Revel M106 vs M126Be: worth the upgrade?

[o2so]

Hello

I own the Revel M106 and am considering a move to the M126Be. However the price difference is substantial and I am concerned it would bring only minor improvements.
I was wondering if anyone who tried both models could share their thoughts

Thanks in advance

 

[aarons915]

Hello

I own the Revel M106 and am considering a move to the M126Be. However the price difference is substantial and I am concerned it would bring only minor improvements.
I was wondering if anyone who tried both models could share their thoughts

Thanks in advance

I think this is one of those situations that you aren't going to get a lot of good info unless someone from Harman showed you actual double blind results of them and a few other speakers and how they scored. The problem is when someone "upgrades" and spends $4000 to do it, there is a very good chance they are going to hear a difference whether there is one or not. Having said that the measurements are very good and definitely better than the M106 but I think you have to decide if that price difference is worth it.

 

[misteracng]

It seems there will be a difference but not a huge amount for you to decide if its worth it. It would seem Revel is a well engineered product based on all the tests here, and so I doubt they would release products costing more without any benefit. Max volume and bass would probably not increase much. They seem better made, better crossover components, driver material and the beryllium tweeter. I had a similar choice, but with towers and I went with some f226be over the f208 despite the cost increase, and I will use a sub for the lows.

 

[steve59]

When in doubt buy used.

 

[o2so]

I think this is one of those situations that you aren't going to get a lot of good info unless someone from Harman showed you actual double blind results of them and a few other speakers and how they scored. The problem is when someone "upgrades" and spends $4000 to do it, there is a very good chance they are going to hear a difference whether there is one or not. Having said that the measurements are very good and definitely better than the M106 but I think you have to decide if that price difference is worth it.

Thank you, I am aware of the new purchase bias. The m126be is probably too new to have gone through extensive online vetting as the 106 has. Hence why I was hoping to hear from someone who tried both models, and so ehow discount their confirmation bias

 

[o2so]

It seems there will be a difference but not a huge amount for you to decide if its worth it. It would seem Revel is a well engineered product based on all the tests here, and so I doubt they would release products costing more without any benefit. Max volume and bass would probably not increase much. They seem better made, better crossover components, driver material and the beryllium tweeter. I had a similar choice, but with towers and I went with some f226be over the f208 despite the cost increase, and I will use a sub for the lows.

Thank you. How did you find the upgrade to a be tweeter?

 

[o2so]

When in doubt buy used.

Good point but it's a bit hard to find the M126Be in the used market at this point in time.

 

[steve59]

I just checked AG and USAM and agree only 2 pair and at $3k used +paypal and shipping not such a deal.

 

[misteracng]

Thank you. How did you find the upgrade to a be tweeter?

Mine are still shippingso can’t give you an opinion on the tweeter yet. M I found some open box that made it a good deal. Excited to see how they are when they arrive.

 

[o2so]

I just checked AG and USAM and agree only 2 pair and at $3k used +paypal and shipping not such a deal.

not at all for me, considering I am in Sydney

 

[garcus]

I recently upgraded to the m126Be from an old pair of B&W bookshelfs from the early 2000's - since I held out upgrading for that long, it was worth it Picked them up used from USAM, and it was a little over $2k.

Btw, measurements were brought up on Revel Be series speakers on another thread, and there I learned that spinorama for m106 vs m126Be can be found as well at this site: Speaker Data 2034. These two speakers are characterized by different crossover freq it seems, and slightly non-ideal stuff (dB dip, and directivity errors to parrot @amirm's review of the m106) occurs at those freqs. Not that I would notice, and not that I would care to at any rate.

Re: deals, may want to check Music Direct from time to time for open box deals; or call A&B in Austin (I just did to fantasy shop f208 vs. f226Be) as they seem friendly.

 

[o2so]

Alternatively, what other bookshelves/standmounters would you recommend as an upgrade from the m106? My room is small/medium and I used subs and DIRAC

 

[garcus]

Alternatively, what other bookshelves/standmounters would you recommend as an upgrade from the m106? My room is small/medium and I used subs and DIRAC

Yeah, sorry, I meant to also say that if I were in your position having already experienced/enjoyed the m106, I wouldn't feel compelled to up/side grade to the m126Be given how effusive the praise was here for the m106. Following the herd, if I hadn't scored the m126Be used, I would likely have headed down the path to the Kef R3.

