Are the Revel Salons powered successfully by ...?


I will go to audio shop a few days later to hear the Revel Salon. I'd like to know some things. Are the Revel Salons powered successfully by the Levinson 380+335? Otherwise are they powered successfully by the Levinson 380+33H? My mostly listening music is symphony,orchestral,concerto and opera.
bluesky

Showing 1 response by raquel

I have Salons. The 335 or 33H are both more than fine on the speaker as a general rule. A high-current 100 watt solid-state amp will drive them without a problem.

That said, since you listen to orchestral, you of course need all the power you can get, and the Salons are, at 87 db./4 Ohms, not very efficient. They also drop to around 3 Ohms at various points in the bass, requiring real current delivery. With some orchestral peaks, the two amps you mention will clip (as will virtually any amp on challenging orchestral peaks into a speaker of average efficiency). Of the two, the 33H, which uses power regeneration and has much heftier power supplies, is better equipped to handle fortissimos (they are just better amps). Some people report that Salons driven by the Levinson amps of that vintage sound kind of dead (check the threads). This is a bit perverse given that the Salons were evidently voiced with those amps, but that was actually my experience, too, when I heard them run with 33H's.

As for other solid-state amps, anything with tons of current and a bit of midrange warmth should work well (any of the Classe Omegas come to mind). Mine sounded really good with Rowland Model 6 monoblocks, and the more powerful Rowland amps of that vintage (Model 8ti, 9ti) work well, too. There are only a handful of tube amps that will drive Salons properly because of their low impedence. I use VAC 140/140 mono's. The best choice I am aware of is any of the CAT monoblocks (one of my best friends runs JL-1 LE's with Salons and the sound is the best I have heard on the speaker).