Revel F35 Speaker Review

[fcracer]

I really appreciate and love the resource that ASR has become. It's often difficult to find audio gear on display where I live. Using ASR reviews, I've been able to buy an NAD M33 and now the Revel F35 without having seen or heard them in person. In both cases, I've been 100% satisfied with the purchase as the realized outcome perfectly matched the review. Thanks Amir and ASR for the great service you provide to our community.

The F35 is all the speaker I could possibly want in an apartment. It widened the sweet spot on the sofa, produces a more neutral sound than my admittedly (and measurably) bright previous speakers and provides more than enough low end to keep the neighbours excited. If it weren't for ASR, I would have never thought about getting a pair of Revel speakers, but now I'm totally sold on the brand. I only wish they were a bit smaller (especially in depth).

 

[LTig]

I really appreciate and love the resource that ASR has become. It's often difficult to find audio gear on display where I live. Using ASR reviews, I've been able to buy an NAD M33 and now the Revel F35 without having seen or heard them in person. In both cases, I've been 100% satisfied with the purchase as the realized outcome perfectly matched the review. Thanks Amir and ASR for the great service you provide to our community.

It shows that science works!

 

[MrOtto]

Anyone tried these EQ settings, or is it of no use since there is no room correction?

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pierreaubert/spinorama/develop/datas/eq/Revel%20F35/iir-autoeq.txt

 

[SmackDaddies]

You could easily pretend to your friends you paid multiples of its cost.

i spend the cost savings on speaker wire decouplers

 

[Tim Link]

Last night I got to listen to a set of F35 and compare them with the F208s. I hadn't read Amir's review yet. Not a fair comparison but amazingly the F35s ended up pulling into the lead once a 110Hz crossover was implemented on the Marantz C50 receiver! The F-35s got this benefit, the F208s didn't. Both were being used with a B112 sub but the F208s were being run down to 60Hz. So I'll have to try the F208s with the crossover up higher next time. This seems to correlate well with Amir's listening test which revealed the need for some bass equalization in his room to get the F35 to really sound good. What I heard initially matches his desription pretty well - congjested, thick, muddy sound that didn't seem to be a bass issue. It sounded like the tweeter and mids just weren't that great. The F208 did a lot better when placed in the same position in the room and with the same 60Hz crossover but couldn't keep up with the F35s that were benefitied with the higher crossover. The F35 at 110Hz was great, filling that place with loud beautiful sound.
So this goes to show that a cheaper speaker that's been given a more optimized setup can sound considerably better than a better speaker that's not set up as well. I wonder how many great speakers out there are just not being allowed to do what they can do?

 

[Sal1950]

Not a fair comparison but amazingly the F35s ended up pulling into the lead once a 110Hz crossover was implemented on the Marantz C50 receiver!

Wow, you got one of the new Marantz receiver line-ups.
Hope it's working well for you.
How do you feel about having no viewable display beyond what's in the tiny port window,
and having to depend on the on-screen display?
I'd really love to see one on Amir's bench!

 

[Tim Link]

Wow, you got one of the new Marantz receiver line-ups.
Hope it's working well for you.
How do you feel about having no viewable display beyond what's in the tiny port window,
and having to depend on the on-screen display?
I'd really love to see one on Amir's bench!

It's not mine but I get to play with it for now. There's a Marantz and Revel dealer here in town and I'm in the lucky position of getting to try different speakers and amps to see what they do and how they compare. Some of it I take home to try. Mostly though I'm setting it up and listening at the shop, trying to get some good sounding demo setups in there. I'm a customer morphing into an employee. The C50 is a nice looking, good sounding, and easy to use receiver from what I've experienced so far. I've got a Denon at home so the menu structure is very familiar.

As for the small port window, it looks really cool but I haven't tried actually using it to set anything up. It's useful enough to see the volume level and witch port is selected. I hooked it up to a TV first thing before even turning it on so I never thought of trying to use the little port for setup. Interestingly there's a nice CD player of a different brand hooked up to the C50 and it also has a little round port display. They're in fashion.

edit - the CD player is a Music Hall CD35.2 - been around for a while. So the round port windows aren't just a flash in the pan fad.

