Revel Performa 3

Very cool gear. It's hard to comprehend the depth of there technology. I thought B&W and Wilson had advanced driver testing methods, but Revel is clearly at the head of the pack.

In an interview with the head of product development,
he said that the top performa 3 tower out performed a 28,000$ speaker in blind tests. I have no reason to not believe him, so these new speakers could be giant killers.

I've got them on my audition list for an upgrade next year.

I have the F32's and center/surrounds that match. I was hoping they would be at RMAF, and if they were I missed them.
Unfortuneatly we have no Revel dealers in my immediate area. But I am looking forward to reviews here and published.

The video on Revels web sight is very interesting, seems like some real effort was put into the design and execution of the new line, not just marketing hype and sales propaganda.

The Revel research and development is perhaps among the best in the industry. My Concerta F-12's are truly remarkable speakers, sounding far better than many speakers I have listened to at much higher price points. I had some music loving friends over at my house yesterday, to enjoy leftover turkey and fine wine, and some terrific music. My buddies have collectively owned speakers by Totem, NHT, Harbeth, Martin Logan, Vandersteen, B & W, Quad, Mission, and Magnepan.
Everyone agreed that my Revels sounded pretty amazing ! I have no doubt that the new Performa 3 line will be outstanding.

Revel now has more information on their web sight on the Performa 3 speakers including owner manuals, the 208 is bigger than it looks, I bet it can move some air.

Yes the f -208 is a superb loudspeaker. My uncle is good friends
With the head of engineering and the f-206 was so outstanding
I bought a pair their waveguide and lens together with their slotted mid-bass driver is outstanding the High gloss Walnut finish alone is much better then many speakers I have see at $10 k. I thought this was a $6k
Loudspeaker based on looks and performance. I got a good deal on them .

Audioman, Have you heard/owned other revel speakers ? how do they compare? Did you compare them to other speakers in the same price range? You are the first person I know of that has heard these speakers outside of show conditions, and I am very interested in them because I own Revel f32s, thanks, Christopher

I was thinking about getting a pair of the f-208's but i'm waiting too see how people review them first, i wonder what they might sound like compared to my infinity IRS epsilons.

I was thinking about getting a pair of the f-208's but i'm waiting too see how people review them first, i wonder what they might sound like compared to my infinity IRS epsilons.

Hello Chris these speakers are the result of over 2 years and over $20 million in R&D and every facet of these loudspeakers were totally redesigned and are not that far off the mark from their top Solon line.
I have compared these to maggi,ML Bamberg audio. Devore 8
Gallo 3.5 . I can safely say ,in their respective price point they are
An outstanding refined loudpeaker. Very low risk they are great with Vacuum tubes, or Solidstate 50wpc min for tubes 100 solidstate.

I just received my demo set of Performa3, including the f206, m106, m105 and c205. I am a huge fan of the Performa2 series (I have M22 monitors at home), so I was very curious (and a little skeptical) that the new series could match their level of performance. After breaking them in over the past couple of days, I must say that I am VERY impressed with the sound. I'm even more impressed when I remember that the pricing has actually gone down from the previous series. This is a very competitive price range, but I think Revel has once again made a loudspeaker that sounds far more expensive than it is.

I as buying the show samples but I was told it is now spoken for .i bought th f-106 since I have the sealed SVS subwoofers his was logical without
Waiting. In. Since this may b better for hem monitors will allways image
A bit be

I was buying the show samples but I was told it is now spoken for .I bought th f-106 monitor since I have the sealed SVS subwoofers this was logical without Waiting. In a Since this may b better for the monitors will image
A bit better and the subs go lower ,and for 1/2 the $5,000 sticker price
Of the 208 . Both of these speakers can beat most speakers even at double their price.

I own Revel f32s and can say they are not that tube friendly, Irun them with Rogue m180 monos, what info do you have that the performa 3s are more tube friendly ? It would be great if they were !

