Congratulations 100th review
And a great Speaker
Thanks for this effort

 

[Brent71]

I will personally drive to your location and free you garage from the pair .. COVID be damned! You won't owe me a cent nor will I to you...

There's only one.

I purchased a single unit

 

[tktran303]

The problem is in-room bass response can’t be fully characterised by an anechoic chamber, or the Klippel NFS.

Your ears/body need to be in room...

I bet the bass is spectacular and these wiggly lines can’t show it.

A large fully integrated 3 or 4 way speaker Just sounds like a large fully integrated 3 or 4 way speaker. If you know what I mean (heard)