Which Revel Speakers to Choose

[echopraxia]

Putting the speaker next to the wall and flatting out the peaks seems interesting because it could also improve the THD of the speaker.
But some "experts" favor the soundstage over anything else:

What's is your take on that?

I’ll watch the video soon (haven’t yet), but I also highly value soundstage. So I don’t think there is a need to compromise — the tiny room I mentioned has among the best soundstage I’ve ever heard from the Genelecs. But I have extensively covered my side walls with foam to absorb just the right amount of reflections.

Best soundstage in my experience varies per speaker and room, and just requires experimentation with positioning and toe-in. Regarding placing speakers near a wall, you do want to avoid placing speakers too close to the side wall, as that will cause very undesirable reflections & “comb filtering” as a result. The same is not true for the rear wall, where there won’t be enough mids/highs radiating from the rear of the speaker to have a significant degradation of their sound quality. And as discussed, closing the distance actually helps bass response as long as you can EQ it.

 

[HooStat]

there are little to no inherent advantages to bookshelves

I agree with everything you wrote. And, from a sonic perspective, I agree with this too. But there are some more practical benefits to bookshelf speakers. For some people, it is easier to manage smaller speakers and stands -- those with less strength, people whose system is on an upper floor or basement, etc. It is also easier to adjust the height (though you can adjust the spikes on a floor stander to tilt it up and down as needed). Also, the speakers are less likely to be damaged by vacuuming or other activities from children or pets (the stands are still at risk, of course). Hence, I tend to prefer bookshelves (though for many years I owned Dynaudio Sapphires which are floor standing).

 

[echopraxia]

I agree with everything you wrote. And, from a sonic perspective, I agree with this too. But there are some more practical benefits to bookshelf speakers. For some people, it is easier to manage smaller speakers and stands -- those with less strength, people whose system is on an upper floor or basement, etc. It is also easier to adjust the height (though you can adjust the spikes on a floor stander to tilt it up and down as needed). Also, the speakers are less likely to be damaged by vacuuming or other activities from children or pets (the stands are still at risk, of course). Hence, I tend to prefer bookshelves (though for many years I owned Dynaudio Sapphires which are floor standing).

That’s a good point — the height adjustment ability may be particularly useful for someone with an unusual seating height. That said, if very abnormal listening height is a major concern, I would personally favor coaxial speakers in that case anyway. But either way, yes this is true: adjustable height is something you can get from bookshelf speakers that you don’t really get from towers.

 

[daftcombo]

Bookshelves are a lot lighter then a lot easier to pack and resale if needed. I'd go for the M106 based on measurements here. My room has exactly the same size as yours and I enjoy the Aria 906 very much. I have another room, even smaller (7 m^2 !) with JBL 305p MK2. Once the door closed, even not loud it sounds loud and fun! I don't think small rooms are a problem, actually they are easier to fill with music, at least with the frequencies we need.

 

[Glasvegas]

Bookshelves are a lot lighter then a lot easier to pack and resale if needed. I'd go for the M106 based on measurements here. My room has exactly the same size as yours and I enjoy the Aria 906 very much. I have another room, even smaller (7 m^2 !) with JBL 305p MK2. Once the door closed, even not loud it sounds loud and fun! I don't think small rooms are a problem, actually they are easier to fill with music, at least with the frequencies we need.

That’s a good non-technical reason for the M105s or M106s. At least I have the option to return them.

The delivery cost of the F206s is £150. Apparently they come on plinths. So returning them or reselling them is more of a challenge.

 

[HooStat]

Apparently they come on plinths

I have a JL Audio sub I am going to get rid of for the reasons mentioned -- too heavy to move and hard to ship. When I sent it to JL Audio they sent it back on a pallet. Shipping weight was well over 120 pounds. Ugh.

 

[Sal1950]

Grab those F206s and don't look back. They'll give you a lifetime of pleasure no matter where you move to over the years.
I'm running 4 JBL 3600 towers and a 4500 center in a 12x18, not counting 2 subs and 4 ceiling Atmos speakers and as happy as a pig in schi (mud).
They only weight 58 lbs, most couches are more than that.

A ”small room” in the US may not be the same as in the UK. Remember, it’s only 14 x 12 ft. That’s probably a cupboard in the US.

Why does everone outside the US think we live in Trumps crib?

 

[Chromatischism]

Getting the bookshelves first to see if you like them, then moving them to surround duty when you decide to get the towers is a good way to go. Or, buy used, sell used to trial them.

