Revel M106 vs M126Be: worth the upgrade?

[o2so]

That looks somewhat with consistent with what Amir measured with the F208 and F328Be. With respect to distortion, the F328Be showed better performance in the bass, but worse performance in the treble. Perhaps the M106/M126Be comparison is similar, and the soundstage measurement is off(or golden sample)? Looks a lot worse, though, which makes me skeptical.

Agree with you, the delta here is a bit too large... anyway I am inquiring with Revel via email and they are looking into it. I will let you know what they say.

 

[o2so]

I have returned the speakers and obtained a refund. They will investigate the cause of this and let me know anyway. I will share when I know more.

 

[vavan]

just another example that one should better measure every speaker even if purchased from distinguished manufacturer/dealer
as someone who suffered from excessive distortion in lsim 705 I know the hassles firsthand

 

[thewas]

So I managed to access a pair of M126Be, demo. I ran some measurements with REW and Umik and I am puzzled, to say the least, by the distortion measurements. This pair of M126Be shows a sharp rise in distortion between about 1,000 KHz and 8,000 KHz.
I have compared this with a pair of LS50 Meta (which I measured in the exact same way) and some old measurements of my M106, and the M126Be appear to perform significantly worse than both, ad in fact even worse than the measurements of M126Be published by Soundstage Network.

I firstly ran a simple sweep, then tried the stepped sine distortion method (the latter at very low level because everyone is asleep). I wonder if:
- I am doing something wrong, or
- both (??) these specific M126 Be are faulty. Odd that they both have the same problem though....no? or
- All M126 Be have a bit of a distortion problem (but this would not explain this)

Keen to have your thoughts.


M126 Be -speaker 1 - (normal sweep method):

View attachment 99224

M126Be - Speaker 2 - (normal sweep method)
View attachment 99225

LS50 Meta -Speaker 1 (normal sweep method)

View attachment 99226

LS50 Meta - Speaker 2 (normal sweep method)
View attachment 99227

Revel M106 (old measurement):

View attachment 99228

M126Be Speaker 1 - (stepped sine distortion method, 1m):
View attachment 99229

KEF LS50 Meta (stepped sine distortion method, 1m)
View attachment 99230

What I find interesting is that even in the lower bass (<100 Hz) where the strongly increasing distortion is the biggest limitation of the KEF LS50 (Meta) due to their small active bass surface, your Revel also there seem to do rather worse which is contradiction the the Sounstage measurements:

M126Be

LS50 Meta

How loud and at what distance were your sweeps?

 

[o2so]

What I find interesting is that even in the lower bass (<100 Hz) where the strongly increasing distortion is the biggest limitation of the KEF LS50 (Meta) due to their small active bass surface, your Revel also there seem to do rather worse which is contradiction the the Sounstage measurements:

M126Be
View attachment 99376

LS50 Meta
View attachment 99377

How loud and at what distance were your sweeps?

 

[o2so]

What I find interesting is that even in the lower bass (<100 Hz) where the strongly increasing distortion is the biggest limitation of the KEF LS50 (Meta) due to their small active bass surface, your Revel also there seem to do rather worse which is contradiction the the Sounstage measurements:

M126Be
View attachment 99376

LS50 Meta
View attachment 99377

How loud and at what distance were your sweeps?

The measurements with sweep were only taken to see if the bump in tweeter distortion was due to my methods or gear. Levs were not matched accurately although you can see that in both cases we are at about 75-80 dB.
The stepped sine distortion plots are a more accurate reflection of reality, taken at 1m in the same exact position. But again the levels were not matched as I was not interested in anything other than to make sure that the tweeter distortion in the revels was real.

 

[Chippyboy]

I have a pair of the m126Be and do not perceive rolled off highs. mine are about 7" (front wall to back of speaker) but I am using dirac (correction window 32hz to 5khz). Ill try to take measurement for reference a little later. It could also be that the B&W is elevated in treble. Here is graph from stereophile of the 805D3
View attachment 80084

Sorry to pick up on an old post but please can I ask if you are using the foam plugs for the reflex ports? I note you have your speakers pretty close to the wall and wondered what you found works best?

Thanks

 

[steveo242]

So I recently upgraded from the M106 to the M126Be and have found them to be a bit more scratchy. I just did this January 26th so I've been trying to break them in over the past few weeks. I think the comment of the M106 being Music lovers and the M126Be being more audiophile is completely accurate at this point. I'm hearing a lot more recording imperfections. At this point in time I am wishing I had not upgraded for the cost, but will wait to see if these soften after a few more months. Just some info.

 

[watchnerd]

So I recently upgraded from the M106 to the M126Be and have found them to be a bit more scratchy. I just did this January 26th so I've been trying to break them in over the past few weeks. I think the comment of the M106 being Music lovers and the M126Be being more audiophile is completely accurate at this point. I'm hearing a lot more recording imperfections. At this point in time I am wishing I had not upgraded for the cost, but will wait to see if these soften after a few more months. Just some info.

