Revel F328Be Speaker Review

[Valentin R]

So If one sits only 8 feet away from the speakers they are to close and would not sound good?

Not really
asked for ideal
8 ft would be ok

 

[Descartes]

Ok so minimum 10 feet otherwise what happens, better off buying the 226Be then!

 

[Descartes]

The on-axis is not bad but not outstanding.

Hello Kal,
How far do you sit from your Studio 2 also do you have five of them for multichannel music listening?

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Hello Kal,
How far do you sit from your Studio 2 also do you have five of them for multichannel music listening?

About 11-12 feet. 3 for L/C/R, 2x f206 for surrounds.

 

[RichB]

I sit 11 feet from the 4-way Salon2s, Voice2, and each sounds like a single sound source.

- Rich

 

[BrianSoCal]

My listening position with the F328Be was 9’6” and I found it to work well. With regard to cabinet design and build quality, I appreciate hearing the opinions of those who actually have them in hand especially if they can objectively compared to other speakers to provide readers with additional information to make a decision as to what speakers work best for them based upon the criteria that are important to them. While photos of speakers convey the overall design, they do not always capture the finer details and build quality.

 

[walt99]

I sit about 14' back from the 328's and they are separated by 10', they are 4 ft from side walls (the most my room will allow) and 18" from the back wall. Large long room with offset dining area and high ceilings in the living area. I am absolutely blown away by how good they sound, 2 ch music is the majority of my use then switching to HT duties later in the eve. I got the black ones and the finish/build quality is superb with zero flaws. These are an end-game speaker for me and I'm totally happy with the purchase, worth every penny! Excuse the mess, just snapped the pic.

 

[RichB]

I sit about 14' back from the 328's and they are separated by 10' but 4 ft from side walls (the most my room will allow). Large long room with offset dining area and high ceilings in the living area. I am absolutely blown away by how good they sound, 2 ch music is the majority of my use then switching to HT duties later in the eve. I got the black ones and the finish/build quality is superb with zero flaws. These are an end-game speaker for me and I'm totally happy with the purchase, worth every penny! Excuse the mess, just snapped the pic.

Are you driving the 328s with a single AHB2, if so, how does it handle them?

- Rich

 

[DonH56]

My side speakers are very close. When I asked about that a few years ago, one of the Harman gurus (Kevin? Floyd? forget...) said I only needed about two feet or maybe a little less. I was happily surprised. That may have been more for the midrange and tweeter drivers. I am about eight feet from the front LCR.

@walt99 : You have no concept of what "mess" really is...

 

[walt99]

Are you driving the 328s with a single AHB2, if so, how does it handle them?

- Rich

Yes the single AHB2 sits on top of the cabinet in the middle, I have pushed this thing pretty hard basically to the limits of my tolerable listing levels and have yet to see any clipping lights. Last nites entertainment was the DVD 4k version of one of my favorites: "The greatest showman" which was cranked up, followed by a "Talking Heads" concert on Prime, the AHB2 barely getting warm. As you can see no subs so the 328/AHB2 are doing all the work.

 

[RichB]

Yes the single AHB2 sits on top of the cabinet in the middle, I have pushed this thing pretty hard basically to the limits of my tolerable listing levels and have yet to see any clipping lights. Last nites entertainment was the DVD 4k version of one of my favorites: "The greatest showman" which was cranked up, followed by a "Talking Heads" concert on Prime, the AHB2 barely getting warm. As you can see no subs so the 328/AHB2 are doing all the work.

I recommend starting with a single AHB2 because many will not need more amplification. The Salon2s measure 86 dB at my 11' listening position because the room gain and dual speakers. This computes to about 105 dB before clipping, though I bi-amp which yields about 1 additional dB.
The 328Be are far more efficient and an easier load through much of the frequency range, though they do dip to 3 Ohms.

I can turn up 2-channel music far louder than I desire and the only voltage clip indicators illuminate. The current clip indicators do not.
Driving the Salon2s the limit is voltage amplification.
Here is the math (equation supplied by Benchmark) based on the Salon2 86 dB efficiency and AHB2 voltage.
At 1 meter, each Salon2 can be driven to 106 dB before voltage clipping.

It seams reasonable the 328Be should be able to reach 110 dB before clipping.
That is a single speaker at 1 meter, but two speakers with room gain may be a bit less at 14' than I found at 11'.

Great system and room you have there.

- Rich

 

[walt99]

I recommend starting with a single AHB2 because many will not need more amplification. The Salon2s measure 86 dB at my 11' listening position because the room gain and dual speakers. This computes to about 105 dB before clipping, though I bi-amp which yields about 1 additional dB.
The 328Be are far more efficient and an easier load through much of the frequency range, though they do dip to 3 Ohms.