I spent over an hour listening to the new Revel F-208's yesterday at Audio Breakthroughs in Manhasett, NY (thanks Stu !) .... Holy cow !!! These are incredible speakers. Balanced, coherent, beautiful, and just right. Perhaps an incredible bargain in the $5000 price range. If you have a chance, listen to them and enjoy them. I'm not looking to buy new speakers, as I'm loving my Revel F-12's, .... but if I was, and I had the bucks, I'd bring them home.

I owned the f30 speakers which were pretty good,
I am just running in the Revel M-106 monitor , It is a Outstanding monitor
And very refinined,the Bass without the port plug is very articulate and powerful for a 6.5 inch mid- Bass driver Very natural sounding and I get usable Bass I to the high 40s.
I turned off my SVS 12 sealed sub during breakin but Xover is at around 70 hz when on,
Makes this combination sound with authority and impact for just over $2300 for both this combo will embarrass a lot of speakers in the $5-6k
Range.i am speaking with total confidence and comparisons to give a
Honest evaluation. The Big F -208 floor stand speaker I am sure is anExcellent loudspeaker with very similar sonic signature and even more midbass .

I think Revel's old line look way better aesthetically. Isn't the sub a little much for a sub price wise? I dunno..

Audioman,

You went from the Pendragon SEs to a monitor + sub?

Shakey

01-11-13: Chrissain
I own Revel f32s and can say they are not that tube friendly, Irun them with Rogue m180 monos, what info do you have that the performa 3s are more tube friendly ? It would be great if they were !

I`m using a Rogue ST90 Tube amp with KT120`s in it with Revel F52`s and they really sound nice together..great musicality.
Are there design differences between the F32`s and the F52`s that would make the smaller ones more difficult to drive ?
Just curious

@Audioman58,

Do you have any post break-in impressions of the M106 that you could share?

Much thanks.

I have 2 audio systems I sold my pendragon-SE for B&W 802D
I bought rom my brother,nothing more to read into there.
The Revel Perfoma M106. Is a great speaker that I bought for my med room 16x 14 . I had a SVS sealed 12 sub it is a perfect match below 50 hz.
On breakin give these speakers 300 hrs of playtime .theydo go through changes the first 2 weeks from dark to thin to balanced then closed in but after 200 hours they opened up very nicely. They have excellent lock on imaging. Superb integration highs to midbass and with this new waveguide Excellent dispersion soundstage width and height .these are a $5 k
Monitor all day long a very natural Very refined presentation .
Even without the subwoofer you get very respectable midbass down to around 50 hz I cross it over around 70 hz to the SVS sealed subwoofer.
IMO a unbeatable combination for under $2500 very close to reference sound and a nice natural warm balance .the new Sonus Faber venere
is nice but not in he Sam league this 106 is better across the board.
Go look up this speaker online ,even though they just came out in Dec-12
They were the talk of the Jan12 CES show, and for floor stander s
The F208 is unbeatable at $5 k it beat Sevral speakers in the )20 k
Range no BS what so ever listen for yourself .
You will see a review inthe next few months in TAS magazine on the 106,
And 206. For the money None better even at 2x the cost !!

I heard a pair of F208s and F206s at the dealer in Wilmington, NC Sound Decisions. The dealer Eric was very accommodating and friendly. Highly recommended retail shop. I was very impressed with the speakers, especially considering the price. They are true high end speakers at budget hifi price.

Bass port is tuned a little low for my taste, making very low bass tones a little warm, but that's how Revel is, even Salon2 is a bit porty for the sake of WAF. There was mild warming from the port on very low signal but otherwise the bass is very clear and well integrated with the midrange. The 2 woofers have a small amount of dynamic compression compared to larger woofers, but it is only noticeable on familiar tracks with large dynamics and little recording compression, like symphonies and aggressive chamber music. I don't think the F308 will change that much, since another 8" woofer doesn't raise acoustic impedance. The bass is very satisfying if missing a slight bit of VLF detail. I listened to organ tracks and it was very entertaining, although fundamentals were mostly missing a few did come through. The overall sound of the organ and the top to bottom integration makes it hard to focus on minor flaws of omission when such glorious huge music is playing. The mid bass is my favorite aspect of the sound quality, giving the speaker a full, musical, satisfying feel on all kinds of music. There is no thin sound at all. As expected from Voecks and Harman floor bounce and baffle step aberrations are engineered away into oblivion. Above 50Hz bass tone is clear as day. Most people will be thrilled with the performance of the bass. Even people spoiled by big woofers will adjust easily because of the great overall voicing and 'musical' feel.

