My new B Stock speakers

I agree with the set them up and let them play strategy. I do at about 25-30% power/volume using my 300 disc Sony carousel for content. I listen in a dedicated room so it’s no issue to leave them running 24/7.

@bassbuyer , I cannot find any visible defects at all on my B-stocks, but with that typed, my eyesight is horrible and getting worse every day.  I did note that the serial numbers were way apart from each other, but I am pretty sure that somewhere in this thread someone informed me that Revel does not match their speakers.  And even assuming that they did, by no means to I have a golden ear, so I am pretty sure I wouldn't consciously hear something that I would think would be that subtle.  (Even though I do not have a golden ear, I do know when I am liking or disliking the SQ that I am hearing, although I often do not know why.)  

I believe that someone who contributed to this thread told me that MD often calls a product B-stock just to lower the price and move it out the door.  I also noted that Uncle Kevin was selling them for 3K (not as B-stock or listed as "on sale") for a while, but the last time I saw his listing they were back up to $4400.

Thanks for sharing your experience with the Revels.  Interesting that you mentioned B stock speakers.  One of mine is B stock.  There is a slight darker spot on the bottom of one speaker that you have to really look for to notice.  Except for that they both sound the same and sound excellent together.  I’m running with a pair of subs.  So far so good.  

@james633 , thank you again for that link on positioning "book shelf speakers." After I finished up my session last night, I finally got into that link; then I went back into my room and did some massive repositioning. Not to overload with detail, but per instructions I moved the speakers back 11" closer to the front wall (I also moved them closer together) and my chair further into the room and away from the rear wall. I guess I should have got into that link way earlier. The way it looked to my eye, I was predisposed to thinking I would not like it. Once the lights were out and my eyes were closed (no coffee and no wine, just water) it was delicious sounding! I put six hours plus on them tonight. Someone gave me a formula to try once with my B&Ws, and when ever I make a move I use masking tape and a sharpy to mark where I move them to. When I lifted up the rugs to move the speaker stands, I saw that the formula I had been given to use with the B&Ws was quite close to what I did last night. I remember I did not like it, and I moved them back out from the wall. I guess that I did not give them a chance. It may have been because I thought that it just didn’t look right.

Now I am wondering what the B&Ws would sound like in that spot. In about 40 more listening hours I am going to find that out. I am thinking that the Revels sound as gorgeous as they look, but I still want to do a comparison before my 60 days runs out.

Thanks again for that link!

Speaker break in may be turning me into a fan of classical music.  I started out a five hour plus change session to day with disc one (of three) of the Sheffield Labs Moscow Sessions.  I found myself actually getting into it.

Maybe these are different. 

@mofojo  , I am only a bit over 30 hours, so from what I have read here it is too early to pass judgement, so therefore I am not doing so just yet, but I will say that depending upon the source, they are quite lively.  

Revels I’ve heard in the past have done nothing wrong but were sterile and not real engaging. 

Wouldn't that in itself be doing something wrong?  No sarcasm intended--that is a serious question.

Revels I’ve heard in the past have done nothing wrong but were sterile and not real engaging. Maybe these are different. 

@mrdecibel , I actually did get two more of the Preffair power cords--at this point I have 40 hours on the PC from the SACDp and a bit over 30 hours on the other two (amp and preamp). As far as the speaker change, it has been on my list and I have been on the fence about a speaker upgrade for quite some time, as I saw my speakers as the weakest component (excluding the room) in my system. I have always paid attention to the b-stocks and open boxes from MD, and these just seemed like they might be right for the room and I felt the mark down was significant enough that it was worth giving them a try-out. The speakers, like the power cords, were simply pieces that I felt the sonic result could benefit from upgrading. I still have around 45 days (plus or minus) to make up my mind on them, but with only a bit over 30 hours, I feel it is a tad premature to make any moves regarding them.

Matt, I have not responded to this thread, as I thought the power cable thing was going to be a thing. The change of speakers was a complete surprise to me, and maybe it was to you too. I will hold back my opinions on the speaker change, as I feel you gave up on the 805s a bit too soon. I have heard them sound much better than you describe them. If you want to discuss with me further, we can do it via email, or here on this thread. I wish you my best. Always, MrD.