Since you’ve already had them for 3 weeks, if It sounds better in a few months, it’s more likely your brain adapted than the driver changed.

 

[RichB]

So I recently upgraded from the M106 to the M126Be and have found them to be a bit more scratchy. I just did this January 26th so I've been trying to break them in over the past few weeks. I think the comment of the M106 being Music lovers and the M126Be being more audiophile is completely accurate at this point. I'm hearing a lot more recording imperfections. At this point in time I am wishing I had not upgraded for the cost, but will wait to see if these soften after a few more months. Just some info.

I don't find the 123Bes "scratchy" at all. I have listened to them using these sources using Roon and a Raspbery PI3 Roon Bridge:

Oppo UPD-205 DAC -> AHB2
MiniDSP SHD -> AHB2

- Rich

 

[vavan]

I recently upgraded from the M106 to the M126Be and have found them to be a bit more scratchy

Do you happen to have measurement mic?

 

[steve59]

more often than not getting more transparent speakers will highlight weaknesses elsewhere in the system. adjusting toe in or moving speakers farther from reflecting surfaces can help. I had a bunch of recordings I loved with my mid fi system that became unlistenable after I bought my 'dream speakers'.

 

[o2so]

Do you happen to have measurement mic?

Yeah you might want to check those tweeters' distortion levels

 

[jonfitch]

I think the lower crossover (1700hz vs 2300hz) may improve the driver integration if you are listening closer than normal or at off angles, but in the farfield there probably is a lesser difference between the two other than pure FR differences.

 

[Ron Texas]

A few thoughts: 1. It's easier to spend other people's money, be warned. 2. If you blow a a tweeter in a 126Be, it's going to cost you a lot.

 

[Lsc]

A few thoughts: 1. It's easier to spend other people's money, be warned. 2. If you blow a a tweeter in a 126Be, it's going to cost you a lot.

Unless you buy it new, then it’s free for 5 years . And since it came out in 2018. Every 126Be should be under warranty.

I have the F228Be and upgraded from F208. The beryllium does make a noticeable difference. Just as a reference Tekton has a beryllium tweeter upgrade option for its Pendadragon or whatever it’s called and it costs $3000.

 

[jonfitch]

Unless you buy it new, then it’s free for 5 years . And since it came out in 2018. Every 126Be should be under warranty.

I have the F228Be and upgraded from F208. The beryllium does make a noticeable difference. Just as a reference Tekton has a beryllium tweeter upgrade option for its Pendadragon or whatever it’s called and it costs $3000.

Also I would think with how much of passive output boost the waveguide provides, it should be almost impossible to blow the tweeter without blowing the woofers first.

 

[blestin]

I wanted to chime in as I have quite a bit of experience with the Revel line, particularly the M106 and F226Be. I own the Revel M106, Philharmonic BMR, and have owned the F226Be for a week now.

Honestly the M106 is good and I really doubt you will hear any significant improvement by upgrading to a M126Be. I think the F206, F226Be and the Philharmonic BMR are much better than either the M106 or M126Be. Personally for me going from a 2-way M106 to a 3-way made a huge difference.

I think the biggest improvement you are going to see is going from a 2-way to a 3-way speaker such as the F206. I love both my F226Be and BMR, myM106 is good but just nothing special. I auditioned the M126be and thought it was good but just underwhelming for the price, if I upgraded to it from M106 I would be dissatisfied.

The F206 can be bought for 30% OFF MSRP from most dealers and its a bargain at that price, phenomenal speaker. The same goes for most of the Revel line. If you want to spend more get the F226be, all I can say is for whatever reason it is very lively and dynamic sounding even when compared to the F206.

Now between the F226be and BMR its kind off a toss up, I think most would prefer the F226be. I think objectively the F226be is better and subjectively I like the F226be better for the majority of content. Honestly I like them both very much, but mainly because the BMR does something special by throwing an enormously wide and almost enveloping sound stage. Best way I can describe it is that they really capture the atmosphere of the music with how wide the sound stage is. It’s just a pleasure to listen to them with well recorded music. I wanted to sell them once I got the F226be but decided to keep them for that reason.

I have not heard any other stand mount or tower that does it so well, especially in a big open room. I have not found BMR harsh or bright like some others have, but some old or poorly recorded music does not sound always great on them. They are not very dynamic, especially compared to the F226be. I think their phenomenal for music but a bit on the dull side for movies. Also, if you are not ear level with them they just don’t sound as good. It’s not as bad as some people have described it and not an issue if your sitting, but standing does change the sound significantly.

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

Why F208 instead?

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

Not