I can turn up 2-channel music far louder than I desire and the only voltage clip indicators illuminate. The current clip indicators do not.
Driving the Salon2s the limit is voltage amplification.
Here is the math (equation supplied by Benchmark) based on the Salon2 86 dB efficiency and AHB2 voltage.
At 1 meter, each Salon2 can be driven to 106 dB before voltage clipping.

View attachment 119329

It seams reasonable the 328Be should be able to reach 110 dB before clipping.
That is a single speaker at 1 meter, but two speakers with room gain may be a bit less at 14' than I found at 11'.

Great system and room you have there.

- Rich

Thank you for all the info Rich. I certainly had in the back of my mind when I purchased the AHB2 that it may not have enough power and I was fully prepared to return the unit if I found myself encroaching the clipping zone. I was not going the bridged route and would have switched to a Purify amp had I needed more power. But as hard as I dare drive this thing it has not got hot or indicated any distress. Needless to say I'm also super pleased with the sound quality, just not sure it could get much better unless one was prepared to spend a lot more (which I was not).

 

[RichB]

Thank you for all the info Rich. I certainly had in the back of my mind when I purchased the AHB2 that it may not have enough power and I was fully prepared to return the unit if I found myself encroaching the clipping zone. I was not going the bridged route and would have switched to a Purify amp had I needed more power. But as hard as I dare drive this thing it has not got hot or indicated any distress. Needless to say I'm also super pleased with the sound quality, just not sure it could get much better unless one was prepared to spend a lot more (which I was not).

I have a friend that bridges his AHB2s to drive his Salon2s and another that bi-amps.
So, they are find bridged.

The clip/distortion and protection are also class leading. I don't know of any amplifier that has these combinations of features.
These amps have been out for almost 6 years now, and I have yet to hear of a single failure.

- Rich

 

[Alexanderc]

I have a friend that bridges his AHB2s to drive his Salon2s and another that bi-amps.
So, they are find bridged.

The clip/distortion and protection are also class leading. I don't know of any amplifier that has these combinations of features.
These amps have been out for almost 6 years now, and I have yet to hear of a single failure.

- Rich

I talked to one of the Benchmark guys at a show a couple years ago and they told me about one failure: apparently somebody accidentally fed the output of another amplifier into the input of the AHB2 (don’t ask me how—drunk maybe?) and that blew the Benchmark amp

 

[RichB]

I talked to one of the Benchmark guys at a show a couple years ago and they told me about one failure: apparently somebody accidentally fed the output of another amplifier into the input of the AHB2 (don’t ask me how—drunk maybe?) and that blew the Benchmark amp

I ran dual 30' of 10 gauge for the rear Salon2s. Currently, I am using only one and thought about putting them together but the connectors are too small. The simplest way to combine them would be bi-wire at both ends.

Then, I realized than it would be very easy to accidentally connect the two amps together and abandoned the idea

- Rich

 

[Rottmannash]

I sit about 14' back from the 328's and they are separated by 10', they are 4 ft from side walls (the most my room will allow) and 18" from the back wall. Large long room with offset dining area and high ceilings in the living area. I am absolutely blown away by how good they sound, 2 ch music is the majority of my use then switching to HT duties later in the eve. I got the black ones and the finish/build quality is superb with zero flaws. These are an end-game speaker for me and I'm totally happy with the purchase, worth every penny! Excuse the mess, just snapped the pic.

I can only get about 8 ft from my F208's and I wonder how much better they would sound if I could move farther away...may have to buy another house.

 

[walt99]

The clip/distortion and protection are also class leading. I don't know of any amplifier that has these combinations of features.
These amps have been out for almost 6 years now, and I have yet to hear of a single failure.

- Rich

One of the big attractions of the AHB2 is the protection, a bad amp can easily take out a speaker/s and the amp folks are not going to cover that under their warranty... my new speakers are worth way more than the amp, so solid amp design/protection circuits were paramount for me.

 

[walt99]

I can only get about 8 ft from my F208's and I wonder how much better they would sound if I could move farther away...may have to buy another house.

I just moved into the house (pictured above) about 6 months ago, I walked away from lots of homes during the search that were not setup for my "entertainment" needs. TV over the fireplace/no room for speakers was a no-go for me...

 

[Rottmannash]

I just moved into the house (pictured above) about 6 months ago, I walked away from lots of homes during the search that were not setup for my "entertainment" needs. TV over the fireplace/speakers on each side was also no-go for me...

You have a very nice set up!

 

[Descartes]

After this glowing review, I am seriously considering buying a pair of F328Be and was wondering what is the optimal distance to the listening position for these speakers without having to tilt them?