Thanks, @mrdecibel  , the pair I got from MD was marked down to 2900 and change (so much change they were almost 3k) but without stands.  The (I think they are) Target stands I was using with my B&Ws seem to be about the right size for them. . . .

FYI, A pair of the 126be showed up for sale on USAM from a seller in Michigan. Asking 3K with the matching stands.

@alaric62  , I do not think that the speaker caps were mentioned on this thread.  The sales rep from MD did mention them when I asked if speakers ever "just wore out."  I think I remember once seeing a cap when I had removed the back panel with the binding posts on one of them.  I cannot remember how accseeible it looked for a soldering iron back there, but I suppose that this would be within the scope of my abilities.  I may have given replacing the caps some thought, and I still may (as I have no immediate plans for those speakers) but I had been on the "speaker fence" for quite a while, and when these b-stocks came up at a b-stock price, I just decided what the hell, and pulled the trigger.  Anyway, thank you for the reply.

 I didn't read through the whole thread, so if this has been mentioned I apologize for the redundancy. To be fair to the B&W speakers, they would probably benefit from new capacitors, at their age. I think the Revels will still win out, but a freshened up pair of Matrix 805s would make it a little closer.

  The above being dependent on your willingness/ability to do so or have it done, obviously. Otherwise, congratulations on your very nice new speakers!

@soix  ,  I still own the B&Ws and that is an excellent suggestion.  I am logging my hours on the Revels as I go.  I did a come to a point (at twenty plus hours now) where they are not having the same positive effect upon me that they had when I first took them out of the box.

I am not sure I would call the break-in experience painful, but it is interesting.  I am mostly way more patient now than I used to be, and I am feeling patient about this, especially in light of what everyone here has told me about speaker break in.

I just read an easier way to break in speakers, especially where one doesn’t want too much interference with their living quarters. Install a solid state integrated amp or stream or CD player on continuous repeat as a source and here’s the difference, drape a or many blanket(s) over the speaker front and/or a similar covering cushion including a mattress or insulation boards, etc. Anything to stop the sound from entering the room more than a low muffle. Leave on all week. Then proceed to enjoy the speakers while they finish breaking in. Unfortunately, I don’t have a good solution for breaking in a cartridge needing 50 hours generally.

Listening to the Revels through the break-in process, although somewhat painful, can be very instructive. The real moment of truth will be after you have >100 hours on them and you’ve become accustomed to their sound and then plugging the B&Ws back in (assuming you still have them) — you’ll know pretty much immediately what you’ve got.

it's a process for sure. I wish my experience has added up to knowledge. But thanks to this forum/the people here, I am making improvements and having fun.

Maybe, @grislybutter , but from the reading on this forum, you have way more experience than me with different speakers. I am open to what everyone has to say.

When I bought my previous B&Ws home, there was a tangible and obvious improvement over the NHTs (as there should have been, or I probably should have quit audio altogether). Back then I was working (3 to 11s) 40 hours a week minus sick days, and during the week I didn’t listen much (unless I had called off sick), so my listening was on the weekends (and combined with HT and HT was probably most every Sat and Sun night) . . . and that is all to say that I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to the break in process (as I am trying to do now) . . . but there did come a time when I realized I was enjoying the listening experience more and spending more time doing it (listening, that is). But as far as experience with upgrades, it is all limited, but speakers is what I have the least experience upgrading.

I will stay away from the breakin comments because I am the odd one here. Given my dog: nothing like speakers.😂 She is still crazy, but lovely.

. . . I wonder if speaker break in could be compared to adopting a puppy (or in my case, puppies)? Three years ago we adopted three dogs anf two of them were either 8 or 10 (I cannot remember for sure right now) weeks old at the time. There were times that I wasn’t at all crazy about those puppies, and in three years they have gone through some pretty radical personality changes. They have pretty much turned into good loveable dogs, but/and after reading what you guys have typed about speaker break in, I am thinking that there may be some vague similarity between that and puppy to dog maturity. Oh well . . . ramble on. . . .