 

[MarcT]

And lastly, not to confuse your purchasing decision any further, but... as I type this I’m listening to Focal Aria 926 tower that just arrived, as they are on sale on Amazon.com (and a few other locations) for around $2.3k/pair (almost half the MSRP of a Revel F206). I find them much superior to the Revel F206 (from memory), particularly in treble. But their bass seems every bit as good too; they’re sufficient even without a subwoofer for most music in the 14x17” room they’re in!

These are the tower versions of the Focal Aria 906 reviewed here on ASR. I suspected I would like them due to the wide dispersion pattern, and I am not disappointed. That said, take this with a grain of salt until I’ve had them longer and my ears get over the initial excitement of new speakers

Interesting. I've, off and on, been quite interested in the Aria series. Do you have a feel for how much more bass presence and impact the 936 offer over the 926 in a medium size room? I always assumed I would get the 936, but it's hard to pass up the 926 at the prices for which they seem to often sell. For some reason, you can find nice used sets of 926 with a greater percentage discount, relative to MSRP, than you can with 936. And there seem to be a lot more sets of 926 available on the used market, for as low as $1,800. I did hear a set of 948 at a dealer, and they flat out overwhelmed the room, and were a bit oppressive to listen to. It was not the bass that overwhelmed the room, but mostly the mids that were so fatiguing. So, I then became more interested in the 936.

 

[echopraxia]

Interesting. I've, off and on, been quite interested in the Aria series. Do you have a feel for how much more bass presence and impact the 936 offer over the 926 in a medium size room? I always assumed I would get the 936, but it's hard to pass up the 926 at the prices for which they seem to often sell. For some reason, you can find nice used sets of 926 with a greater percentage discount, relative to MSRP, than you can with 936. And there seem to be a lot more sets of 926 available on the used market, for as low as $1,800. I did hear a set of 948 at a dealer, and they flat out overwhelmed the room, and were a bit oppressive to listen to. It was not the bass that overwhelmed the room, but mostly the mids that were so fatiguing. So, I then became more interested in the 936.

Yeah the Aria 926 have amazing deals right now, with pairs brand new going for $2300 from several online sellers (including Amazon, Target, and others).

I don’t know how the 936 compares, since as you point out, they don’t seem to have the same discounts as the 926. All I will say is that subjectively, the 926 already has impressive bass presence — it seems like either much more than the Revel F206 had in the same room, or perhaps it extends a bit flatter before rolling off.

The impressive bass response, combined with the very wide dispersion of the tweeter, honestly makes them sound a little bit like mini Salon2’s to me Granted, I have not heard the Salon2’s in this room, but either way, I am very impressed. For those who like wide dispersion speakers (like me), they’re great. And, unlike some of Focal’s older speakers (which used to pain my ears in terms of harsh treble), I find the tweeter on these quite smooth.

I haven’t listened to a very wide range of music yet on them though, so it’s possible I’ll learn more about any quirks that they may have over time. But so far, I’m not finding anything that stands out as even slightly disappointing.

 

[goldark]

Yeah the Aria 926 have amazing deals right now, with pairs brand new going for $2300 from several online sellers (including Amazon, Target, and others).

I don’t know how the 936 compares, since as you point out, they don’t seem to have the same discounts as the 926. All I will say is that subjectively, the 926 already has impressive bass presence — it seems like either much more than the Revel F206 had in the same room, or perhaps it extends a bit flatter before rolling off.

The impressive bass response, combined with the very wide dispersion of the tweeter, honestly makes them sound a little bit like mini Salon2’s to me Granted, I have not heard the Salon2’s in this room, but either way, I am very impressed. For those who like wide dispersion speakers (like me), they’re great. And, unlike some of Focal’s older speakers (which used to pain my ears in terms of harsh treble), I find the tweeter on these quite smooth.

I haven’t listened to a very wide range of music yet on them though, so it’s possible I’ll learn more about any quirks that they may have over time. But so far, I’m not finding anything that stands out as even slightly disappointing.

How do they compare to your Ascend towers, another wide dispersion speaker?

 

[echopraxia]

How do they compare to your Ascend towers, another wide dispersion speaker?

I will have to spend more time listening, but first impression is that they’re very similar, but with the Focal having a bit of fake treble sparkle (sounds like accentuated mid/upper treble) whereas the Ascend treble is more neutral, and much warmer bass from the Focals than the Ascends (which was my only complaint of the Ascends, which was not a big issue since it was fixable with EQ). Time will tell if the Focal’s treble grates on my ears over time, and whether rolling off the upper treble with EQ is sufficient to fix that. The Focal may have better lower mids and natural instrument timbre/tonality, but I am not sure yet until I listen more.

