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Monitor audio platinum pl200 ii , revel f226be, or something else?

Hey all,

I want to preface this by saying I know there is no comparion for an in person audition with any speakers, specifically ones at this price range. That being said I'm disabled, with my biggest hobby being music and home theater, and itching to upgrade, but without going into specifics it's extremely difficult bordering on impossible for me to get out and do things in my age now, so I've been doing as much online research as possible to make the most informed decision prior to buying.

 

I've been slowly upgrading over the years from  low tier monitor audio towers, revel bookshelves, goldenear bookshelves, and most recently some philharmonic // salk BMR monitors and while they all do somethings well, nothing yet does everything I like. I use these both for home theater and music, and in music value nothing above detail and resolution, particularly in the midrange, with treble being important and not as much care for bass as I always cross them over with SVS subs. I love A really wide, but also tall // holographic soundstage, and a big, dynamic, punchy sound. 

 

I find the bmr monitors with the RAAL tweeters to have great upper end detail, fair midrange detail, an extremely wide soundstage but not so much tall or deep. Also when they play at anything above moderate levels, or when there's loud sounds in a movie for example, I find the BMRs to distort badly and takes me out of the scene. I would like some speakers to improve on this and have narrowed it down to a few, the monitor audio platinum pl200 ii, the revel f226be, and also considered some offerings from salk. 

 

I have found some good deals on the MA and Revel speakers at under $5k // pr,(used but cared for) and from what I've read, they have similar sounds and characteristics, with the MA being much less reviewed and less information than the beloved revels. I've also heard that the cheaper, revel f226's are very similiar to the f226bes, while others say there is an improvement but only slightly. Has anyone ever compared these speakers and can give any feedback to the differences or similiarities between them, or any other similiar reccomendations for under 10k//pr used for me since I am unable to audition them ? Thanks all. 

khams

Showing 2 responses by james633

james633
1,052 posts
 

Used or on sale Revels are hard to beat. At their retail prices there are options just as good (more different than better).

I have never heard monitor audio but owned the 228be before moving onto the JBL 4367. The 228be sounds almost identical to the 226be but the 228be will probably play louder.

The Revel has a commit no sin type of sound. They sound “perfect” with wide dispersion, smooth response that drop by 5db in room from 100hz to 20khz. Really nice sounding… but they really lack bass extension. I high-passed my revels at 60hz to subs and they sounded amazing that way. With the sub/speaker combo I enjoyed the system as well as any box speaker ever. Without subs I would not be happy with revel as bass is high on my list of needs.

 

you mention mid detail, I would say the revel mid detail is on pare with Focal Sopra line, maybe a touch more detailed than sonus Faber Olympica III, a bit less detailed than the tipped up mids of the B&W 802D4 and very close to the detail of my JBL 4367. The highs are typical highend beryllium sounding, very good and I really enjoyed the highs until I bought my JBL which are on another level. If you want to read my opinion on Revel vs JBL you can find my thread about the JBLs under my profile.

if you have not watched the YouTube review of the 226b from Erin’s audio corner you should. It is a good review and I pretty much agree with it 100% very detailed measurements too.

 

 

james633
1,052 posts
 

 

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