Alright, the speakers are here and I've conducted my "shootout".
First, I'll provide some general observations regarding the Revel PerformaBe speakers.
My wife is sick to death of my speaker shenanigans, so to calm the waters, I allowed her to choose the color scheme for the Revels. She selected black for the F426Be center (yes!), but white for the F226Be towers (UGH). I'd have never chosen white in a thousand years, as I think it's generally just far too loud of a color in large amounts (no pun intended), but I'm also happy to give credit where it's due. The white floorstanders are gorgeous and blend with the decor of the room perfectly. I love the contrast with the black center as well. Good call by her!
After getting the speakers positioned, just for kicks I performed a brief knuckle tap test on the cabinets of the Sierras and Revels. I thought that the Sierras were really inert (they are), but the Revels just sound dead when you hit them on the sides. Impressive. The Revel towers are a few pounds heavier than the Sierras, but were pretty easy to haul downstairs and maneuver. On the other hand, that center is a beast - noticeably bulkier and heavier than the towers. I was very happy once I got it settled onto the entertainment center.
Now onto the important stuff...
***WARNING***: What follows is a largely un-scientific, sighted comparison of two sets of speakers. There was only one participant (me) with his own biases and preconceptions to deal with and work around (whether successfully or otherwise). Should you find such activities mostly (if not utterly) worthless, you are more than welcome to exit this topic and engage in more productive uses of your time. I completely understand and take no offense.
Preparation / biases: My goal in embarking on this endeavor was to finally settle on my end-game speakers - well, at least end-game for the next decade or two. Once the kids have gone off on their own and are financially independent, who knows? I came very close with the Ascends. While they are wonderful speakers, I feel like they don't quite make it all the way to hitting the depth and heft I'm looking for. I'd love to fill in that small gap, and to do so without making sizable - if any - compromises.
To help mentally prepare myself for as unbiased a sighted comparison as I could muster, I told myself that no matter which set of speakers wins, so do I.
If the Sierras win: They're already here and settled in, I've got them EQ'd, and if they can best speakers that retail for twice the price, well, I'm probably not going to do any better. I'll continue to tweak and further address shortcomings of my room to try to dial in whatever additional performance is possible. I can then pack up the Revels and reclaim THOUSANDS of dollars.
If the Revels win: Alright, am I done? Yes, for goodness' sake, yes. Done. I've spent more money than I'd have preferred to, sure, but I'm done (or am I? Hmm...wait for the end).
Preconceptions: The Sierras will have better high end. The Revels will sound slightly "bigger". Will either be true? If so, by how much? Again, I did my utmost to purge such thoughts from my mind and just listen. These aren't speakers in the room, just noises. Shut your eyes and listen, dammit. Good? Good. Let's go.
First off, I configured the speakers in an ABAB fashion, with 8 feet between each set and 8 feet between them and the MLP. For fun, I listened to a few songs with both speakers in full range (Pure Direct), no subs, no EQ, no nothing.
The first thing I noticed is that, yikes, the Revels are getting smoked. Why? Well, one reason was that they weren't toe'd-in much at all. The Ascends don't seem to much care where they're pointed, so I've been using them with a only a very slight toe-in, and I started off the same with the Revels. No good in my room. I pointed each Revel tower at the MLP and they immediately sounded much better. I also found that the Revels were down about 2dB vs the Sierras, so I would need to level-match for all testing going forward. Ok, let's start again. The next surprise: Despite being down on woofer displacement, the Sierra's low end was...better? Well, slightly punchier and more detailed, even louder - yes. One reason may be that they are rear-ported, and the Revels are front-ported. Being about a foot off the back wall, the Sierras were likely getting some bass boost. Frankly, I wasn't as discerning with this testing as I always use subs for both movies and 2 channel music, but seat of the pants impression was the that Sierras were sounding better overall.
Alright, enough of that. Let's get down to the real 2 channel music test. For these comparisons, room correction and EQ were off. Subs were engaged and crossovers set to 80Hz. I chose a variety of songs that I'm familiar with. If you're not, I'd suggest giving them a listen so you have a frame of reference to work from.
