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New Revel Salon's being Introduced In 2006

I recently have been looking to pickup a good second hand pair of speakers. My goal is to put together a really nice alternative system in my summer home so that i can enjoy music when i am up North during the summer months. My Main system consists of Wilson Maxx 2's being driven by Boulder 1050 mono's with 1010 preamp. Bat VK10se phono with TNT HRX turntable. Riemyo cdp 777 dig front end. I like a speaker that can bring it home when need be, in other words can play clean and loud without commpression.

I recently spoke with a friend who is a high ranking executive at Harmon, and he mentioned to me that the Revel line was being revamped for late 2006 and that the improvments to the Salons & Studio will rewrite the bar for speakers in each of there respective classes. Prior to that conversation I was leaning towards picking up a pair of Used Salon's here on Agon since they can be had for less than $10,000 on a regular basis.

I have heard the Salons on a couple of occasions the bass is simply world class it embarrasses many $30,000 to $40,000 speakers in this area. I'm curious to hear from Revel owners who enjoy this speakers sound and am curious to know what area's of this speakers performance can be improved upon. This will help me to decide on picking up the used current version or waiting for the second coming !
definitive
10 responses Add your response
kennyt's avatar
kennyt
1,226 posts
 
I am about to buy a pair, and hadn't heard of the new version, though am not surprised to hear of it.... I am eager to hear about them!
gerryn's avatar
gerryn
143 posts
 
I owned a pair of Salons and was using a pair of large monoblocks from a Canadian manufacturer that begins with a c. The Salons never produced enough bass for me, despitet their large size. Maybe I should have used Levinson with them, because I was always disappointed with the bass until I bought a pair of Genesis speakers.
cohnaudio
28 posts
 
I have the Salons running off of Tenor Audio 300hp monoblock amps. I have had these speakers for a bit over a year and think they are fantastic. The are flat throughout the frequency range (of course the room always can have an impact on this) and the bass is incredibly tight and fast. I was quite surprised by by Gerryn's comment re the bass. The thing that I think can be improved on is the dynamics and ease of presentation. While the speakers are incredibly fast, they don't have quite the dynamics of a speaker like the Kharmas. Of course, the Kharmas don't quite have the bass of the Salons. To get the right sound out of the speakers you absolutley must have sufficient high quality power to drive them. Don't think about anything less than 300/watts per channel and shoot for more if you can.
cincy_bob
270 posts
 
I have been running the Salons in my system for several years now, and I agree that the bass performance is outstanding. My system measures flat all the way down to 20Hz. The bass is very accurate - tight and tuneful. The only thing to keep in mind with the Salons is that you need a good amplifier with high current delivery capabilities in order to get the best performance out of them. The impedance dips into the low 3s in the bass frequencies with a difficult phase angle, so you need some juice to drive these speakers properly.
gerryn's avatar
gerryn
143 posts
 
Looks like I had insufficient power/current. I was using a pair of Classe monoblocks at the time, rated at 350 watts into 8 ohm.
rgbyhkr
32 posts
 
Two things. First, while no one else seemed to have heard anything at the time, I heard about the work going on to redo the Ultima line from a manager within the HSG in late August. The time frame was the same (said perhaps CES 2007). So, it's good to hear that they're still on track even though we're still a year out.

Secondly, the Salons and Studios have been on the market a while so there are used pairs available. However, there will be far more available once the new line is released. You'd have a chance then to hear the new models and, if you preferred the existing designs, you could probably get thpse for a great price. The downside of course is that you'd have to wait until the new ones were out to make a decision.

Jeff
davidrio7661
3 posts
 
Hi,

I've just discussed about the new Revel Ultima with the french importator.
They will be presented at CES Las Vegas 2007 - probably only as a prototype ! so we have time.
The new model will have a more conventionnal design.
There will be also a new range - very design

Regards

David
rgbyhkr
32 posts
 
It's official:

http://www.revelspeakers.com/press/details.asp?ID=10

They are being displayed at CEDIA and the Salon2s will be demoed.

Jeff
gundam91
506 posts
 
Pictures have been posted at Stereophile blogs and Sounstage website. I'm kind of disappointed. From the aesthetics point of view, I prefer the original design a lot more.

FrankC
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,678 posts
 
"Pictures have been posted at Stereophile blogs and Sounstage website. I'm kind of disappointed. From the aesthetics point of view, I prefer the original design a lot more."

I fully agree but the performance of the Salon2 easily made up for it. Best sound at CEDIA (which, I must admit, is not that big an achievement).
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