Midrange is just awesome. Tonal detail and texture comparable to the best Accuton speakers. I could easily hear the sonorous resonance of the interior of a solo violin body. EQ is perfectly balanced and neutral. Vocals very expressive and intimate. Symphonic brass sounded real.

Tweeter likewise awesome. No hardness, no fake tone, natural effortless sound. Brass, violin, vocals were very detailed, but there was no distraction from too much fake detail as is common from other brands in this price range, like the top Polks I owned for a couple weeks last year, which are just childs' play compared to these Revels. Treble here is not quite as resolving as Usher "Be" tweeter but also not as distracting with hyper detail. Treble on the Revels is better than Quad 2905 which have a plastic coloration. A little more resolving than the quads, but still not SQ distracting.

The speakers can play very loudly without falling apart. They sound full enough in the bass to play softly. There isn't much change in the sound from low to high SPL. Use a remote control so you can dial in perfect volume for each track.

The waveguide makes great sound-staging width and height. Depth was hard to judge with the speakers close to the wall. This closeness may also be partly responsible for the warmish low bass. We did not try the port bungs and no sub was used. The crossovers were invisible. Driver integration is excellent.

In another forum a poster complained that these don't project the staging forward. I also tend to like speakers that come at me a little, it's exciting on chamber music and jazz combos. I could hear what he was talking about, the speakers don't come at you. They are just there, doing their thing, not begging for attention, or showing off. But also not recessed or wall flowers. The high resolution is well balanced top to bottom so it allows you to get as involved as you want, or back the attention away to allow conversation or reading. My Ushers with tube amps would not allow any conversation, they commanded all attention. There is no midrange bump or smiley face EQ to distract the attention from the music.

I was consistently focused on the music, I had to concentrate to switch my focus to the sound quality, especially above 100hz. That's what I look for in speakers, they promote the music listening experience more than their own impressive sound quality. The F208s are excellent speakers for listening to music and for music lovers who want the most detail possible without distraction. Just very neutral and clean, with body and solidity.

We used two systems of electronics:
Dealer's electronics were PS3 as CDP to Anthem prepro and 180W amp. This sounded excellent. Treble not perfect but VG. The speakers liked the power reserve and sounded relaxed and confident.

Then we switched to known electronics that we brought. Laptop, M2Tech Hiface adapter, Twisted Pear Buffalo2 with transformer output into DIY integrated amplifier 65W8R, 130W4R. All JPS SC3 wires.

With the Buffalo DAC the treble smoothed out and a lot more detail and more natural tone. More midrange texture and more spatial cues, typical of JPS wires. The smaller amp is tonally very accurate, but occasionally sounded a little stressed on dynamic peaks of uncompressed classical music. Compressed rock played very loud with no sign of stress, although the feeling of confidence was less than the 180W8R/300W4R amps. They are supposedly 88.5dB, but they do like current. I think 100W is the lower limit. The fullness of the midbass is evident on all music and both amps. It makes thin recordings or small amps still sound good. Many speakers fail on this, with that annoying suck out at 100-200Hz. It's like a 6SN7 tube built in to the crossover voicing =)

The F208s had only 15 hours on them according to the dealer, and they were not positioned precisely. Off center imaging was better than most, and the off axis tone stayed very good at 30 degrees. I did not notice any room acoustic issues (other than maybe the LF warmth) which is rare for me because I am sensitive to that in my own room. The room was medium size, about 20 x 18. Speaker baffles 2 feet from front wall, 9 feet apart, couch in center of room, about 11 feet from speakers.

I have owned Quad 2905, Usher Be20, Gemme Katana, Legacy Focus 2020, Feastrex D5nf, and lots of DIYs. I would miss the LF dynamic power of the Usher and Legacy, but these Revels are comparable to all of these and I would love to own a pair. Hopefully with price of only 4500 they will be easy for me to buy a pair soon, and eventually add some sealed subs if I think I need more bass for the organs and symphonies.

