Revel M16 Speaker Review

[YSC]

I've been using RoomEQ wizard to calibrate the FR via EQ APO.....I've had great success with this in the past, but it hasn't helped with my m16s on this occasion.

However, I'd like try these speakers in a bigger room to see how much my current listening room is a factor...

interesting, could you show the before and after EQ results?

 

[aido78]

GREEN = PRE
BLUE = POST

Measurements are with both rear ports stuff with acoustic foam and around 2 meters out from from wall...

 

[dominikz]

GREEN = PRE
BLUE = POSTView attachment 312801

The measurement looks a bit strange to me (I also own and use the M16), may I ask:

• This is a single sweep measurement, right? (I.e. not a moving microphone method (MMM) measurement or a spatial average of multiple sweeps?)
  With such measurements I'd strongly advise against doing full-range correction, as that will try to fix comb-filtering effects typical for the measurement method, which will cause irregularities to the on-axis response and will surely sound worse.
  Even in general I'd advise to only do below ~300Hz correction for well-measuring loudspeakers (such as M16) rather than full-range correction. I'd only try correcting above ~300Hz based on anechoic measurements (and not based on the in-room measurement like you show above).
• How far is your listening position from the loudspeakers? The target seems too flat to me (no slope), and IME that can only work in the very nearfield.
• You seem to have significant suckout in the 80-200Hz range; have you tried to push the loudspeakers closer to the back wall to address this?
• Due to suckout the PEQ correction you did seems to have significant boost filters. This can cause issues (bass bloat) at other listening positions - personally I prefer to optimize the loudspeaker position to reduce suckout as much as possible (or better yet: use a subwoofer to significantly reduce SBIR) and then only use subtractive PEQ to bring down peaks. That IMHO works much better and results in less issues in other listening positions.
• Lastly, I'd strongly suggest to use MMM and the REW "variable" smoothing as basis for PEQ, with a sloped target that approximates the natural slope of the loudspeaker >500Hz. Perhaps these short instructions may be of help (note that this was for a desktop system so I also used a flat target; for listening from further away a sloped target is more appropriate).

Hope this helps!

 

[YSC]

GREEN = PRE
BLUE = POST

Measurements are with both rear ports stuff with acoustic foam and around 2 meters out from from wall...


View attachment 312801

correction to in room flat at MLP isn't a good idea, also not good for full range correction.... try to do only cut only EQ below 200hz and leave the others intact should be much better

 

[aido78]

cool, will try the suggestions out.

 

[dominikz]

cool, will try the suggestions out.

Let us know how it goes

Measurements are with both rear ports stuff with acoustic foam and around 2 meters out from from wall...

I'd also suggest to unplug the ports - especially if you don't have a sub. Room EQ and loudspeaker positioning should take care of the bass bloom, and the port should give you more headroom and LF extension.

EDIT: In case it helps, I did quite a lot of experimentation with my M16; here's links to a few posts that might be useful:

• Quasi-anechoic spinorama and various basic measurements
• Distortion, effects of plugging the port and EQ presets (based on quasi-anechoic data)
• Listening impressions and measurements of various EQ presets and port plug
• Some experimentation with room EQ in REW

 

[aido78]

brilliant thanks.

 

[KRACER]

I found the subwoofer used in m16 on a second-hand item website in China. They look the same and the price is very cheap, only RMB 125 yuan.

 

[Laserjock]

View attachment 318270I found the subwoofer used in m16 on a second-hand item website in China. They look the same and the price is very cheap, only RMB 125 yuan.

Just need one more, two cabinets, two tweeters and two crossovers and you’ll have a pair of speakers.

 

[marX]

Love my Revel M16s. Fantastic compared to the Kef Q350 and their Reference floorstanders. Very natural sounding with the Fosi V3 amp, in my subjective opinion.

 

[AVKS]

I've been using an Android phone as a streamer for years and just recently gained the ability to connect to my work computer instead (Spotify HQ--> E50). My lord, I swear that bumping the Android audio processing out of the chain has made a very notable difference in the audio quality, not so much night and day per se but much better in terms of dynamics and general clarity.

Now, I put that comment in here because I have M16s on my desk and feel they represented any change very well but ended up swapping them out for some B&W 607s that a friend insisted I try... my lord, that was an unpleasant time. Putting the Revels back on the desk just made it clear how pleasing and effortless these speakers are. I'm not a big EQ guy so only a couple of db down on that midbass hump and the magic is just there, no fuss and no muss. Very nice to just relax and enjoy the music without reaching for EQ every song.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

What’s the closest you’d position these for listening?

Could you get away with 1.5m (5’)?

 

[Pauper]

I've been using an Android phone as a streamer for years and just recently gained the ability to connect to my work computer instead (Spotify HQ--> E50). My lord, I swear that bumping the Android audio processing out of the chain has made a very notable difference in the audio quality, not so much night and day per se but much better in terms of dynamics and general clarity.

Now, I put that comment in here because I have M16s on my desk and feel they represented any change very well but ended up swapping them out for some B&W 607s that a friend insisted I try... my lord, that was an unpleasant time. Putting the Revels back on the desk just made it clear how pleasing and effortless these speakers are. I'm not a big EQ guy so only a couple of db down on that midbass hump and the magic is just there, no fuss and no muss. Very nice to just relax and enjoy the music without reaching for EQ every song.

Same here . I replaced Dali Spektor 2’s with M16’s and loving them. The Dali’s are very good by the way. Using them with a Cambridge CXA61

 

[AVKS]

What’s the closest you’d position these for listening?

Could you get away with 1.5m (5’)?

Mine are 2' or less from my ears and 2.5-3' between them. They sound great. 5' will be fine.

 

[dominikz]

What’s the closest you’d position these for listening?

Could you get away with 1.5m (5’)?

While I was doing measurements on my pair I noticed that after around 0,75m/2,5ft away there is no significant change to the direct sound response. So 5ft/1,5m should definitely be more than far enough.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Thanks everyone.

I’ve emailed Revel for their own thoughts.

 

[nathan]

Am I reading the specs right on these versus the S16 speakers in the same lineup. These obviously go lower by an octave so in situations without a subwoofer these would be preference. But the S16 is several decibels more sensitive and has slightly higher power handling, so in theory could get notably louder without distress?

 

[Chromatischism]

I have 4 of them for surround duty and while they don't produce much bass they are very impressive for their size. Very neutral and have no trouble getting loud.

 

[rynberg]

Am I reading the specs right on these versus the S16 speakers in the same lineup. These obviously go lower by an octave so in situations without a subwoofer these would be preference. But the S16 is several decibels more sensitive and has slightly higher power handling, so in theory could get notably louder without distress?

I would not use the S16s as mains...they are tuned to roll off higher in the bass. The cabinet and design is a compromise to achieve a low-profile on wall configuration and I would never get them over the M16 for mains. I say this as someone who uses the S16 as surrounds in conjunction with F206 and C208 mains.

 

[nathan]

Good to know. I don't need bass. In fact I prefer sealed speakers that roll off a little below 80hz, to comply with the THX approach to bass management with the right kind of controlled roll off. And the fact they don't go so low means they can have higher output for their size, as well.

I would love to see someone do a compression comparison between the two. Seems a reasonable assumption the S16 will compress less than the M16, so if the M16 was enough in my space, replacement them with the S16 (space is at a premium) should work just fine?