All hypothetical of course.

 

[watchnerd]

I haven't heard the M126Be, but I have heard a lot of Be tweeter systems, especially from Focal, both domestic and pro.

IMHO, Be tweeters have a bit different sound than a good soft dome.

I once heard a pro sound dealer describe Be tweeters as more 'audiophile' and soft dome as more 'music lover'. At first, I didn't understand what he meant, but after spending several hours I understood -- the Be tweeters weren't harsh, by any means, but they were less forgiving of crappy masterings.

 

[sfdoddsy]

Alternatively, what other bookshelves/standmounters would you recommend as an upgrade from the m106? My room is small/medium and I used subs and DIRAC

The M106s, by all accounts and measurements, are very very good. Here's an incredibly exhaustive review you may not have seen:

https://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews...ookshelf-monitor-loudspeaker-review-part-one/

Given the M106 and M126Be share similar design philosophies, I suspect they will sound more similar than different, with at best incremental improvements. Whether these will be worth the considerably increased cost is the question, especially if you use subs and RoomEQ.

You are already at the point of diminishing returns with the very fine M106s, I suspect.

Personally, if you stick to bookshelf speakers, I would also look at quality alternatives that share the form factor but have slightly different design goals to see if you would prefer that. A three way concentric such as the KEF R3 immediately comes to mind. I had a pair and preferred their delivery to my older Revel M20s. I have a pair of the KEF Reference 201/2s now which I am trying to convince myself are even better .

For (a lot) more the KEF Reference 1 or one of the Genelec powered 3 way concentrics would also be worth a listen.

I'm in Sydney too and considered importing or building a pair of the Philharmonic BMRs.

And, if you can find them, the Pioneer S2EX would definitely be worth a try. I almost bought a used pair from a hifi store in Perth.

They are basically the same as the TAD Compact Reference but with a Pioneer badge.

 

[vavan]

the Be tweeters weren't harsh, by any means, but they were less forgiving of crappy masterings

I find even my f208 rather unforgiving of subpar recordings

 

[phoenixdogfan]

There is really a similar debate all up and down the line for Revel speakers. Is the F228be worth twice the price of the F208, ditto for the F226be vs the F206s.

Interestingly Amir has apparantly purchased an F228be so there should be forthcoming at some point a review. Will be interesting to see how its data compares to the F208 data he has already published.

Corr: Amir purchased the F328be, not the F228be. Even so, it will be interesting to see the spins and get his take on whether the "Be" line is worth the extra needed outlay.

 

[watchnerd]

There is really a similar debate all up and down the line for Revel speakers. Is the F228be worth twice the price of the F208, ditto for the F226be vs the F206s.

Interestingly Amir has apparantly purchased an F228be so there should be forthcoming at some point a review. Will be interesting to see how its data compares to the F208 data he has already published.

I think that question is going to be challenging for those people / lists that rank speakers mostly by their Spinorama.

In other words, I don't think a Be tweeter gives you a significantly better spin.

So those who view speaker buyer decisions primarily through the lens of "better spinorama" may decide that the Be upgrade isn't worth the money.

 

[watchnerd]

Given the M106 and M126Be share similar design philosophies, I suspect they will sound more similar than different, with at best incremental improvements. Whether these will be worth the considerably increased cost is the question, especially if you use subs and RoomEQ.

The incremental improvements should mostly be at the top end with lower tweeter distortion.

In theory.

From the tweeter crossover down, the two models should sound incredibly close.

For an even more hairsplitting difference, I recently compared my Dynaudio Contour 20 to the new Contour 20i. Same woofer, same cabinet volume, minor update to the new 'Hexis' tweeter.

I could *maybe* hear the difference on tracks with a lot of hi-hat.

Maybe.

 

[samysound]

The incremental improvements should mostly be at the top end with lower tweeter distortion.

In theory.

From the tweeter crossover down, the two models should sound incredibly close.

For an even more hairsplitting difference, I recently compared my Dynaudio Contour 20 to the new Contour 20i. Same woofer, same cabinet volume, minor update to the new 'Hexis' tweeter.

I could *maybe* hear the difference on tracks with a lot of hi-hat.

Maybe.

I was under the impression that the woofer is a different design in the m126 vs m106. Perhaphs distortion is lower below the tweeter cross-over as well