F308 is cancelled, per Revel. It cost too much for a small improvement over F208.

nice post richidoo, cant wait to hear them.

Richidoo,I am evaluating Revel Salons vs. Usher Be 20s. Would really appreciate your thoughts, especially on mid range dynamics and overall musicality

The Usher is a respectable, honest speaker. However, musicality (which to me means real-sounding tonal balance and low distortion) is better on the Revels and mid-range dynamics are really good for a non-horn speaker. I would take the Revel any day. Pure class in sound.

Not to hijack, but definitely get the Revels. The Ushers have nice looks, better low bass detail and higher sensitivity in their favor, while the Revel's are better on everything else including build and parts quality, vastly superior design and engineering, lower distortion and better off axis FR that you can hear, and overall better value for the money. And the Revel even has a REAL beryllium tweeter. ;) It's hard to believe they cost the same.

It's hard to believe that they cost the same, but then when you compare the Revels to most speakers 2 or 3 times their it's hard to believe that are not LOWER in price than the Revels. A bargain in sound, build quality, engineering, they just don't have the made up stories and uniqueness of some of the boutique speakers.

A gift to music lovers, that's how I view the better Revel models.

Yep, thanks. Should have said this earlier but I am getting both in the used market and though the Ushers I am getting are a little older, they are half the cost. I guess though I am still inclined towards the Revels. The other thing against Ushers is their massive size. Thanks.. don't want to hijack

I have read a thread on Audiokarma where someone compared the f52 to the new 208 and found the f52 more refined sounding with better soundstage depth. This is worrying to me as own the f32s and the new 208s should be better in every way or whats the point ? Most of what I have read seems very positive, and I know I will have to listen for myself, but is there anyone else that have had actual side by side comparisons between the older and newer models ?

I have also read that the f208 is by far the best under 10,000 dollar speaker Revel has ever made, and I hope this is the case.

Has anyone been able to do any comparison between Studio 2 and F208 by chance? Just curious ...

I have listened to the Revel M105 and was blown away at the imaging

on Avs forum someone did listen at a dealer side by side the new f208 vrs the studio, and his opinion was the f208 was about 90 percent of a studio 2 for a lot less dough.

FYI, I was with Richidoo on this trip to hear the F208's and I thought Erik was a great host for us. I owned the F30's when the Performa line first came out. I loved the bass and mids but the highs were too harsh for me (~10 years ago, on whatever system it was at the time)... I can't directly compare the F30's to the F208's on memory but I can say overall, they are MUCH more refined sounding.

I agree with Rich's assessment for the most part.. However, I heard a lot of detail in the bass, maybe more than Rich... and I wasn't noticing the port so much. Bass is highly subject to the room. The room we listened in had no intentional acoustic treatment.

As to the highs, I am used to laser precision imaging and spectacular mids with impact from my current speakers (Piega C8 LTD) and I missed some of that with the F208's. However, the Piega's have a flat coaxial ribbon mid and tweeter panel rather than cones and domes. So, a difference in how they sound is expected. They didn't leave out details, just presented it a little more softly than I'm used to.. making them easier to crank up and enjoy even on bad recordings.

I could not get over how hard it was NOT to just enjoy the music with these speakers. They are great to just enjoy the beat and hear the nuances, tune in a little to some detail and get right back into the message of the song.

IF you are genuinely interested in listening to MUSIC, these are a great end destination to your audio journey. That is indeed a big IF. Most audiophiles really do love hearing what our gear can do and experimenting with the sound of it. I feel I have had a nice journey finding the exact sound I like. It just so happens Kevin Voecks has a similar ear and lots of R&D money behind him so I am lucky to have found this speaker. ;)

Hello I personally owned the f52 for 2 years ,there is No way
The F52 is as good as the f208 in any dept ! Please remember these guys spent $ 30 million just building their new audio lab. This new 208 is in the same league as the old $12 k studio. In fact ever Jim V at Revel said so
That is why they had to go to Titanium drivers the new Salon reference line
Their testing does not lie. Why do you think they took the extra year to
Bring these to market,because they wanted everything right the first time.