 

[Sal1950]

It's not mine but I get to play with it for now. There's a Marantz and Revel dealer here in town and I'm in the lucky position of getting to try different speakers and amps to see what they do and how they compare. Some of it I take home to try. Mostly though I'm setting it up and listening at the shop, trying to get some good sounding demo setups in there. I'm a customer morphing into an employee. The C50 is a nice looking, good sounding, and easy to use receiver from what I've experienced so far. I've got a Denon at home so the menu structure is very familiar.

As for the small port window, it looks really cool but I haven't tried actually using it to set anything up. It's useful enough to see the volume level and witch port is selected. I hooked it up to a TV first thing before even turning it on so I never thought of trying to use the little port for setup. Interestingly there's a nice CD player of a different brand hooked up to the C50 and it also has a little round port display. They're in fashion.

edit - the CD player is a Music Hall CD35.2 - been around for a while. So the round port windows aren't just a flash in the pan fad.

Great, thanks for the response.
Nice position to be in and you get to play with all the toys.
Have fun!

 

[LeontTP]

Do you put carpet infront of the speakers or do the speakers need to stand ontop of the carpet itself?

Also, is the EQ fix a necessity? If so how can it be implemented for physical media sources?

 

[AVKS]

Do you put carpet infront of the speakers or do the speakers need to stand ontop of the carpet itself?

Also, is the EQ fix a necessity? If so how can it be implemented for physical media sources?

Carpet to achieve what? And no, EQ is not a necessity per se. It all depends on your room interactions and personal preference.

 

[Sal1950]

Do you put carpet infront of the speakers or do the speakers need to stand ontop of the carpet itself?

In front is the normal position to tame floor bounce of the sound.
The thicker and more sound absorbent the better.

 

[Robbo99999]

Do you put carpet infront of the speakers or do the speakers need to stand ontop of the carpet itself?

Also, is the EQ fix a necessity? If so how can it be implemented for physical media sources?

For physical media sources like a CD Player (rather than a PC computer which I think is what you're getting at)...for physical sources then to apply EQ you can use a "standalone" EQ solution like an option from a company called miniDSP. I use the following for my 2 JBL speakers and sub: https://www.soundimports.eu/en/minidsp-2x4-boxed.html
It seems that particular model is not available anymore but their next closest option to that is the HD version of that one (which is better anyway), so the following one:

miniDSP 2x4 HD

MiniDSP 2x4 HD, a USB DAC+DSP in a low cost package powered by a powerful Sharc 400MHz floating point DSP. The upgraded on-board 400 MHz Analog Devices SHARC processor also ena-bles substantial processing upgrades previously available only on more ex-pensive platforms, such as 96 kHz internal...

www.minidsp.com

There's quite a steep learning curve to using these, and it means you'll have to buy something like a UMIK-1 mic to take in-room measurements and also learn how to use REW (software for RoomEQ). Ultimately though, if you max out your knowledge on how to use all of this it will mean you will be able to apply both Anechoic EQ (using Amir's measurements) and RoomEQ (using your in-room measurements from you UMIK-1 mic) to the speakers, there is a boat load to learn though to get that far - I don't think there's many people that end up going to that extent in terms of applying both AnechoicEQ and RoomEQ.

EDIT: you could look into a DIRAC version of one of the miniDSP products as that is a more automated process, but there could still be a steep learning curve for that, but at least it would automatically create the parametric EQ filters for you. miniDSP products are good, but in my experience of owning the miniDSP 2x4 it means there is a lot to learn before you can start using it combined with a fair amount of work to get it setup. It's something you'd have to research to a point that you'd understand the process before you decide to buy it - probably the sensible approach. It also requires you to understand enough about "audio science" to know what RoomEQ is and how speakers interact with rooms, and what the most ideal layouts are for speakers & rooms, and it helps if you understand the speaker reviews that Amir does in terms of the spinorama graph, etc. It really helps if you have a fundamental understanding of all this before you consider using something like a miniDSP to optimise your speakers - it's a journey & a learning curve, but it's worth it if you want to be serious about your audio and don't mind (or enjoy) putting in the time & effort to learn about it.

