Revel M106 Bookshelf Speaker Review

[muad]

As expected Revel knocks one out of the park, or did the panther make a hole in one?

Food for thought: https://www.stereophile.com/content/tale-two-speakers an article why the imperfectly measuring LS50 is preferred over the M106.
At the same price, the M106 looks better to me than the R3 and I haven't seen the preference score yet.

Edit, a very solid preference rating, 5.8/8. Not off that much from the best measured around here so far, way beyond the pack, with the ability to play loud and no funny stuff in the treble like the R3.

Interesting... I found the f206 treble to be a little harsh, and hard. Not sure how else to describe it. Whereas the ls50 and the R3 I'm currently testing are sharp, zingy but I can tolerate them better. Seems like my ears are less sensitive to it.

One caveat though, all the high preference eating speaker I have tried have been a little too grating and painful to listen to, just to varying degrees. They sound artificial to me, and lack a smooth organic sound. I think I might be one of the outliers that the preference rating doesn't work for.

 

[MZKM]

It looks like this speaker would actually perform better (more linearly) at the 10° axis.

I would like Amir to include in his listening impressions what amount toe-in he uses.

If someone here has the means, I would like to see directivity and CEA data generated using that as the reference axis

I don't believe the Klippel can show rotated the measurements.

The issue with simulating this with the given data is that it will not 100% reflect the vertical performance, as you can't predict diagonally (whereas the Klippel measures a magnitude of points all around and likely could show the actual performance).

 

[MZKM]

What I find interesting, is that besides the KEF R3 losing bass output at ~120Hz and the difference of directivity, it is better in most every way by looking at all the graphs, yet even with the room mode correction, the listening impression was not as enthusiastic:

The "magic" that I heard in the Revel M16 was now imparted into KEF R3.

 

[ROOSKIE]

I don't know that I'd call it the best tweeter ever. There are a lot of other excellent options to choose from. If you haven't seen or heard of BlieSma tweeters, you need to check them out. Incredibly linear on-axis response, high sensitivity and great directivity. Especially their Beryllium version.
http://www.bliesma.de/products.html

Well as I said a selection of folks and to wit not all agree and would never expect or wish for that. Just to many different needs out there.
And thanks I had not heard of BlieSma.
Not sure if I like beryllium yet though.
I am looking for a tweeter that has no or very minimal breakup. Even well past hearing thresh-holds. As strange as it may seem, I am becoming aware that possibly those breakup modes are part of what doesn't work for me in a long term speaker.
Anecdotally, as an example... My Gf starting to feel sick on the couch while I did some ultra sonic testing (20k+), she had no idea what I doing and there where no audible sounds. Took all of 1 minute for this to happen and I also did not feel so hot. I have noticed some speakers I feel really good listening to (like a sound bath) and others, while I might enjoy them sonically I don't get that same good feeling and even sometime start to feel agitated.
Who knows, total conjecture right now.

 

[test1223]

If it is frequency response difference, we better damn try to find it as my impression of these two speakers is worlds apart.

Have a look at the directivity the dipps and peaks are intentional engineered there. It is because of the tonal perception of direct and diffuse sound fields which is different.

Best
Thomas

 

[Ron Texas]

What I find interesting, is that besides the KEF R3 losing bass output at ~120Hz and the difference of directivity, it is better in most every way by looking at all the graphs, yet even with the room mode correction, the listening impression was not as enthusiastic:

Possibly personal taste, or our host's loft listening room could be the cause. There are lots of oddities. LS50's with their mediocre measurements have more glowing published reviews than any speaker in recent memory and left our host unimpressed.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Interesting... I found the f206 treble to be a little harsh, and hard. Not sure how else to describe it. Whereas the ls50 and the R3 I'm currently testing are sharp, zingy but I can tolerate them better. Seems like my ears are less sensitive to it.

One caveat though, all the high preference eating speaker I have tried have been a little too grating and painful to listen to, just to varying degrees. They sound artificial to me, and lack a smooth organic sound. I think I might be one of the outliers that the preference rating doesn't work for.

I think any person should do an audiology test to see how much HF they actually need. And if hearing is still good probably you can be ok with way less HF than required by reference curve. I can get away listening to 100-8000 Hz and still be pretty happy (and i can hear hf pretty well and it annoys me easily). Plus volume also plays a huge role as equal loudness curves affect what we actually need to perceive sound as linear. Loudness actually means that there is no perfect speakers for any volume unless one uses loudness eq

 

[ROOSKIE]

What I find interesting, is that besides the KEF R3 losing bass output at ~120Hz and the difference of directivity, it is better in most every way by looking at all the graphs, yet even with the room mode correction, the listening impression was not as enthusiastic.