I did put three hours plus on them last night, and this afternoon I put five hours plus on them. On the positive side (and since my memory is so short I’ll speak for today) I played a lot of my classical music CDs (and one SACD) which I am not really familiar with because it is not a genre I really like all that much, and . . . I did not find myself getting bored and wanting to take the disc out. Also on the positive side, although without the sub hooked up I can tell that the bass could really benefit from reinforcement, depending upon the CD, it was not totally pathetic.

I finished off a while ago playing tracks I really enjoy from older CDs that I am quite familiar with: Jackson Browne, The Highway Men, Brandy Carlile, and Eliza Gilkyson. I think I may have heard more texture in the vocal work than maybe I was hearing before. (I think/may have/maybe are all probably the operative words. But it is vocal work that I probably enjoy and pay most attention to. On the Highwaymen, for example, I listened to The Devil’s Right Hand written by Steve Earle and The Road Goes On Forever written by Robert Earle Keene and in each one of these songs, Johnny gets a verse then Willie then Kris then Waylon and I noticed what each one of these guys actually did with their voice on their part of the song, kind of like what a trumpet player might do with his or her particular solo. But with that typed, perhaps it was because I was listening more attentively, or perhaps it was the effect of the coffee I had been drinking since I started listening this afternoon.)

On the negative side, as much as I enjooyed what I listened to, it still didn’t make me say, "OMG, I feel like rolling on the floor and screaming in ecstasy and telling the world."

But I have more to say about that later, and I am fully cognizant that I only have 20 hours on them at this point and that you all have told me not to expect miracles until 100 to 200.

@ghdprentice , I always appreciate the tone of your posts. An old receiver would be an excellent idea. I do, in fact, have a couple of Rotel amps that I used back in my Dolby Prologic HT days and an older 12au7 preamp; however, the way my system is set up, I finally have it where interconnects/wires, power cords are not a tangled mass--they are nicely segregated--but it is a bitch to get to the backs of the stuff to work on them/meaning take stuff in and out, and I find it more relaxing to put the time in as opposed to take equipment in and out. If I had a spare CD player and I trusted that old preamp, I could put some continuous hours on them without messing with the main equipment while I did other things, but, to both those points: I don’t, and I don’t. (On the preamp, I don’t completely trust it anymore after what I have read here about DC voltage sneaking out of older preamps.) But it is no biggy . . . I can be a patient person, and I am fully believing that my patience will be rewarded in this case. And if it isn’t--it isn’t; I can deal with disappointment--I am not a stranger to it.

@soix , I always appreciate the tone in which you post in as well. I am liking the sound right now even though it hasn’t YET hit me like a punch in the face. I am attributing my appreciation to the fact that my B&Ws were sounding worn out and tired, and also my limited experience with different speakers means my standards may well be lower. I could probably expound on what I mean by that, but. . . .

@kennyc , thank you for the supportive comment. The B&Ws replaced a quite affordable pair of NHTs, and it was a big step up and at the time I was beyond happy with them. (The NHT s replaced a pair of "big Masonite boxes with paper cone drivers" that were part of a rack system, and I was happy with that upgrade also . . . at the time. But I hear you, and I also hear the Revels, and I like what I hear with them also.

@grislybutter , I liked the Revels when I first heard them, and I believe that I will like them way more in a hundred hours or so. I’ve also enjoyed the discussion.

I apologize in advance for the typos I am sure I made and don’t have time to correct as I am late to run an errand.

Thank you all for your thoughts and advice. I am pretty much a happy man right now, but the caffeine may have some bearing on that as well.

Congratulations on your new speakers. I’m a fan of the BE sound, didn’t care for the B&W sound.  Stop worrying about past measurements as it’s irrelevant when compared to the sonics you personally enjoy.

@soix absolutely. This is just my experience. Very limited and subjective.

The things I am looking for and care about don’t seem to change that much, but again, I have probably heard and experienced 1/20th of what you have.

I don't believe in breakin making a big change...Yes, they will change, but if you don’t fall in love with them after your first 10 favorite songs, breakin won’t change that.

That was definitely not my experience with my speakers. When I first played them for the first week they sounded so bad I thought seriously about returning them as they sounded anemic, lacking bass, and overly thin/bright — it was awful and I felt sick over it. But after a couple weeks of heavy playing things improved significantly with much more bass presence and more balanced/natural treble and I breathed a huge sigh of relief, and things continued to improve for weeks after that until they finally settled into where they are now. Telling someone new speakers (or audio equipment in general) can be judged effectively after only 10 songs is potentially misleading and not good advice in my experience and opinion.

