frenchmon
10-27-2011, 01:46 AM
Peabody forwarded this to me and asked me to post it for him...
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" Mr. Peabody's Take On F52's"
Where to start........ over a decade ago I became aware of Revel and heard a pair of $10k set driven by Mark Levinson gear. Whether they have vastly improved since then, or those 1st generation were not broke in or set up correctly, I was under whelmed by what I heard to say the least. Unfortunately, I was turned off to the brand. Fast forward to now and thanks to a persistent Revel dealer I have found the F52's that have brought my opinion around 180 degrees, in other words I have changed my mind.
Keep in mind as I express my thoughts that associated equipment means everything to achieving good synergy, so using different brands of electronics you may experience different results. Revels F52's are the most expensive speakers I've owned but they are also the most amazing I've owned, the synergy with my Conrad Johnson gear is outstanding. The F52's play low with excellent low end detail. However, it's not a subwoofer like low end. I hope I can explain this properly, what is in the recording is what you hear no extra bass distortion or rumble, it can be deep and tight but mostly in it's own position in the sound stage and not all over the room. When listening to Pink Floyd, DSOTM I kept hearing something which I thought were the kids on the steps or upstairs but when I paused the recording I didn't hear it, what I heard was some low end detail in this album I hadn't heard before. I have found the bass response to be recording dependent and can vary a lot from song to song on the same album. I found a good example of this on Justin Timberlake's album.
The F52's give the sound stage depth like it could go back forever, instruments and performers are positioned front to back. I had this before on other speakers but not to the effect the F52's are capable of. Things like brass sounds like it fires over the singers shoulder or a triangle strike that sounds like it's way back in the sound stage. Another character of the F52 I don't think I've experienced in any other speaker, and I have heard some very expensive speakers, is how music is presented, it's more musical in that notes vary in amplitude. On other speakers I've heard you can tell notes from one another but when you play a live instrument the notes aren't actually that uniform and the F52's are capable of revealing the nonuniformity of the notes. For instance, when you blow a horn some notes may be stronger than others or when you pluck a string the notes might be different but the force you use varies. This adds to the musicality or emotion of a recording. The overall response of the F52 is very balanced, not one part being emphasized over another, it's also open and detailed. The midrange seems to just have a rightness about it with vocals that have natural timbre. Other characteristics that caught my ear was the speed of the F52's, this is something you may have to hear to understand but when the music stops abruptly for effect or crashes, the F52's can start and stop on a dime. When listening to the F52's you get a sense of a very very dark background. I thought this could just be my system but some one who heard Revel at RMAS also commented the same, not sure what was driving that set.
I find the high end to be extended while remaining smooth and allowing cymbals to decay naturally. Revel provides a treble adjustment on the back which allows a 1dB increase or decrease in a .5dB step. I keep mine in "normal". There is also a bass response adjustment which compensates if you have to position the speakers close to walls or cabinet. There are 3 settings to choose from, normal, boundary and I forgot the last one. The F52's have two sets of binding posts for those who might bi-wire or bi-amp. The F52's sounded pretty good right out of the box which is unusual for a higher end speaker, I could tell they were breaking in but it's like you can't put your finger on any particular area, they just do what they started out doing but only much better.
I also have the F52 center channel which is a 3-way with two 8" woofers, the same midrange and tweeter as the floorstanding F52. The center is a sealed enclosure where the towers are rear ported. I bought the matching stand for the center which is rugged steel that attaches to the bottom of the center speaker, it fires it slightly upward. Needless to say the center does an excellent job with highly intelligible vocals and center screen detail. The center also has sound adjustment on the rear for stand mount, in cabinet or on top of a shelf or TV.
So if you find yourself wanting to audition speakers I'd recommend putting Revel on your list. I didn't want to get into comparing the F52 to this speaker or that one, I wanted to talk about what they do on their own and as we all know speakers differ wildly in character so sometimes comparisons can give you the wrong idea.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
" Mr. Peabody's Take On F52's"
Where to start........ over a decade ago I became aware of Revel and heard a pair of $10k set driven by Mark Levinson gear. Whether they have vastly improved since then, or those 1st generation were not broke in or set up correctly, I was under whelmed by what I heard to say the least. Unfortunately, I was turned off to the brand. Fast forward to now and thanks to a persistent Revel dealer I have found the F52's that have brought my opinion around 180 degrees, in other words I have changed my mind.
Keep in mind as I express my thoughts that associated equipment means everything to achieving good synergy, so using different brands of electronics you may experience different results. Revels F52's are the most expensive speakers I've owned but they are also the most amazing I've owned, the synergy with my Conrad Johnson gear is outstanding. The F52's play low with excellent low end detail. However, it's not a subwoofer like low end. I hope I can explain this properly, what is in the recording is what you hear no extra bass distortion or rumble, it can be deep and tight but mostly in it's own position in the sound stage and not all over the room. When listening to Pink Floyd, DSOTM I kept hearing something which I thought were the kids on the steps or upstairs but when I paused the recording I didn't hear it, what I heard was some low end detail in this album I hadn't heard before. I have found the bass response to be recording dependent and can vary a lot from song to song on the same album. I found a good example of this on Justin Timberlake's album.
The F52's give the sound stage depth like it could go back forever, instruments and performers are positioned front to back. I had this before on other speakers but not to the effect the F52's are capable of. Things like brass sounds like it fires over the singers shoulder or a triangle strike that sounds like it's way back in the sound stage. Another character of the F52 I don't think I've experienced in any other speaker, and I have heard some very expensive speakers, is how music is presented, it's more musical in that notes vary in amplitude. On other speakers I've heard you can tell notes from one another but when you play a live instrument the notes aren't actually that uniform and the F52's are capable of revealing the nonuniformity of the notes. For instance, when you blow a horn some notes may be stronger than others or when you pluck a string the notes might be different but the force you use varies. This adds to the musicality or emotion of a recording. The overall response of the F52 is very balanced, not one part being emphasized over another, it's also open and detailed. The midrange seems to just have a rightness about it with vocals that have natural timbre. Other characteristics that caught my ear was the speed of the F52's, this is something you may have to hear to understand but when the music stops abruptly for effect or crashes, the F52's can start and stop on a dime. When listening to the F52's you get a sense of a very very dark background. I thought this could just be my system but some one who heard Revel at RMAS also commented the same, not sure what was driving that set.
I find the high end to be extended while remaining smooth and allowing cymbals to decay naturally. Revel provides a treble adjustment on the back which allows a 1dB increase or decrease in a .5dB step. I keep mine in "normal". There is also a bass response adjustment which compensates if you have to position the speakers close to walls or cabinet. There are 3 settings to choose from, normal, boundary and I forgot the last one. The F52's have two sets of binding posts for those who might bi-wire or bi-amp. The F52's sounded pretty good right out of the box which is unusual for a higher end speaker, I could tell they were breaking in but it's like you can't put your finger on any particular area, they just do what they started out doing but only much better.
I also have the F52 center channel which is a 3-way with two 8" woofers, the same midrange and tweeter as the floorstanding F52. The center is a sealed enclosure where the towers are rear ported. I bought the matching stand for the center which is rugged steel that attaches to the bottom of the center speaker, it fires it slightly upward. Needless to say the center does an excellent job with highly intelligible vocals and center screen detail. The center also has sound adjustment on the rear for stand mount, in cabinet or on top of a shelf or TV.
So if you find yourself wanting to audition speakers I'd recommend putting Revel on your list. I didn't want to get into comparing the F52 to this speaker or that one, I wanted to talk about what they do on their own and as we all know speakers differ wildly in character so sometimes comparisons can give you the wrong idea.