 

[LeontTP]

Carpet to achieve what? And no, EQ is not a necessity per se. It all depends on your room interactions and personal preference.

To attenuate some of the vertical reflection which seems most important for the floor with these.

 

[LeontTP]

For physical media sources like a CD Player (rather than a PC computer which I think is what you're getting at)...for physical sources then to apply EQ you can use a "standalone" EQ solution like an option from a company called miniDSP. I use the following for my 2 JBL speakers and sub: https://www.soundimports.eu/en/minidsp-2x4-boxed.html
It seems that particular model is not available anymore but their next closest option to that is the HD version of that one (which is better anyway), so the following one:

miniDSP 2x4 HD

MiniDSP 2x4 HD, a USB DAC+DSP in a low cost package powered by a powerful Sharc 400MHz floating point DSP. The upgraded on-board 400 MHz Analog Devices SHARC processor also ena-bles substantial processing upgrades previously available only on more ex-pensive platforms, such as 96 kHz internal...

www.minidsp.com

There's quite a steep learning curve to using these, and it means you'll have to buy something like a UMIK-1 mic to take in-room measurements and also learn how to use REW (software for RoomEQ). Ultimately though, if you max out your knowledge on how to use all of this it will mean you will be able to apply both Anechoic EQ (using Amir's measurements) and RoomEQ (using your in-room measurements from you UMIK-1 mic) to the speakers, there is a boat load to learn though to get that far - I don't think there's many people that end up going to that extent in terms of applying both AnechoicEQ and RoomEQ.

EDIT: you could look into a DIRAC version of one of the miniDSP products as that is a more automated process, but there could still be a steep learning curve for that, but at least it would automatically create the parametric EQ filters for you. miniDSP products are good, but in my experience of owning the miniDSP 2x4 it means there is a lot to learn before you can start using it combined with a fair amount of work to get it setup. It's something you'd have to research to a point that you'd understand the process before you decide to buy it - probably the sensible approach. It also requires you to understand enough about "audio science" to know what RoomEQ is and how speakers interact with rooms, and what the most ideal layouts are for speakers & rooms, and it helps if you understand the speaker reviews that Amir does in terms of the spinorama graph, etc. It really helps if you have a fundamental understanding of all this before you consider using something like a miniDSP to optimise your speakers - it's a journey & a learning curve, but it's worth it if you want to be serious about your audio and don't mind (or enjoy) putting in the time & effort to learn about it.

Im gonna be realstic about this and say I probably wont go that far.
With my room theres probably no way to get things perfect anyway.

Would you then say these are bad speakers for physical media listeners who cant EQ? Or is it just a minor thing?

 

[LeontTP]

In front is the normal position to tame floor bounce of the sound.
The thicker and more sound absorbent the better.

Hmm, so Id have to try and live with one of those shaggy carpets ;^)

 

[Blumlein 88]

Hmm, so Id have to try and live with one of those shaggy carpets ;^)

Wool carpets/rugs are heavier and better at absorbing sound. Add a carpet pad under it and even better. So a decent wool carpet might be better than shag while not being shaggy.

 

[LeontTP]

By the way, does anyone know whats up with the prices here: https://www.av.com/Speakers/Revel-C...bf1o6*_ga*OTU5MDI3NzIwLjE2ODEwNDAwNzA.*_up*MQ..

I thought it must be only a single speaker but it says pair...

 

[simbloke]

By the way, does anyone know whats up with the prices here: https://www.av.com/Speakers/Revel-C...bf1o6*_ga*OTU5MDI3NzIwLjE2ODEwNDAwNzA.*_up*MQ..

I thought it must be only a single speaker but it says pair...

I bought a pair of white ones from them a few months back for a bit more than that. Delivery was very quick.

 

[LeontTP]

I bought a pair of white ones from them a few months back for a bit more than that. Delivery was very quick.

Then is it 700£ for the pair or only a single speaker?

 

[simbloke]

I paid £750 for a pair. I see that it doesn't explicitly say so on that page but selling single speakers in the UK is pretty rare. You could just ask them.