At the sale price of $2.3k/pair, the Focal’s are a pretty fantastic choice as far as I can tell. I don’t know of anything this price that sounds this good with wide dispersion pattern. And the Aria 926 could be nearly self sufficient without a sub in a small enough room, as they simply have more woofer displacement (and ports) than the Ascend towers (and up the line, you only get more).

But for MSRP of $4.4k/pair though, it’s maybe not such a great deal compared to alternates (at least here in the US). In that price range, I would probably go for discounted Revel F208’s, however the F208’s probably will still not match the spacious sound you get from ultra wide dispersion treble (though they’re still fairly wide). All I can say is the F206’s I owned for a while definitely did not satisfy in that regard IMO.

 

[MarcT]

Yeah the Aria 926 have amazing deals right now, with pairs brand new going for $2300 from several online sellers (including Amazon, Target, and others).

I don’t know how the 936 compares, since as you point out, they don’t seem to have the same discounts as the 926. All I will say is that subjectively, the 926 already has impressive bass presence — it seems like either much more than the Revel F206 had in the same room, or perhaps it extends a bit flatter before rolling off.

The impressive bass response, combined with the very wide dispersion of the tweeter, honestly makes them sound a little bit like mini Salon2’s to me Granted, I have not heard the Salon2’s in this room, but either way, I am very impressed. For those who like wide dispersion speakers (like me), they’re great. And, unlike some of Focal’s older speakers (which used to pain my ears in terms of harsh treble), I find the tweeter on these quite smooth.

I haven’t listened to a very wide range of music yet on them though, so it’s possible I’ll learn more about any quirks that they may have over time. But so far, I’m not finding anything that stands out as even slightly disappointing.

I'm now looking at the Amazon listing, which is actually for a lower price than that, but I can't find anything about the return policy on them. It does say, "ships from and sold by Adorama". It is listed as Amazon Prime, so I assume the shipping is free.

 

[Alexanderc]

I'm now looking at the Amazon listing, which is actually for a lower price than that, but I can't find anything about the return policy on them. It does say, "ships from and sold by Adorama". It is listed as Amazon Prime, so I assume the shipping is free.

Focal authorized dealers:
https://www.focal-america.com/support/
Includes only 5 authorized to sell on Amazon: Cartoys, Crutchfield, Creative, Pacific Stereo, Worldwide Stereo.

 

[MarcT]

Focal authorized dealers:
https://www.focal-america.com/support/
Includes only 5 authorized to sell on Amazon: Cartoys, Crutchfield, Creative, Pacific Stereo, Worldwide Stereo.

Thanks. However, that website seems to pertain to Focal car speakers, based on the lines shown on the Product Lines tab. And I noticed the link at the top right of the page to "Download the 2020 Focal Car Catalogue".

 

[echopraxia]

I'm now looking at the Amazon listing, which is actually for a lower price than that, but I can't find anything about the return policy on them. It does say, "ships from and sold by Adorama". It is listed as Amazon Prime, so I assume the shipping is free.

There seem to be several sellers listing the Focal Aria 926 for $1150/speaker on Amazon, and also via their own sites. WorldWideStereo, Accessories4Less, Adorama Camera, are a few examples I know of. A few sell them as pairs (for $2200-$2300), and a few sell as individual speakers. Anything sold with the "Amazon Prime" badge (even by a third party) has free shipping I think (if not, it certainly would be listed as such), and is generally a very safe bet since they're also required to meet various customer service standards or else they can be banned from Amazon.com.

The pricing seems surprisingly consistent though (around $1100 - $1150 per speaker). It seems just the Aria 926 model is on sale like this... I can't find any similar deals for the 936 or above, for example.

Edit: Looks like a few of these are out of stock already! Maybe it's some kind of clearance sale.

 

[echopraxia]

Looks like all of these are authorized Focal dealers! Using the dealer search here (https://store.focal.com/#!country=US), I found:

P.S. Sorry for the off-topic, I know this thread is technically titled "Which Revel Speakers"

 

[Alexanderc]

Thanks. However, that website seems to pertain to Focal car speakers, based on the lines shown on the Product Lines tab. And I noticed the link at the top right of the page to "Download the 2020 Focal Car Catalogue".

Well crap. That wasn’t what I searched for. Sorry.

 

[MarcT]

Well crap. That wasn’t what I searched for. Sorry.

No problem. I've had the same issue myself with ending up on the Focal car speaker web site. Focal does not seem to have a US specific web site for home speakers.

 

[sfdoddsy]

It's interesting that some here have indicated treble differences between the various Revel models.

This really shouldn't be the case since they all use the same tweeter and midrange (M106 aside).

There might be a difference in performance around the xover point with M106 due to the bigger mid driver, but the others seem to measure identically except in the bass.