One thing I found out not advertised is that the 206,is slightly more clean
And open through the top- mid range,reason being is that there are several controls on the bigger 208 which does go down deeper, I have dual subs
So Bass will not be an issue the 208 is good for flexibility if you have a
Room that has sonic issues biwirable, and tone controls for treble and Bass
3 things more in the circuit, although small the 206 is slightly more open and cleanfrom the mid bass on up,but you could only hear if you have a very good switching unit and played back and forth on a bunch of songs
Very small difference . If you don't have separate subs ,I would still buy the 208 without reservation it goes lower and has more slam in the bottom end,will beat anyspeaker out there even at the $7-8 k range.both speakers
Are outstanding the 206 will cleanly do high 38hz range without any problem with tight articulate Bass.

I heard the Revel M 105's at Audio Breakthrough in Manhasset, N.Y. a few weeks and they were very impressive driven by Exposure electronics. The sound and build quality of these speakers would leave one to believe that they cost more than twice their asking price. BTW Audio Breakthroughs is an excellent dealer with many great brands that has been in business for many years and I would highly recommend to people in the NYC metro area.

I wanted to like the Revel speaker, but was disappointed. There are much better products out there.

I recently stopped by a Revel dealer to listen to the M106's. I told them I was thinking about upgrading to them from my Paradigm Studio 40 v4's. They told to bring in some of my music and they'd set them up for me but that they doubted the M106's would be an upgrade over my paradigms. I'm still going to check them out though.

Some of these guys have an agenda.one guy says he was dissapointed
And better out there? What kind of statement is that ? Compared to what,
And where did you listen ? Somethng as small as using different cables
Can change a speakers chemistry and balance ,way to many variables
To make a blank statement. I listened to many speakers some 2 X the revels, and they hold up very well, a very balanced loudspeaker
With a natural warmth. If you are looking for a cool sound, or forward sounding speaker these are not , this speaker is a 4-5 th row perspective.

I have now heard the f208. To say there are much better speakers out there is laughable. I would put the new Revel up against any speaker under 15,000. I think they are giant killers.

I have yo go back and retract part of my statement on the f-206 being a bit better then the f-208 I found out the 208 I heard only had 75 hours on it,and truthfully they take so full 400 hours to get the low frequency drivers to relax this includes to the mids to a lesser extent.the 208 Xover slightly different then the 206
And bigger drivers has noticeable more mid Bass which I like more prat,this being so gives the impression of better detail.i have since bought
The 208. For a med room say 12x14-16the f-206 is very good just keep it around 2 ft or less to the corner boundries.Anthony at Perotta consultants
Has a nice demo pair in a nice gloss black ,you can probably get a good deal on .these Loudspeakers are excellent top to bottom and probably the most extensive - expensive test facility in the world,that should tell you something about the R&D that went into them .my uncleis In pro audio design and is good friends with Kevin V,they went to Worcester Polytech
Together ,from counterpoint,to Snell to a Revel one smart guy.

I wonder how good the F208s are with large orchestra classical works. Anyone?

The Usher price range is "tuned" to the US market. The BE-718 for examplr is $3000 in the US and $1300 in Taiwan. The dmd driver is also $800 in thr US market but only $199 in Taiwan. In other words Usher has mastered the art of the sighted audiophile.

The Usher price range is "tuned" to the US market. The BE-718 for examplr is $3000 in the US and $1300 in Taiwan. The dmd driver is also $800 in thr US market but only $199 in Taiwan. In other words Usher has mastered the art of the sighted audiophile.

The Usher price range is "tuned" to the US market. The BE-718 for examplr is $3000 in the US and $1300 in Taiwan. The dmd driver is also $800 in thr US market but only $199 in Taiwan. In other words Usher has mastered the art of the sighted audiophile.

Any of you who have auditioned both the F206 and F208 have
observations regarding their sonic differences? All things equal, I'd
prefer the 206 not for its lower price but for its smaller size.

And if anyone has compared these Revels with the KEF R series
floorstanders (R500, R700, R900), I'd be curious to hear your thoughts.