I don't believe in breakin making a big change. Your ear will adjust more than the breakin will change the sound. These companies want to sell the products that are in the box, not products the way they will sound 3 weeks later. Yes, they will change, but if you don't fall in love with them after your first 10 favorite songs, breakin won't change that.

Do you have an old receiver laying around? Or solid state amp? When skys are clear, rig something up to run these guys in. It sounds like you may drive yourself crazy in the one hundred or more hours it could take them to turn. 
 

Breakin is very specific to different components… typically very pronounced on speakers. But, there can be times when the sound jumps from ok to really bad, and  back. My ARC equipment does that around 120 hours. Flip flopping. I haven’t broken in speakers with bazaar breakin patterns recently… but have long ago. Woofers are notoriously subject to.breakin… but there is crossovers as well as the other drivers. 
 

It really doesn’t sound like breaking these in “the old fashion way” is going to be a good experience for you. Borrow an integrated? AVR?

Oh and about the Celestions.... 

The company stopped making speakers 10+ years ago, now mostly make drivers. In the 90s they made the 3, 5, SL6, famously, they were all budget friendly, quality speakers and I still have a pair of 5s. What I found recently is a pair of F3s. Very small floorstanding speakers but they do sound big and yet refined, beautiful with vocals.

@grislybutter  , you may be right.  The B&Ws, at the time I bought them, were replacing a way more affordable pair of NHT 2-way bookshelves that I had picked to pair with a M&K sub . . . this was my entry into HT back in the era of VHS and Dolby Prollogic (I have long since exited HT).  The B&Ws were a big upgrade from the NHTs and for quite some time I was in love with them and thought that they could do no wrong.  There were occasions I played them so loud for so long that I thought that they might explode.  I will give them credit that they never did.  

Regardless, I think that they are suffering from a combination of being obsolete and being worn out.  And now that I have heard the difference, even at this early stage of the break-in game, I am wishing I would have gotten off the fence a few years ago.  

I just started my ritual of powering components up, and as it looks like no T'storms are rearing their ugly heads, I will be putting a few more hours in tonight.  I may make a pot of coffee, or two, tomorrow and make a day out of it.

I don't want to sound silly about the B&W but I never liked them and I think you may just realize you "deserve" better. I am not saying they are bad speakers, they are a great brand but it's just subjective, to me they always sounded "dry". I would expect a lot more from Revel for pure musical joy, they were made for people like us 😀

@soix , thanks for the continued input. I do remember some posts a while ago in which you indicated that you felt the B&Ws could be bested easily by other monitors/bookshelves. I did used to like them a lot, though. The weird thing about the B&W and the phase tests is that on the Sheffield labs CD (and I think it is Rodger Skoff talking at the time for the phase test), it does exactly what he says it should: in phase Rodger’s voice is tightly centered, and out of phase it’s like surround sound. But on another test CD, with 3 tones and the middle tone, out of phase, is supposed to be quiter, with the B&Ws it is not. I am thinking that I never listened to the B&Ws without the sub like I( am now, and wondering if that is what’s causing it. Oh well, easy enough to experiment with that part of it.

And I am not drawing any conclusions as of yet . . . I am taking your advice. Just enjoying the ride. Barring T’storm activity, I am going to log a few more hours tonight.

@grislybutter , I did not know that about Different Drums. I do really like the arrangement that was put together for her. It is special. The last time I saw her interviewed, she seemed relatively happy, despite everything. I hope she is. Happy, I mean.

@immatthewj Blue Bayou is such a sweet songs too...

Fun fact about "Different Drums" - it was written by Michael Nesmith - of the Monkeys. It's amazing how these talents cross paths....

