A special loudspeaker - Revival Audio Atalante 5


In house is a set of Revival Audio Atalante 5 speakers.   I've had these here for a couple months now.  I think they are broken in--based how much listening I do!

Super elegant and solid construction. BIG!  Could be way too big for your living room...if you're the person that is concerned about that.  If you couple them to the factory stands, they are tall, wide, and deep.  Be sure you appreciate this.

They are made in France, and run about $5K with stands. They come with a wood-matching floor riser too if you want to just set them on the floor. Before I assembled the stands, I had them sitting on the floor, which my wife loved as they didn't look big and had a nice BBC monitor vibe. The sound is clearly better on the stands. 

If you have the space, the A5s shouldn't disappoint. They respond differently when you feed them or push them with different things.  This, however, means that they will show off some stuff about gear or setup you may wish to avoid.

As you might guess, I found them transparent or super revealing (not sure which is a better descriptor) with other gear.  Typically, though, they seem to mate well with lots of stuff.  I was surprised to hear how easily they could be driven with Class A amplification. (I tired Luxman L-590axii, Marantz PM KI Ruby integrated, and 805 tube amp-50w Class A). 

These came recommended by @Bigkidz, as he heard them on the East Coast and was impressed. 

I have two REL subs that I've taken completely out of the equation. I just don't need  any more low end with these.  

At this price, I feel they are arguably underpriced.  I haven't felt this way about a purchase for some time.  If you have the space and are looking for a full range speaker with nice extension across the spectrum, great sonic scale, sweet midrange, and the ability to handle nuance but also rock...you may want to put this one on your shortlist.  

 

128x128jbhiller

Congrats on your Atalante 5 speakers. I have the Atalante 3 and love what they do and plan on getting the 5s if and when I get a bigger place. Revival recommends at least 30 sq meters for them to sound their best but I have my doubts as I used to run JBL 4319s and they're slightly smaller in size than the 5s and they worked really well in my 20 sq meter listening place. Even the distributor told me as long as I don't blast them, the 5s would work well. 

Right now, after my envy wanes, I'm starting to get the itch and just say 'to heck with it and get the 5s' but the 3s really suffice ( that's never stopped me before). May you have countless hours enjoying them as they (and the whole line) are criminally under appreciated. When Daniel worked for Dynaudio and Focal/JM Lab, his designs went for multiples of what he charges for his own line. 

All the best,
Nonoise

Is there anyone here who prefers a fatiguing presentation, and if so, why? Just asking.

@vdotman , HA! Probably not the best choice in words by me above. I should've said non-clinical. Some people love clinical and I find that fatiguing. 

@jbhiller , I am in agreement with your taste. Decades ago I was in AudioArt in Richmond VA and in one of their rooms they had a super high end system employing electrostatic loudspeakers. The presentation was hyper realistic to the point it became unappealing to me. So, yes, some folks are looking for transparency above all else, but there is a very fine line between that attribute and listening fatigue as you have duly noted.

Merry Christmas to the Audiogon community!