Revel PerformaBe F226Be Floorstanding Speaker Review

[ahofer]

That guy has no idea what he is talking about. If you can listen to a minute of this without cringing, you are a stronger man than I. He is so far up his own butt that he gives the Buchardt engineers tips by throwing out random ideas such as "ditch the sand-cast resistors...I don't know..." Mortifying. You are well advised to ignore him completely.

Wow. Low bar. I suppose it's better than Beekhuyzen reading the manufacturers' claims as if he was imparting deep technological knowledge.

 

[RichB]

Hi hardisj,
first of all, thanks for your wonderful and objective review, I've bought a pair of F226be after reading your review

However I've recently viewed the subjective review from "New Record Day" on Youtube:

In this review he complain about F226be:
- bass has no definition and texture at all, because the woofer material is aluminium and not paper.
- midrange has not so much clarity, details or resolution like other speaker do
- tweeter is too polite without much "life"

However he praise the soundstage and all objective measurement.

Do you agree with his opinions ?

thanks
Emanuele

Actually, I find the presentation lacking in definition and detail.
What we learned about the Revels is not much.
It is precisely because of this "circle of confusion" that Harman embarked on the spinorma and blind listening tests performed by trained listeners.

If you want real data, read this review and watch the video that includes measurements.
Revel PerformaBe F226Be Floorstanding Speaker Review (erinsaudiocorner.com)

- Rich

 

[Emanuele74]

Nope.
Edit: I don't have time to watch that video so I am going simply by your paraphrasing.



And with all due respect to Ron, that whole 'paper vs aluminum' thing is ridiculous and it comes up way too often. The midbass drivers don't play anywhere near their beaming point; much less beyond that where cone type actually matters. They are crossed quite steep... IIRC L4 slopes. Aside from that, if you look at the NF measurements you can see that there is no cone breakup at all (a pointer to the proper coating and the slope). They are purely pistonic; there are no modal issues here. There is no reason at all to think the cone material will matter at these low frequencies. I really wish people would stop perpetuating that kind of stuff.

I agree with you Erin, moreover what I found difficult to understand is that those drivers are working perfectly pistonic, with such a low distortion, low compression and excellent measurement, yet he says that Revel F226be sound have "low detail, resolution and clarity"

 

[hardisj]

I agree with you Erin, moreover what I found difficult to understand is that those drivers are working perfectly pistonic, with such a low distortion, low compression and excellent measurement, yet he says that Revel F226be sound have "low details, resolution and clarity"

Who knows, man. Maybe it's expectation bias. Maybe he just has different definition for those terms than I/you/others do. I try not to worry about what others say unless they have some way to back it up.

 

[cookiefactory]

These were among the speakers (including Paradigm Persona 7F, KEF Blade 1) I recently demoed at a local dealer. I enjoyed the Blades and at the time thought their sound was exceptionally integrated (mind you this was before doing some research and learning the whole point source thing is their design philosophy).

The Persona 7F were very underwhelming, and I'd even go as far as saying I did not like them. The dealer seemed at a loss for words when I told him as much.

My impression of the F226Bes were that they didn't do anything wrong. Some might consider that to mean "slightly better than average" but in my book that's just about the highest praise I could give for a speaker.

 

[ahofer]

These were among the speakers (including Paradigm Persona 7F, KEF Blade 1) I recently demoed at a local dealer. I enjoyed the Blades and at the time thought their sound was exceptionally integrated (mind you this was before doing some research and learning the whole point source thing is their design philosophy).

The Persona 7F were very underwhelming, and I'd even go as far as saying I did not like them. The dealer seemed at a loss for words when I told him as much.

My impression of the F226Bes were that they didn't do anything wrong. Some might consider that to mean "slightly better than average" but in my book that's just about the highest praise I could give for a speaker.

Did you go to Audio Doctor in NJ?

 

[cookiefactory]

Did you go to Audio Doctor in NJ?

Negative. I take it they have the exact same models on demo? Must be a coincidence...

 

[MarkS]

yet he says that Revel F226be sound have "low detail, resolution and clarity"

Maybe he's a moron.

Who the f*** cares what some dude on the internet says?

 

[AdamG]

I agree with you Erin, moreover what I found difficult to understand is that those drivers are working perfectly pistonic, with such a low distortion, low compression and excellent measurement, yet he says that Revel F226be sound have "low detail, resolution and clarity"

Welcome Aboard @Emanuele74.

 

[Chromatischism]

He lost me with the "time domain" comments on the top end and the "tone" due to aluminum drivers.

 

[Beave]

He has an entire section of "Cable Reviews" on his Youtube channel. So you just KNOW he's legit.

 

[Beave]

That guy has no idea what he is talking about. If you can listen to a minute of this without cringing, you are a stronger man than I. He is so far up his own butt that he gives the Buchardt engineers tips by throwing out random ideas such as "ditch the sand-cast resistors...I don't know..." Mortifying. You are well advised to ignore him completely.

Holy crap that's a bunch of unholy crap!

 

[Dennis Murphy]

He lost me with the "time domain" comments on the top end and the "tone" due to aluminum drivers.

I always thought this dude was a phony. Nice to see it proven.

 

[JackStraw5877]

I am an active reader of this wonderful site, and have learned so much since I registered. I don’t post much, but feel compelled to reply to this thread...

Hurling ad hominem at someone with whom we disagree is unsavory at best, and beneath this site in general.

 

[hardisj]

Hurling ad hominem at someone with whom we disagree is unsavory at best, and beneath this site in general.

I agree.

FWIW, I've talked to Ron a few times. I haven't watched all his videos but have watched a couple. He does provide measurements and he has asked me about providing him SPIN data for items he reviews. While I may not agree with his assessments, I don't think that's worthy of the excess of language we have going on. Plus, as fellow reviewer, I don't want that kind of negativity in one of my threads, TBH. So, let's try to keep the words on the more civil side.

 

[RichB]

Holy crap that's a bunch of unholy crap!

The 15:30 paper cone driver stuff, Lot's of hand-waving and protestations of "I don't know".
Agreed, he does not know.

This review is going to costs sales, so there is that.

- Rich

 

[JackStraw5877]

I agree.

FWIW, I've talked to Ron a few times. I haven't watched all his videos but have watched a couple. He does provide measurements and he has asked me about providing him SPIN data for items he reviews. While I may not agree with his assessments, I don't think that's worthy of the excess of language we have going on. Plus, as fellow reviewer, I don't want that kind of negativity in one of my threads, TBH. So, let's try to keep the words on the more civil side.

Well put, Sir.

 

[RichB]

I agree.

FWIW, I've talked to Ron a few times. I haven't watched all his videos but have watched a couple. He does provide measurements and he has asked me about providing him SPIN data for items he reviews. While I may not agree with his assessments, I don't think that's worthy of the excess of language we have going on. Plus, as fellow reviewer, I don't want that kind of negativity in one of my threads, TBH. So, let's try to keep the words on the more civil side.

I get that but I think there is way too much hand-waving for my tastes.

- Rich

 

[hardisj]

I get that but I think there is way too much hand-waving for my tastes.

- Rich

Understood. I am all for being critical. But maybe without the name-calling. That's all.

 

[JackStraw5877]

I get that but I think there is way too much hand-waving for my tastes.

- Rich

With respect, who cares?