Listening through the break-in process can be maddening as you’re finding out.  Things can get better, then get worse, and then better (hopefully) again.  I wouldn’t start to seriously assess anything until you’ve got at least 200 hours on them, so if you continue to listen through that period I highly suggest having a good supply of wine on hand for sanity purposes.  That you like a lot of what you hear already is an excellent sign though.  I’m familiar with your B&Ws and would be surprised if the Revels didn’t surpass them on almost every level and think you’ve chosen wisely — FWIW.  Also, that your B&Ws don’t appear to be capable of revealing phase differences would have me very concerned about them as that info should be readily apparent as it is through the Revels — very strange.

@dr-boop , thanks for the info on the Revel SNs.

@mark200mph , on a good night, music makes me feel great.

@grislybutter , ah yes. Different Drums . . . I can see that. I remember when I was in the Air Force back in the early ’80s, I had a buddy who had the Greatest Hits Vol 1 LP specifically for that track. He actually bought it because of a breakup. But it was not a breakup with someone he was married to. It is a magnificent arrangement that was put together for her cover of that song.

I remember growing up in Montana in my early to mid teens hearing Linda on AM country radio stations . . . When Will I Be Loved . . . then about the time I graduated I heard her cover of Blue Bayou and I loved it so I bought the Simple Dreams 8-track . . . to this day Simple Dreams would be on my all time desert island list. I hate to use the word ’favorite’ (because I have so many favorites, how can any of them be my true’favorite’?) but I’d almost say that Carmelita is my favorite of the songs she covered on that one, which may actually be my favorite CD by Linda.

". . . Carmelita, hold me tighter, I think I’m sinking down. . . ."

@immatthewj that's a beautiful (and partly tragic) story! Thanks for sharing. I read somewhere that our musical taste doesn't change much, what we like in our teens is what would listen for the rest of our lives. Yes it evolves but we will always be drawn to songs we heard when we were young and invincible. 

Long and Winding Road, Different Drums, London Town were all breakup songs for me so I don't think I have heard them more than 5 times in the last 3 decades. Different Drums was especially painful because it made me realize why my marriage was over in a state of complete confusion, when nothing else led me to accept it. Every word "hit the spot" - not in a good way. I still remember I was driving through Kendall Sq in Cambridge, Different Drums (that I had heard 100s of times) started playing on the radio, and suddenly every word she sang had a different meaning. I had to pull over to avoid an accident,

How much fun to talk about music not just gear.

Glad your music is making you happy.the brain releases morphine like substance when we're happy . And the mesolimbic system in the brain members the good times .

Revel 126Be are always on my radar. Great midrange on that speaker.

Revel do not match serial numbers, so even a new pair from a dealer may have gaps in the numbers.

B-stock likely had a cosmetic blemish that was fixed, or maybe a loose port, driver failure, who knows. It was fixed and you got a good deal on a great speaker. Enjoy them! 

The weather couldn’t make up its mind tonight--dark and nasty to almost clear to dark and nasty--but no electrical activity. So I finally said screw it & got back there & put 3.5 plus on ’em. I did what I told myself I wasn’t going to do (for a while) which is to say after I warmed the system up with one of my two "warm up" jazz CDs while I was cooking/eating/cleaning up I then started picking out CDs with one or two or three songs I really really really like a lot and playing those one or two or three songs. I(I had intended to stick to test CDs and the reference music that is included on them, until I got some more hours on them.

Anyway, here is what was surprising: as much as I was surprised on Sunday by how much better they sounded than my old B&Ws, tonight I was a bit surprised by how I wasn’t blown away again. In other words, I was expecting more than I got tonight. Which is not to say that they didn’t sound good, because they did. The way my mind & ears work together is funny. But yes, I do know that I am still shy of ten hours on these and they do have a ways to go before they hit their theoretical stride. I was just surprised the way they DIDN’T strike me tonight. But I am seriously not taking anything away from that. And another PART of that could have been some of the source material quality.