Eugene Ruffolo - Poor Lonesome Me
Revels: Acoustic guitar sounds good but slightly muffled. Strong, smooth vocals with good dynamics.
Sierras: Whoa, there's the guitar sound I'm familiar with - crisp, detailed. It sounds like it's in the room with you. Similar vocals, but slightly more forward.
Winner: Sierras by a moderate amount.
Blind Melon - No Rain
Sierras: Sharp, crisp, but not super dimensional. Vocals are clear and prominent.
Revels: Great imaging and good texture. Vocals are more recessed and behind the instruments.
Winner: Revels by a very slight amount.
Marion Rampal - Youkali
Sierras: Vocals eerily natural, she sounds like she's right in front of you. Very centered and detailed. Bassoon is textured and breathy.
Revels: Vocals smooth and clear but slightly recessed and boxy in comparison. Bassoon more forward.
Winner: Sierras by a moderate amount.
Norah Jones - I've Got To See You Again
Revels: Good depth. Vocals are breathy and blended with instruments. Good dimension.
Sierras: Smoother, not quite as deep. Vocals are more forward.
Winner: Tie
Laura Marling - Soothing
Sierras: Punchy but tight drum and bass. Vocals are wow. It sounds like she's right in front of your face.
Revels: Bass more forward. Drum is boomier. Vocals are boxier.
Winner: Sierras by a solid amount.
Radiohead - Daily Mail
Sierras: Crisp vocals. Good piano imaging. Guitar gets a little muddy when loud. Sounds more intimate, even when it opens up towards the end.
Revels: Piano sounds more natural and present in the room. Vocals are warmer / smoother. When the song gets loud, it sounds bigger and more coherent.
Winner: Revels by a solid amount.
Pete Belasco - Deeper
Revels: Smooth, decent imaging. Vocals blend with instruments.
Sierras: Crisper and punchier. Imaging is similar. Vocals are more prominent.
Winner: Sierras by a slight amount.
Tool - Pneuma
Sierras: Punchy, but a little muddy. Vocals sharp. The track sounded a little harsh at times.
Revels: Wow! Smooth, better blended. Big sound when the song really gets going.
Winner: Revels by a very solid amount.
Eagles - Hotel California - Live from Hell Freezes Over
Revels: Smooth acoustic guitars. Nice immersive sound of applause. Bongos slightly recessed. Imaging awesome. Vocals balanced but a little recessed at times.
Sierras: Acoustic guitars sharper / more detailed. Applause a little flatter, not as "live" sounding. Bongos slightly punchier. Imaging a bit fuzzier. Vocals forward.
Winner: Revels by a slight amount.
Art Pepper - Jazz Me Blues
I was particularly looking forward to this one as I'm a (permanently aspiring) jazz drummer and Philly Joe Jones is one of my favorites. It's also a very high-quality recording.
Revels: Tom hits sound great, very life-like. Breathy saxophone. Snare drum is textured if slightly recessed. Ride cymbal has good dynamics.
Sierras: Saxophone is sharper. Drums sound a tinge thinner / boxier. Ride cymbal sounds excellent. Hi-hats more forward.
Winner: Revels by a slight amount.
Mozart - Dies Irae
Sierras: Highs prominent. Some instruments seem recessed in comparison.
Revels: Fuller / bigger sound. Better balanced. More impactful.
Winner: Revels by a solid amount.
Conclusion: Whether my preconceptions got the best of me or whether they were simply proven true (I leave that for you to consider), I ended up fairly close to where I expected to. High end detail and texture, particularly with vocals, are really hard to beat when you hear the RAAL tweeters. The Revels' beryllium-led waveguides put up a respectable fight, and even pulled ahead in certain cases, but overall, there's just something sweet, natural, and magical about the RAALs. The Revels did provide that extra oomph and dimension I was after. It's just a shame to have to unload the Sierra's high-end to get there.
What to do? Well, I want my cake and I want to eat it, too, so, the plan is to ultimately sell off the Sierra towers and upgrade the bookshelves in my living room to 2EXs. That way I can have my fun in the basement "theater", and sink into the couch in the living room to enjoy some acoustic goodness. YOLO and such...right?
More obvservations / thoughts to come as I EQ and spend more time auditioning.