Lets face it, the man behind the site purchased 20k Revel speakers because he likes their sound signature. No harm no foul with that, why else spend 20k?
Still it seems like speakers with a similar sound sig will get a prop and the prop even alludes to how much they sound like the big Revel's. Again no harm no foul but it is obvious that emulation of the Salon's sound is the goal. Speakers with a different signature are on their own and folks looking at them better understand that in terms of the subjective review. Again no harm no foul. Especially in this case, because you can save loads of cash pairing these M106's and some subs vs buying more expensive gear to get that big Revel sound. (which I do like a lot)

What I want to know most is how do these compare (subjectively via Amir) with ELAC, the M106 vs DBR62????

 

[amirm]

@amirm With so much speakers measured already and the constant fact you keep enjoying speakers that has tilted down response (harman target). Can we start having some slight supposition that as a speaker manufacturer, the way to go is not to design for On Axis or LW flatnes/neutrality, but all it matters to achieve bliss comes into tailoring the PIR and low-distortion?

I have not paid enough attention to see the correlation with that. Someone should do the analysis and see if that is the case. It certainly be great development if that is the key factor. It certainly is an important factor.

 

[amirm]

Also, @amirm can you update the directivity plots to include the legends? Thanks in advance.

It is a pain. The SPL legend is far to the right with a big gap. The forum software resizes an image larger than 1000 pixels. So leaving that in there makes the main graph much smaller. It is a relative scale anyway.

 

[PresbyByrd]

If anyone is interested... https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa2b95-revel-m106-black-pair-full-range

 

[ROOSKIE]

I think any person should do an audiology test to see how much HF they actually need. And if hearing is still good probably you can be ok with way less HF than required by reference curve. I can get away listening to 100-8000 Hz and still be pretty happy (and i can hear hf pretty well and it annoys me easily). Plus volume also plays a huge role as equal loudness curves affect what we actually need to perceive sound as linear. Loudness actually means that there is no perfect speakers for any volume unless one uses loudness eq

Yes this is deff something.
AND people do not all have the same "curve", these are curves made of averages. SO some folks will be outliers and thus hear very differently from the "norm"

 

[ROOSKIE]

If anyone is interested... https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa2b95-revel-m106-black-pair-full-range

Thanks but to much $$
Call a dealer and you will get new for the same or less.

... of course used is slightly greener and that never hurts

 

[azzy_mazzy]

sadly revel doesn't make high output bookshlef speakers (above 93dB-95dB Sensitivity).

 

[pozz]

So, is it possible that roughness in the off-axis around 4kHz is more important than is usually thought? All of the radiation off-axis is only second in strength to direct on-axis response.

 

[Laserjock]

I have these and Infinity IL10

Time to pull the IL10s off the wall and do a sound preference check?

Best way to AB them ?

 

[Dj7675]

I have these in our living room running off of a Denon x3500 for living room TV/Music 2 channel system. I originally assumed they would need a sub so had them with a rythmik l12. In room measurements show they go down to 40hz in room at the listening position. For this room, took out the sub and they sound fantastic. They also play as loud as I would want as well.

 

[muad]

I think any person should do an audiology test to see how much HF they actually need. And if hearing is still good probably you can be ok with way less HF than required by reference curve. I can get away listening to 100-8000 Hz and still be pretty happy (and i can hear hf pretty well and it annoys me easily). Plus volume also plays a huge role as equal loudness curves affect what we actually need to perceive sound as linear. Loudness actually means that there is no perfect speakers for any volume unless one uses loudness eq

That makes sense to me.

The odd thing is my current selah speakers with beryllium tweeters, measure flat at the LP, yet I still don't find them as bright or sharp as any of the speakers I mentioned. I run them with a low q peq to create a 1db slope and that gets the tonality just right.

The interesting thing is that they have a 2.5db depressions centered at 2500hz. I think this helps with their smooth natural warm sound but they don't sound muddy. If I fix the depression with peq it still doesn't cause any of the wincing or fatigue I get with other speakers. Not entirely sure what's special about these speakers...

I'm gonna take your advice and try and roll.ofnthe top end even more and see what happens.

 

[Stump909]

I know this will never happen, but I'd really like to see the Ascend CBM-170 and Sierra 2 reviewed again, with the latest review procedure. I've gone back through the older speaker reviews, and these two stand out as seemingly positive reviews, but just lacking the full analysis we get today.

 

[aarons915]

sadly revel doesn't make high output bookshlef speakers (above 93dB-95dB Sensitivity).

Do you have a 1 Watt amp or something lol? Or just want to do permanent hearing damage with less power?