A few things I did notice: with the lights off & my eyes closed I was always impressed with the way the B&W’s sound stage could extend beyond the walls, and not only do the room boundaries disappear, so do the B&Ws. The Revels also manage to do that. (This is contingent upon good digital source material, usually MOST noticeable with SACDs. I still haven’t played anything but red book with the Revels). Something else (again contingent upon the source, and USUALLY with SACDs) that I liked that the B&Ws did was provided a lot of "height" to the sound. Early on tonight, I noted that was lacking to an extent with the Revels. As the evening wore on (I have cut way way back and tonight, including with dinner and while listening, I only had 2 and a half glasses of wine) I began to notice the "height" increasing. Again, this could have been due to the quality of the red books I was selecting. I am sure I am not telling anyone anything they do not know, but they are not all created equal. One thing I think that I definitely did pick up on tonight, was at the later stages of my session I felt that I was starting to hear more of the ’front to back’ in the soundstage. This has never been a particularly strong point for my B&Ws and I attributed it to the room. With the B&Ws there is a front to back balloon, but it lacks detail that define those dimensions, and tonight, near the end, I started to pick up on a bit more front to back detail. So I could chalk that up to a) the wine (but it really wasn’t that much) b) I WANT to hear improvement so I am whether it is there or not or c) the Revels, even at this early stage, are just better than the B&Ws and they are making more, in certain aspects,.with decent source material.

Although I am not rolling on the floor in orgasmic aural ecstasy, I am not unhappy with the way it went tonight.

@grislybutter , I did a google on your Celestions, but what I got was mainly gguitar speakers. Which did you get? As a a new owner of new speakers, I am happy and excited for you. I find it too bad you can not bring yourself to listen to Ms. Ronstadt anymore. She has such a beautiful and expressive voice. Sometimes I hear her and I think of that expression, "She has pipes." I didn’t listen to her tonight, but I have some CDs earmarked. I know what you mean by music bringing back sad memories. In (I think it was) ’74 when I was in HS, my oldest sister (like 6 years older than me) got in a bad car wreck in a town far away and came away with a severe traumatic brain injury that left her nonfunctional until she died in a nursing home about 4 years later. Weeks to months after the accident happened I still believed we were The Waltions and nothing that bad would happen to our unit and I still believed in miracles for The Waltons and I still believed she would get better, and every morning when I was getting dressed and ready to go to school I would listen to my Elton John Don’t Shoot Me [. . .] cassette and when Daniel came on I would insert my sister’s name for Daniel’s. I can listen to that today, but Daniel always makes me think of her and those days and it makes me sad. Tonight i listened to a track off of Loyd Cole CD (LOve Story) and the track is one that blows me away, Like Lovers Do . . . the lyrics paint such vivid wistful pictures for me . . . and to top it off, it reminds me of when I bought that CD . . . it was in the ’90s and I had a great job and life was worry free and I listened to a public radio station at work and they played a lot of stuff none of the mainline stations played and that’s how I picked CDs I would buy and that’s how I discovered Lloyd Cole Love Story . . . and that wistful song always reminds me of those great carefree fat & happy days when I was about 30 years younger and I still felt physically great and maybe mentally better too . . . and for those reasons, plus the wistful nature of that song . . . it makes me sad when I listen to it. But I do anyway, despite the sadness, I love the imagery it evokes for me. So TMI and long story to say I understand about your relationship with Ms. Ronstadt . . . and I find it sad that you can no longer bring yourself to experience her wonderful beautiful voice.

@ghdprentice , I reread your reply. I am taking your advice regarding giving myself plenty of time before I get into the placement link @james633 sent me and experimenting, but I am going to break them in the "old fashioned"(?) way, because with all the unsettled weather we have been having around here lately, I have been afraid to have stuff even plugged in a lot of the time. Not to mention how paranoid all those unattended tubes make me on a good day. As I get older I get more and more neurotic and as far as "good days" . . . they are further in between.

Alright . . . Ramble On . . . I am hoping for an electrical free atmosphere tomorrow, and Ill get some more hours in. I am excited about it.

@immatthewj my go-to is female vocalists too. I can't listen to Linda Ronstadt, it evokes memories from my past - painful times when her music was my comfort but I do love her voice. I also can't get enough of Joanie Sommers, Sonnie and Cher, Frazey Ford, and 60s, 70s soul and R&B, Gladys Knight, Ronettes, and alike. The other types of music I would test is "complex" - classical pieces or difficult arrangements, but I will never have speakers that will play those music and details at a high level. So I am happily stuck with "simple" vocals. 

I hope those Revels will grow on you!

What type of music impressed you most with the Revels?

