Revel M16 Speaker Review

[lordhumungous]

Can you name them? I'm sure others will be curious.

Tekton is one .

 

[will.b]

Revel are getting harder to get hold of in the UK. Only Superfi out of the national chains seem to stock them (30% off the M16’s at the moment). I bought a pair of ex-display M16‘s from Richer Sounds for £380 ($525) last week. I wasn’t planning to ‘up grade’, but it was way too good a deal to pass up. I was curious to see how they would compare to my PMC Twenty5 21’s (RRP £2000 when they were the current model).

Subjective impressions are as good as I’d hoped. The PMC’s are going!

Thanks for the tip (exactly my thinking).
I gave RS a ring last week and picked up a pair for £420. Cheaper than my Elac's.
I'll have to decide where they go now.

 

[testp]

do everyone think there is a new version coming out soon if they are selling it out?

i'm starting to consider these over Kef R3s...

 

[lordhumungous]

do everyone think there is a new version coming out soon if they are selling it out?

i'm starting to consider these over Kef R3s...

not sure but i prefer the Revel's over the R3's

 

[Shadders]

Hi,
Not been able to read all through 27 pages, but what was the power amp level/SPL for the THD measurements on page one of the thread ?
Thanks and regards,
Shadders.

 

[nathan]

I'm trying to read the vertical dispersion results to understand how far ABOVE the tweeter axis one can listen without problems. (I use three of these along my front sound stage and since my display is at ear level, the center speaker sits lower than the left and right.)

I think my 20 degree angle is just on the borderline of introducing issues based on what I hear. But this graph would be definitive.....if I could figure out which gray line is which gray line....

This graph appears to confirm that things get a little wonky between 2000 and 3000 (??) hz if one is sitting very far off the vertical axis?

I will be adding tilt to the speaker stand, which will put my ears closer to being on axis vertically.

 

[abdo123]

I'm trying to read the vertical dispersion results to understand how far ABOVE the tweeter axis one can listen without problems. (I use three of these along my front sound stage and since my display is at ear level, the center speaker sits lower than the left and right.)

I think my 20 degree angle is just on the borderline of introducing issues based on what I hear. But this graph would be definitive.....if I could figure out which gray line is which gray line....

View attachment 145064

This graph appears to confirm that things get a little wonky between 2000 and 3000 (??) hz if one is sitting very far off the vertical axis?

View attachment 145065


I will be adding tilt to the speaker stand, which will put my ears closer to being on axis vertically.

you're much better off using @MZKM's directivity graphs Vertical normalized to be exact.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...xTbglCpawDi6uZdRSqyZzKWQNCbSpM7K2npZ/pubhtml#

 

[nathan]

Thanks. Looks like 10% is the sweet spot (pun intended) and that between 10 and 20% off vertical axis things get impacted quite significantly.

 

[BYRTT]

Thanks. Looks like 10% is the sweet spot (pun intended) and that between 10 and 20% off vertical axis things get impacted quite significantly.

View attachment 145070

Agree you spot on and better tilt them if not within +/-10º verticals ..

 

[MZKM]

Thanks. Looks like 10% is the sweet spot

And for anyone needing some quick maths:

tan(10°)•distance=height

So 10ft away would put it at ~21” above tweeter.

 

[abdo123]

Thanks. Looks like 10% is the sweet spot (pun intended) and that between 10 and 20% off vertical axis things get impacted quite significantly.

View attachment 145070

I'm not sure, it seems like the response is already 2-3dB down at +/- 10 degrees. would not recommend sitting off vertical axis at all.

 

[nathan]

I'm not sure, it seems like the response is already 2-3dB down at +/- 10 degrees. would not recommend sitting off vertical axis at all.

Well, yes, "sweet spot" may be stretching the terminology a bit

Certainly on axis vertically is better, and 10% has some compromise. That being said, it seems like 20% is where swings start to exceed 5db, which is particularly problematic.

I'm gonna do my best to tilt them to get as close to on axis vertically as possible, and not accept anything that exceeds 10%.

 

[nathan]

And for anyone needing some quick maths:

tan(10°)•distance=height

So 10ft away would put it at ~21” above tweeter.

Thanks for doing that math. (Or I should say putting the equation out there.)

That means with my current setup with ZERO tilt I am just about hitting that 10 degree limit. The stand I'm looking at will likely raise the speaker an inch. The stand will definitely add 6 degrees of tilt without doing anything special.

So that will place me under 4 degrees off axis. Not perfect but pretty decent.

Then, if I monkey with the spikes a little, making them lower in back than in front, that gives me a few more degrees.

 

[USER]

Hey @amirm, any plans on updating the distortion measurements for these speakers? The one available (at what I assume is 86 dB) is fascinating not just because of resonance at the area of transition but also because of what seems to be super low bass distortion (best in class???). It would be interesting to see how it performs at 96 dB. Thanks.

 

[nathan]

I suspect he sent this back to the owner a long time ago.....

 

[USER]

I suspect he sent this back to the owner a long time ago.....

The unit reviewed is his own (he states so in the review). He uses it from time to time for comparison with other speakers.

 

[nathan]

Sorry, I see he bought it last year but I didn't see any mention that he kept it.

 

[Acerun]

Is the C25 the obvious center channel speaker for use with the M16s?

 

[nathan]

I would use an M16.

 

[Acerun]

I would use an M16.

Might sound great but I can't see that working aesthetically. ;-)