Revel M105 Bookshelf Speaker Review

[AudioSceptic]

The frequency range and size comes close to my Linn Katans. By ear the Linns are the most tonally accurate monitor I’ve owned. Now I’m starting to get get curious. I have one I could spare for a while...

I would love to see Amir test a Linn speaker!

 

[tuga]

Another speaker showing the limitations of the "small-size 2-way with small woofer" topology: high levels of harmonic and intermodulation distortion, limited low frequency extension and maximum SPL level.

 

[Soniclife]

Revel has been a revelation to me, I never looked into their offerings before. Being in the UK I prefer KEF though, pricing isn't justified for Revel charging more than what you could buy these for in the US.

They are on sale here...
https://nintronics.co.uk/revel-m105-bookshelf-speakers.html

 

[AudioSceptic]

Revel has been a revelation to me, I never looked into their offerings before. Being in the UK I prefer KEF though, pricing isn't justified for Revel charging more than what you could buy these for in the US.

Same here. We've been told for decades that British speakers are the best, except possibly if you want to play really loud. Have you looked at eBay though? M106 £1k/pair, M105 £800/pair.

 

[Soniclife]

Another speaker showing the limitations of the "small-size 2-way with small woofer" topology: high levels of harmonic and intermodulation distortion, limited low frequency extension and maximum SPL level.

Which sound fantastic apparently. What is your point exactly?

 

[YSC]

I love the KH80s but they only have a 4" woofer. It's going to give up well before the 5" one in these, even if you have a sub. See KH80 vs KH120.

The Revels also have somewhat wider dispersion.

Not to be challenging but I just read from the FR curve Of both, seems the revel reach the -5db Mark of Bass roll off around 70hz and the KH80 at 60 hz? Just by that it seems the Neumann can dive lower in bass, but of coz not in a big room which is where flood standers should go no?

 

[Absolute]

I'd set these things on fire for that blip at 5kHz. Looks like poor quality control on the tweeter variation, or maybe waveguide bloom that was overlooked in the crossover design. How much do these things cost?

When asked about this particular bump, Kevin Voecks says it's a waveguide diffraction artifact.

 

[MZKM]

I'd set these things on fire for that blip at 5kHz.

It’s due to the waveguide, notice how it’s mostly gone in the listening window. Most speakers with a waveguide on the tweeter will have a similar issue on-axis.

For this one, the PIR curve is still elevated in that region, so some minor adjustment with an EQ should fix that. If you have a plain stereo unit with only bass/treble knobs; then that won’t be of much help.

 

[ctrl]

Eager learner here. Please help me understand the waterfall, specifically as to why most speakers have longer decay in the bass region. Is it because speaker cabinets in general resonate in those frequencies no matter how well made/braced they are? Or are ports to blame?

Have tried to answer the question here in this thread.

 

[SECA_alan]

Revel has been a revelation to me, I never looked into their offerings before. Being in the UK I prefer KEF though, pricing isn't justified for Revel charging more than what you could buy these for in the US.

Are you sure? Elite audio have a couple of pairs of F-208 left @ £3k. I went for them as a left field choice over KEF and am delighted. An exception that proves the rule, perhaps..

 

[Soniclife]

Not to be challenging but I just read from the FR curve Of both, seems the revel reach the -5db Mark of Bass roll off around 70hz and the KH80 at 60 hz? Just by that it seems the Neumann can dive lower in bass, but of coz not in a big room which is where flood standers should go no?

With small speakers you need to really know how loud you are going to want to play them to judge, within their limits the KH80 look great, but with a smaller drive unit they are likely to strain much earlier the M105 when turned up. Listening distance plays a large part in volume, near field the KH80 are likely to be better for most people, at 3m the M105 are likely to win for most people.

 

[vkvedam]

Are you sure? Elite audio have a couple of pairs of F-208 left @ £3k. I went for them as a left field choice over KEF and am delighted. An exception that proves the rule, perhaps..

Spoke to Nintronics as @Soniclife suggested, M105 and M106 are on clearance sale for £799 and £999 respectively. In all honesty I am very happy with LS50s though, no need for me to upgrade

 

[AudioSceptic]

(Some of) the subjectivists like them too <http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/revel-performa-m105/?page=3>

 

[daftcombo]

As you see, I only have two minor adjustments beside the room correction at 102 Hz. First is one I apply to just about every bookshelf now which is a steep low frequency roll off. At the frequency chosen, it did not at all lower the bass level or change tonality. Yet there is a distinct improvement in detail, air around instruments, etc. I highly recommend that you try this with your speaker.

Did you try putting the filter a bit higher (35 Hz or 40 Hz for instance) and/or with a steeper slope?
I wonder how high we could get without losing bass impact or make it sound weird.

 

[edechamps]

It’s due to the waveguide, notice how it’s mostly gone in the listening window. Most speakers with a waveguide on the tweeter will have a similar issue on-axis.

Yeah, that's quite apparent in the listening window chart I posted earlier. Though it does mean that the response in that region is quite unstable depending on what angle you happen to listen at. Shift your head a bit, and the 5 kHz peak becomes a dip.

 

[TimVG]

Sure, on paper some good work numbers the 5x PEQ 1x HS used is listed into TimVG post 54..
View attachment 73807

Thanks once again! Tried these with my M105s today - it's a nice improvement. Care to give these a listen @amirm?

 

[YSC]

With small speakers you need to really know how loud you are going to want to play them to judge, within their limits the KH80 look great, but with a smaller drive unit they are likely to strain much earlier the M105 when turned up. Listening distance plays a large part in volume, near field the KH80 are likely to be better for most people, at 3m the M105 are likely to win for most people.

I completely agree with you on this though, my fault of only quickly thinking on my side where in HK here our living room is likely smaller than your bathroom in the states

 

[Soniclife]

I completely agree with you on this though, my fault of only quickly thinking on my side where in HK here our living room is likely smaller than your bathroom in the states

No problem. My listening room is in the UK, near London, so not exactly massive either.

 

[BobPM]

Do any of the measurements give an indication of how they sound at low levels? A few press reviewers comment on this, but it is rare, and here the talk is about how loud they can get--something I don't care that much about.

I don't listen loud very often, and most of the time cannot turn them up even if I wanted to [kids, neighbors, wife, thin walls]. I have noted that large efficient speakers tend to sound better at low levels, while inefficient bookshelves tend to have to be turned up before they start to sound complete.

p.s., I also had a bout of tinnitus that fortunately faded away, but my ear doctor warned against high db sound levels.

 

[Matias]

Revels are populating the higher ratings with subwoofer. Interesting.