@grislybutter , sorry, I didn’t read that carefully before I replied. The type of music? Too early to say, I guess, I listened to an old test CD that had music tracks that were mostly instrumental jazz and one had a lot of percussion, and to start with I had two hours of instrumental jazz that I referenced last post, and I did enjoy that, and  as I typed, I was impressed by the clarity and how lively it sounded (particularly some of the percussion) , but with that typed, I did like it through my B&Ws. also. Female vocals are probably my favorite, and I have listened to Linda Ronstadt an awfully lot, and as I typed before, I really liked the nuances I heard on her voice on several songs from Greatest Hits Vol. 2 through the Revels.. . . . but it’s way too early for me to answer that question. I suspect, if I stick to my MO, I will be listening to a lot of female vocalists, but to begin with, I had intended to listen all over the map, and I do own a wide variety.

I’d be listening right now, but the skies  are dark and ominous, and a few threads of late have got me running on the paranoid side.

@gareneau , if you didn’t catch Soix’s replay, because I miss replies sometimes when they do not have an @ in front of them, MD is Music Direct. They are easy to deal with and they frequently have specials on factory refurb/open box/and B stock.

@grislybutter  , what I seem to pay attention to most is the vocal work.  There were inflections in Linda Ronstadt's voice that were brought out more than what I had noticed with the B&Ws.

Also, before I settled down in my chair in my room, I put on a couple of jazz CDs (The Rippingtons and The Blazing Red Heads) just to get the system warmed up.  I was in and out of the room and doing a few other things while that was going on (and this is standard for me, I usually put one of those CDs in while I am preparing my dinner, and then after I eat and clean up the system is warmed up) and what I noticed from outside the room was a cxlarity (sharpness?) I hadn't heard before when I was outside the room.  Particularly with those shaker things that I guess are part of the percussion.  And the thing is, I really wasn't listening for it when I was outside the room, because I was not expecting that.  I honestly was expecting to be disappointed, and beyond that, I've read enough here to know that speakers need break in, so I was truly not expecting much.

With all that typed, I am a moody person, and when I have things on my mind I don't listen, so although day two was supposed to be yesterday, and I did have the amp and preamp turned on and idling good and hot, I did not even put one CD in.  Today is a new day though.

@curiousjim  , I will do my best.  But I do not have the ear for this, nor do I have the vocabulary.  So it will be, at best, a beginners review.  

Music Direct. 

..... okay ; '' who is MD ''  ?  

@immatthewj 

Don’t forget to give us a review in a few weeks.😉

The Revels are fantastic speakers. I hope you are falling in love with the sound.

I scored a pair of Celestions a few weeks ago (for close to nothing), and I can't get enough of them.

What type of music impressed you most with the Revels?

Like I tried to say, sounds darn good, don’t over-think it, just enjoy.

1st thing, you find the speakers more involving

OH HAPPY DAY!

IF they sound great, nothing get’s your attention except good listening, DONE.

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The whole thing I wrote is only because you keep calling them B-Stock and the serial #s are far apart,

that is why I would be CURIOUS, to find out how well they match each other. No need, just that I’m retired, have the time, spl meter, amazing bytes cd, and tripod ready to go.

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How do you get things matched IF you find some problem(s) exist? (find imbalance with the SPL meter and multi-band test CD with many INDIVIDUALLY selectable frequencies, not a sweep).

I have experience matching my vintage speakers that have L-Pads. It’s easy to get ’adjusters’ of any kind OFF their best setting, It’s hard work to get them frequency balanced, each speaker, and together.

I use the meter and test cd, then I make final adjustments by ear, primarily how far to push the highs? Get out my favorite tracks for this. Eurythmics, Sweet Dreams, Annie Lennox’s voice and Dave Stewart’s trickery; Enough is Enough DUET by Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer; Andreas Vollenweider, White Winds; you know if you find you cannot hear some highs that are there, and also if you have pushed too far.

IF problem(s) exist. I’m having a professional hearing test on Wednesday. I’m 75, I am sure they will find something (if only age-related diminished high frequencies).

In anticipation, I bought a dual channel 31 band (1/3 octave) equalizer. So far, in-line set to ’0’, i.e. flat, I and a few friends cannot tell it’s in-line. Dead quiet.

