-
WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!
Revel M16 Speaker Review
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
Wonder if the newer method of testing would change any/much with the older models vs M126Be ?These are all Harman spins, of the Revel M105, M126Be, and Gem2. I think at least based on the Spins you could argue the M105 is actually the best measuring speaker.
I went ahead with that idea. The new chart is available in Loudspeaker Explorer right now.
And boy… I'm glad I did. I went back and looked at the results for previous measurements. I was shocked at the vast differences in listening window consistency between speakers. I'm sure @QMuse will love this.
Here are a few interesting examples.
The museum of horrors
The CMT-340 is especially interesting here. See how the (relatively) flat LW average hides absolutely horrendous behaviour at specific angles.
The odd angle
I wouldn't recommend listening to a Harbeth Monitor 30 at a -10° vertical angle!
"Toe-in as tone control"
The consistent ones
Wow, brilliant - your tool really enables an amazing insight!
The 'toe in as tone control' is something I employ with my setup (M16s, F35s) since my left speaker is along a wall but right side opens into my room. I get a full slate of reflections on the left, so that speaker faces the MLP directly and my right is toed in around 15 degrees or so, but not pointed directly at MLP, to match the tonality of the left.
That's awesome... Thank you for working so consistently on refining all of this.
I snagged a demo pair of M16s for a very good price. Have them now in place of the JBL 305P mk2 pair in the living room. What a difference. The clarity is simply amazing and the price becomes almost irrelevant. Too bad I need external amps. WAF is lower but I hoping I can get away with it. Thanks @amirm for the measurements; I just re-read your listening impressions and I am happy to say they reflect mine. Its great to see measurements and listening tests support one's conclusions. Obviously the review should be biasing me, but the difference with the JBLs is glaringly obvious.
Bear123
Addicted to Fun and Learning
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2019
- Messages
- 796
- Likes
- 1,377
Question. Why would the WAF be lower for what is arguably a more aesthetic, furniture grade small bookshelf speaker(M16) compared to a "plasticy" looking shiny black speaker without a grille? Is it the extra electronics needed that has the low WAF? How about something like the Yamaha WXA-50 that measures well and even has sub outs? Less obtrusive than a full sized AVR.
Also, interesting but a little surprising that you find the M16 *that* big of an improvement over the 305P. Glad that it turned out that way for you, to be sure! Congrats. Just surprised you found such a difference.
WAF is lower due to the larger size and more shiny surfaces.
I am surprised by the difference too, given I am all for active speakers with DSP. This is subjective, so I wouldn't trust even if it is my own opinion
WAF is just the aesthetic preferences of a different person, one should remember. There's absolutely no general preference that applies to everyone. I've (non-scientifically) polled a number of people, male and female, about the appearance of the Genelecs I've been planning to buy, and you'd be surprised how wide ranging the answers are about whether they look good in a living room or not.
But almost no matter what you're buying, you can always improve the answers *from everybody* by matching colors appropriately
But almost no matter what you're buying, you can always improve the answers *from everybody* by matching colors appropriately
I think mine would have to be behind a screen before they'd get a positive esthetic vote...
That's my plan for the new house. If it's hidden behind cloth, it can be as ugly as sin!
Personally speaking, I don’t like having any visible speakers in a home theater. An acoustically transparent screen is what I use to place my speakers behind and give it a more “theater” feel. Which works out well because all my DIY speakers are ugly as sin. I don’t have patience for finishing work.
At least you have the tools, space, and energy for all but the finishing. I'll bet you just don't have the particulate free filtered air type room for finishing!
Alice of Old Vincennes
Major Contributor
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2019
- Messages
- 1,574
- Likes
- 1,011
How do you hide your ugly surrounds?Personally speaking, I don’t like having any visible speakers in a home theater. An acoustically transparent screen is what I use to place my speakers behind and give it a more “theater” feel. Which works out well because all my DIY speakers are ugly as sin. I don’t have patience for finishing work.
I close my eyes.
He doesn't look back. Screen is anyway in front of you so if your eyes are wondering around you should look for a better movie instead of hiding your speakers.
Last edited:
I tried PM’ing you, amirm. I would like to send in a JBL XPL-90 to see how a classic design compares to modern speakers? Same tweeter and 6.5” mid bass as the XPL-200. (No titanium midrange or woofer.)
Intellectually I'd also be interested in the S16 and C25 comparison to the M16 when assuming subwoofers. Practically this is probably too much focus on revel vs more coverage on other brands.
S16 is basically the M16 in a less deep enclosure with no port and 1.8KHz crossover, plus a less boxy design to presumably try and reduce the boundary effect. The lower crossover might help the woofer strain and if you were going to block the ports on the M16 as you were using them close to a wall anyway then the S16 might be even better due to the boundary improvement. Yes you would lose the low end, but presumably only in the region that a sub could takeover.
The C25 - looks like it could be rotated and used as a bookshelf which would also suit it's tweeter waveguide better by the look of things. Like the S16 it's sealed but with two 5.25" woofers which would reduce the strain at crossover. Potentially it may behave more like the F35 until lower frequencies. Same again on the low end being weak compared to the M16, but presumably again covered by a sub.
S16 is basically the M16 in a less deep enclosure with no port and 1.8KHz crossover, plus a less boxy design to presumably try and reduce the boundary effect. The lower crossover might help the woofer strain and if you were going to block the ports on the M16 as you were using them close to a wall anyway then the S16 might be even better due to the boundary improvement. Yes you would lose the low end, but presumably only in the region that a sub could takeover.
The C25 - looks like it could be rotated and used as a bookshelf which would also suit it's tweeter waveguide better by the look of things. Like the S16 it's sealed but with two 5.25" woofers which would reduce the strain at crossover. Potentially it may behave more like the F35 until lower frequencies. Same again on the low end being weak compared to the M16, but presumably again covered by a sub.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #380
I can pick up an S16 at a later date and test.
Similar threads
