Tks
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I don't know how but I got talked into now taking 4 SPL and distortion measurements:
Especially since one of them is 66dB
What's anyone going to do with that?
I don't know how but I got talked into now taking 4 SPL and distortion measurements:
same feel here... 75db I understand as that as about right for low level background music, but 66...No but seriously... what is the point of a distortion measurement this low in level???? Lol.
Talk over Rippingtons and Brian Culbertson with a nice drink.Especially since one of them is 66dB
What's anyone going to do with that?
A lot of people are using the M55XC and the M80XC indoors (in particular in atmos setups) in either on wall or on ceiling. I sent in this particular one and was more interested with the grill off. I did a measurement of the M55XC with grill on vs grill off posted here. If I get time I will do a measurement of the M80xc with grill on/off as well. But if someone was planning on using them with the grill on it would be better for the grill on. But ... Amir only has so much time and it would obviously would be unreasonable to do both due to the length of time/effort it takes to do one of these reviews when he has so many products to do.Seeing as these are outdoor speakers where the grill would most probably stay in place and never be removed for listening, don’t you think it would have made more sense to conduct the measurements with the grill on? That potentially could have reduced the brightness a bit.
This is a review and detailed measurements of the Revel M80XC outdoor speaker. It was kindly purchased by a member and drop shipped to me for testing. It costs US $900 a pair.
Note: our company, Madrona Digital is a custom integration company and is a dealer for Harman brands such as Revel. So feel free to read what you want into my subjective remarks (objective tests use the same protocol as any other speaker).
As outdoor speakers go, the M80XC is on the larger size but attractively finished:
View attachment 155606
Owner wanted it tested without the grill and this is how it looks:
View attachment 155607
As you see a waveguide is used to better control the directivity (how wide the beam is) as woofer transitions to tweeter. There are no ports as you see in the back:
View attachment 155608
Variable impedance is provided so you can drive it at much higher voltages (to compensate for long runs of speaker wire). And of course plenty of mounting options.
Measurements that you are about to see were performed using the Klippel Near-field Scanner (NFS). This is a robotic measurement system that analyzes the speaker all around and is able (using advanced mathematics and dual scan) to subtract room reflections (so where I measure it doesn't matter). It also measures the speaker at close distance ("near-field") which sharply reduces the impact of room noise. Using computational acoustics, far-field response is computed and that is what I present. Both of these factors enable testing in ordinary rooms yet results that can be more accurate than an anechoic chamber.
I performed over 1000 measurement which resulted in error rate of about 1%. Clean high frequency response is responsible for ease of measurement in this regard.
Reference axis is approximately the center of the tweeter. Grill was not used.
Revel M80XC Measurements
Acoustic measurements can be grouped in a way that can be perceptually analyzed to determine how good a speaker is and how it can be used in a room. This so called spinorama shows us just about everything we need to know about the speaker with respect to tonality and some flaws:
View attachment 155609
On axis response is marred by drooping of the bass response and a couple of resonances. Directivity is good though as we will confirm later. We can see the cause of the resonances in driver response:
View attachment 155610
Our off-axis response is actually better than on-axis:
View attachment 155611
Overall though, there is insufficient bass for the amount of treble we have:
View attachment 155612
Impedance and phase graph show one of the resonances:
View attachment 155613
As noted, directivity is excellent:
View attachment 155614
View attachment 155615\
This is almost studio monitor class directivity control! This should make it produce wider response with similar frequency response and show less sensitivity to its environment. Here is our 3-D baloon during the crossover transition showing good response:
View attachment 155621
Vertically we have the usual issue with 2-way non-coaxial response so aim the speaker to where people's heads are:
View attachment 155616
I don't know how but I got talked into now taking 4 SPL and distortion measurements:
View attachment 155617
At 66 dBSPL distortion is actually below noise floor of the room in low frequencies. And falls off the chart at higher frequencies. As we increase the level, we see mainly the woofer distortion sticking out:
View attachment 155619
Without a port, woofer is staying in control and not going above 100% THD.
Here are the relative distortions for the last two levels:
View attachment 155620
Revel M80XC Listening Tests
I can't simulate outdoor listening indoor so I tested the M80 just like any other hifi speaker. Out of the box, the sound is clear with highs accentuated. Power handling is superb allowing me to get to ear bleeding levels with no hint of bottoming out.
To get rid of the brightness, I used some EQ:
View attachment 155622
The dialed in filters are quick and dirty but were enough to give the speaker more substantial bass and tamed the brightness. The narrow resonance fix had a very subtle effect. Once there, I could enjoy these speakers as if there were truly hi-fi speakers with no reservations. Indeed they would beat many bookshelf speakers out there!
Conclusions
There is definitely care in design of the Revel M80XC for a market that usually doesn't consider such. Cost, looks and dealer margins rule there. If the tuning had more bass and/or less highs, this would be a fantastic speaker regardless of application. As is, it needs a bit of EQ to make it less bright and bring the bass more forward. Once there, it is a very competent design, one that I would be happy to use in a hifi system.
I am going to recommend the Revel M80XC.
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
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Revel M80XC APO EQ LW 96000Hz
September272021-102204
Preamp: -3 dB
Filter 1: ON HPQ Fc 53.20, 0.00, 1.20
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 112.03, -1.21, 3.26
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 256.31, 1.65, 1.70
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 1019.47, -1.54, 3.78
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 1178.17, 2.40, 3.95
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 1963.96, -2.82, 3.30
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 15853.64, 2.96, 2.59
Revel M80XC APO EQ Score 96000Hz
September272021-101147
Preamp: -2.7 dB
Filter 1: ON HPQ Fc 53.25, 0.00, 1.19
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 112.34, -1.26, 3.89
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 251.49, 1.62, 2.21
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 986.26, -1.56, 3.81
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 1187.22, 1.84, 3.87
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 2002.07, -3.20, 2.97
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 7582.10, -1.36, 1.20
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 15819.70, 2.94, 2.45
Did you mount your M80XC's on ceiling or on wall?Great review @amirm ! I run 4x M80XC as overheads and they work great. The combination of sound quality and mounting flexibility is really what sets them apart. It's helpful to see that they have some vertical dispersion issues so I'll need to repoint them at the MLP. Thanks!
It might be impossible to create coaxial sealed outdoor speaker due to the gap between tweeter and midrange.Coaxial outdoor speakers would be nice but I've never seen one. Less worrying about putting them at head height vs seating height vs raising them and pointing down, and getting them far enough away that nobody is in an irregular response area while then worrying about having them louder due to the distance, which then makes them even louder for those they are closest to, etc.
It might be impossible to create coaxial sealed outdoor speaker due to the gap between tweeter and midrange.
I have some Tannoy DVS6’s and 4’s that I’m using for outdoor speakers. They are fine for the task.Coaxial outdoor speakers would be nice but I've never seen one. Less worrying about putting them at head height vs seating height vs raising them and pointing down, and getting them far enough away that nobody is in an irregular response area while then worrying about having them louder due to the distance, which then makes them even louder for those they are closest to, etc.
Coaxial outdoor speakers would be nice but I've never seen one.