It has detents at ’0’, that’s important. A taller unit’s sliders have longer movements up and down for greater accuracy.

DBX 2231 Equalizer Clone

Totally identical to DBX inside and out, same printed circuit boards, transformers, jacks and positions, in/out options .....

I chose this one because it is already in the USA, and from Amazon, easy free return.

Whatever they find, I thought I would try an inverse curve, curious as to what I hear here. Hearing AIDs, have limited adjustability, if I find out I ought to get/try them, they would be for everything except listening to music, the equalizer doing a more refined adjustment.

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Equalizers have IN or OUT switches, so you can hear the difference for yourself, ask friends who visit what they hear, turn it off for listening with others, perhaps with hearing aids in, .....

Thanks @ghdprentice  !  I am going back in!

Thanks, @mikhailark  for the explanation.

@immatthewj - electrical theory is rather simple here. Here is how I usually explain it. Amplifiers are designed assuming that load is pure resistor. But speakers include filters (capacitors and coils) and driver units themselves are coils. And coil moving in magnetic field produces its own current, so worse still, the speaker is an active load (it strikes back!).

Bottom line is that the load is much more complex thing and it is hard to design an amp that is capable of handling all types of loads. So here were are, discussing cables, amps and matching speakers :-)

Congratulations on your purchase. As you know, one shouldn’t draw any conclusions from the first few hours on a new purchase with speakers… but of course, that is human nature. So, congratulations on being human. Just a reminder… the speakers need to be broken in by at least one hundred hours. Let them play all night long. Many folks put them together speaker to speaker pointed at each other to reduce the sound levels.

The sound will improve considerably from break-in but also from positioning. Positioning can take weeks or months after they are broken in. It is something best approached by taking your time. If you do not do it all the time it is best to put long intervals of listening to music (not listening to the speakers) in between… then making a change.

You clearly put a lot of effort into research and have made an informed purchase. Sounds like you made a good one. Try and not doubt your decision and enjoy the process. I have never heard of any kind of b-stock that has any functional compromise. Typically it is some virtually invisible cosmetic thing or an excuse to sell perfectly good units at a discount.

Enjoy.

@elliottbnewcombjr ,

B-Stock. Hmmm, what I would want to check/know is how well the drivers are matched/balanced, from low frequencies up to high frequencies, midrange the most important. I’d like to know even if they were not B-stock.

I am going to have to carefully read and re-read your informative replay, as well as the link @james633 sent me regarding placement. As I typed, the serial numbers are not numbered close together . . . I am thinking that this is why they are B stock? Because they are not matched? I can see no blems or scuffs on them (that is one of the reasons the MD rep said they might be B Stock). ,The thing is, at their MSRP I was unable to justify them (expensive is a relative term) but at 3k (1400 off of list) they fit into a range that I could feel okay about. There was a price to be paid for retiring as early as I did, and it is me thinking a lot harder before i spend money.

Okay, one of the test CDs I played yesterday had (I think they were called?) "frequency sweeps"? And the narrator said they should be smooth from bottom to top? Is that what you were referring to? To my ears they were smooth. But with that typed, I openly admit to not having the greatest ears in the world, and I had been telling myself for quite a while that those ears were okay with my B&Ws which obviously had a lot of room for improvement.

(Which I also know is relative--as excited as I am now about these Revels, I can only imagine how I would feel about a real high end pair of speakers.)

86 Db is not sensitive at all.

@mikhailark  , I realize that.  That was why after I typed the rating for sensitivity I then typed that the reviews I read called the speaker an easy load to drive.  I had my reservations about a sensitivity rating of 86.  But they are nearfield in a small room and my B&Ws are 87 and I could get those speakers rocking out in 50 wpc triode.  Some time ago I posted a question about a pair of Harbeths I had seen listed that I was interested in that were rated at (I think) 85 or 86 and were described as an easy load to drive, and I inquired about that here.  The relationship between nominal impedance and sensitivity was explained to me, but electrical theory usually goes over my head.  They sound good so far.

@mattw73 

It's a great feeling when you buy a new piece of equipment and you actually like it... especially speakers. 

I was actually putting off my first audition as I thought I was going to be disappointed!  I am wondering if unhooking my sub may have effected the in phase/out of phase test tone?