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Help me decide – Revel or Focal

I have been narrowing down my list for new speakers after selling my Avalon and believe I have arrived at my final two. After months of going to all the local dealers, I believe I am close. The entire process, though frustrating since in store comparisons are difficult, has brought out my passion again for the hobby.
My question is, has anyone heard the Focal 1038 BE and the Revel Studio 2 or Salon 2 in the same room using the same electronics? I have heard both speakers separately but no one seems to have both to do a real comparison. I read the reviews and that really does not help. The Focal seems to be a very good all-around speaker but not perfect. They seem to have a minor integration issue between the tweeter and midrange that shows up in the female voice with a small lack of clarity and being a bit recessive. I am still hoping to hear the new Sopras but I do not think I want to spend the extra cash especially since the 1038s are available in a low luster finish and reduced MSRP. The Revels, even though they came out in 2007, still seem to be a very good speaker and can be purchased used ~50% of MSRP. I am reading that their replacement may be revealed at the CES in January. At first I had eliminated them thinking they were too lean and analytical sounding. The music was just not coming out. After hearing them again, I am wondering if that may just be that they are accurate but I have read this complaint all over the internet so it does make me wonder.
I have a 16 x 20 room with 10-foot ceilings and have Anthem Statement electronics. Help me decide (but please try to keep it to the Revel and Focal since I have eliminated almost everything else in this price range available in New England).
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mechans
3,048 posts
 
In the cool light of dawn,  I must say that while the reward great, it took way too much work to make the Electra 936s,  I still own, sound great.  A tube pre with remarkable an AE 3 with Sylvania 6SN7WS into amps with Tung Sol 5687s and a very special 6922+s  Mullard CV2943s.   The output are stock EH 6CA7s but in a real sleeper of  Chinese  monoblocs. Opera Consonance Cyber 800, not an ad no financial interest. 
HOWEVER if you don't like the west coast sound analytic crisp clean bright cool etc. Be very careful before buying Focal of that era. The smaller version was less intense I think it's the 928, easier to synergize. 
mechans
3,048 posts
 
I forgot to address Ricreds  question.   They take a very long time. Really never without the right synergy. But at least 1 to 2 weeks just as a start then they improve for months. 
tnvol1954
4 posts
 
I have not had the chance to listen to a pair of the Revel Studios. Would like to hear from someone who has compared them to the Revel F208. I listened to a pair of those a couple weeks ago in my search for a true full range speaker and was very underwhelmed. Great bass performance but lifeless top end. They were being driven by the 400 watt per channel McIntosh amp, and while a Mac amp would not be my choice of amplifier, there was no shortage of power. I heard Revel is upgrading the F208 with their Berril tweeter from the Studio line and raising the price by $2,500 per pair. Now we are getting close to price range of the Dynaudio Contour line with what IMO is the best tweeter out there. Hate to make general statements but have never heard an aluminum tweeter I could get exited about. 
steve59's avatar
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steve59
1,778 posts
 
While there are a lot of posts stating revel speakers need a lot of ss power to come alive there's more to it than that. The f208 is a world beater at the price it can be had for, but compared to the performa 2 series the f208 were less analytical and more musical while being nothing like the focal 1028be on display. With the revel in one room and focal in another it would be unfair to compare, but I will anyhow and simply say the focal sounded better with great recordings and made some of my old favorites unlistenable the f208 had deep growling bass(as deep as my R107/2's) and really sounded like the reviewers describe it, foot tapping and musical with no drivers calling attention to themselves. Neither are a poor mans ultima/sopra. The focal tweeter did make me smile while the f208 just made music and stayed out of the way. I prefer the Revel more forgiving design.
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