Revel M106 Bookshelf Speaker Review

[MediumRare]

As per my previous questions, to be specific - my room is 5m x 3m x 2.4m (16' x 10' x 7.9').

Seating distance would be nearfield at 1.2m, speakers 10cm from the front wall.

Is this a complete waste of time and money, this room size, nearfield?

I'd love to hear @amirm comment, as I believe he sometimes has a listen at nearfield before moving to his main room.

Many thanks.

For nearfield I think the Revel M105 or Ascend Sierra will probably sound the same for you and cost significantly less. They’ll also take up less desk space.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

For nearfield I think the Revel M105 or Ascend Sierra will probably sound the same for you and cost significantly less. They’ll also take up less desk space.

Thank you.

But will the M106 sound deficient?

 

[Gatordaddy]

Thank you.

But will the M106 sound deficient?

At your listening distance and in your room the M106 would feel more authoritative vs a 5" driver speaker without a subwoofer. I drove a pair of M106s with a denon X4300h which was quite loud after audyssey correction at 3m. With the Wiim at 1.2m they should get very loud with headroom to spare. They have well behaved spins and the amp you are choosing has enough EQ bands you can correct the room and rear wall/desk corrections as you see fit.

I don't think anyone would be able to answer definitively how much better or worse these would be vs a more "optimal"/traditional choice like a Genelec or Neumann or even M105 for your use case. It sounds like you are set on the M106. They are fantastic speakers. You'll enjoy them. They are perfectly capable of being endgame speakers for all but the most obsessed with audio reproduction.

BTW, Spiritualized rocks I'll throw them on this afternoon.

 

[AaronJ]

The M106 are endgame speakers as bookshelf speakers go and can be used in larger spaces than yours. The M105 is definitely the more sensible purchase for your specific situation compared to the M106, but if there is a possibility you might use them in a larger room the M106 may be the better longterm investment. Conversely, 1.2m is quite close and you could save a lot more money with the M16 which I'm sure would sound superb. Tonally very similar to M105 and M106 but can't play as loud without distorting. I'd have a pair of M16's if I didn't come across an amazing local deal for M106's ($1050 new in box).

 

[MediumRare]

Thank you.

But will the M106 sound deficient?

No, it should sound fabulous with the exception of sub-bass (below 50 Hz) for which you'd need a sub - same for virtually any bookshelf speaker. The M105, despite its slightly smaller woofer, is virtually indistinguishable, audibly, especially in nearfield.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Thanks to everyone who’s contributed.

 

[djigibao]

My recommendation, if listening so close, is to go for the LS 3/5a type of speakers because they excel at such close listening.

 

[Gatordaddy]

My recommendation, if listening so close, is to go for the LS 3/5a type of speakers because they excel at such close listening.

my recommendation would be not purchasing a speaker with significant response errors.

 

[Gatordaddy]

It'd be great to see, but the Performa3 lineup is within spitting distance of PerformaBe which are 6 years newer and really only boast higher sensitivity and more interesting finish options. Their only competitors based on spins in the price class are JBL and KEF (maybe Focal but their speakers' spins are not widely available). I'd settle for them bringing the white finish (or even better--grey) to the remainder of the Performa3 lineup and releasing a three way C206.

Considering sales I saw when picking up my M106s at one of the largest US revel dealers, I'd wager that we see a Revel branded Samsung atmos soundbar and smart speaker system before we saw a refresh of their Performa line. Any speaker company with a brand position like revel should feel threatened by the proposition Sonos has started to offer in the "Luxury AV" ecosystem. My completely unfounded speculation is that the PerformaBe line was originally conceived as the next generation of revel speakers using differentiating design language but the shifting Luxury AV landscape and the Samsung purchase forced the development teams to reuse existing cabinetry so they could move to other projects.

Well two years later and Revel appears to be refreshing the Performa lineup and I'm a very satisfied F226be owner.

The be lineup is a more significant upgrade than the spins suggest. That said the current prices of the Performa3 lineup are fantastic. Especially demos. A local retailer to me has an open box pair of F206 under $2k at about $500 dollars more than I paid for the M106 two years ago. It's a good time to be an audio enthusiast (at least there's something to remain positive about).

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Well two years later and Revel appears to be refreshing the Performa lineup and I'm a very satisfied F226be owner.

The be lineup is a more significant upgrade than the spins suggest. That said the current prices of the Performa3 lineup are fantastic. Especially demos. A local retailer to me has an open box pair of F206 under $2k at about $500 dollars more than I paid for the M106 two years ago. It's a good time to be an audio enthusiast (at least there's something to remain positive about).

Isn’t the be range pricing largely down to the expense of beryllium in the tweeters, or is that just marketing?

 

[Gatordaddy]

Isn’t the be range pricing largely down to the expense of beryllium in the tweeters, or is that just marketing?

The be dome in the tweeter has an impact on cost but my understanding is that it's a completely reworked speaker with the exception of the cabinets. The speakers use more powerful and sophisticated motors in the drive units with use of better diaphragm materials. Their waveguides are updated. The crossovers use more expensive and durable film capacitors and air core inductors. They're 2db more sensitive, have lower distortion, and offer marginally better on axis and directivity responses as well.

However at current retail those differences land them at 2X-3X the cost. I wouldn't own mine if I hadn't found a local used pair I couldn't pass up.

 

[Kayshot]

Welp, I know I'm late to the party here, but I just picked up a pair of the M106 and am absolutely floored compared to the ELAC UB52 and Polk R200 pairs I tried out.

I'm currently running them off a Topping DX3 Pro+ going into my SMSL AL200.
Entering a new bracket of speakers has me eyeing the SMSL like it's a peasant of sorts. Am I selling these speakers massively short by powering them with the AL200?

I've got the Fosi V3 Mono pending shipment around June, so I'd think those would feed these things better. Just wondering how much of a gain I can expect (no pun intended on the "gain").