Shout out to Revival Audio Atalante 3 speakers

@abd1 Nice take on your Atalante 3s. I used to own the Clearwave Duet 6s as well but feel the Atalnate 3s to be a nice step up from them. I used to have Tonian Labs TL-D1s and their clarity and see thru is very hard to beat. Saying that, I found the Clearwaves to have a darker presentation, like there's too much smoke in the venue. 

With the Atalantes, they have all the resolution and about 95% of the detail but just enough "smoke" to calm down the treble. Unlike your findings, I detect no abnormalities in the treble. No harshness, etch or anything that I would consider irritating, unless I turn the volume way up and then it's only SPL levels that get to me (being in a smallish room). It may all boil down to system synergy (I use a Technics SU-G700M2 and matching SACD player).

I completely agree with you on the balance of these speakers. You can tell they were designed by a person steeped in speaker design. They are the most unoffensive sounding speakers I've heard to date, and I mean that in a good way. Everything I play sounds good, to my ears, without the highlighting of certain qualities at the expense of others. 

Let them break in for a good time (about a month or so) and you may find them even more enjoyable. I related to the dealer how impressed I was after a week and he said to call him back after a month and then tell him what I thought. He was right. 😄

All the best,
Nonoise

@nonoise I struggled saying the highs are edgy because I don't think that's fair. I think that comes from me being so used to the sound of the Cubes which are so natural sounding in the highs. I don't really want to compare because the Cubes are 5-6x the cost of the Atalante's but to me they are similar in that they are both very well balanced speakers. When listening to the Atalante's nothing jumps out as being "off" or excessive in either a good or bad way. I think just the highs I'm used to are a bit more open, refined and natural but they probably should be from a speaker costing 5-6x more. I am initially overly impressed with the Atalante's.

Speaking of the Duet's, I think those are fantastically built speakers. Considering I got my pair for under $1k they are the best bargain I've ever had in HiFi. But, they need a lot of current and tend to open up at higher volumes. They aren't very efficient. However, once they're in their zone they sound very accurate, detailed and open. Maybe a even bit boring and less engaging, but very accurate. Im using them in a condo with a devialet 200 and its a good combo. I don't do a lot of critical listening there at all so they're more than up to the task.

My wife just informed me she's going out of town in late february for a week. That means I get to set up speakers in other parts of the house while she's gone! I'm going to set the Atalante's up in the tv room/office with a Primaluna Evo300 amp that I'm not using right now and probably just use a Bluesound Node as a streamer/dac/pre and see how they sound. Should be fun.

@nonoise you still off the merry go round and have these?

Apparently the genius behind this brand, Daniel Emonts, was chief designer at Focal and Dynaudio, but in particular he was responsible for the Dynaudio Heritage Special, one of my favorite sounding bookshelf speakers.

If the Atalante 3 can get close to that sound for 1/3rd the price, that would really be something. These are cheap enough to just buy on a whim.

@agisthos 

Yup, still off the merry-go-round with no urge to upgrade. Its pairing with the Technics SU-G700M2 still has me scratching my head as to how lucky I got.

As for how close they get to the 3X more expensive Dynaudio Heritage Special, that's been pointed out by a couple reviewers who had or still have those speakers. 

They're not perfect by any means but you can say that about any speaker as they're all compromises of one kind or another. It's just that these speakers are tuned to a level that I never tire of listening to them and never find myself analyzing anything. I just plop down on the old sofa and enjoy the music. 

If I ever upgrade, it'll be when I get a bigger place and it'll be their big brother, the Atalante 5. I don't see any reason to look elsewhere.

All the best,"
Nonoise

These are beautiful in a very boring, traditional way. I love that. So many crazy speakers these days look like seashells or bad modern art projects. 

I couldn't agree more. They hired a well respected design studio in France to come up with the looks and it's a combination of an old world speaker look with a Japanese flourish. 

They've recently came out with a darker color for all their models from customer demand. I like it better than the original.

All the best,
Nonoise

They hired a well respected design studio in France to come up with the looks and it’s a combination of an old world speaker look with a Japanese flourish.

I’m interested in Revival speakers and hope to hear them sometime soon but not a fan of that look, whatever it is. Looks like an ProAc design concept that got rejected and mothballed.  And “Japanese flourish” just sounds like an oxymoron to me. Then again, I kinda like the Vivid Giyas even though they look like they belong in a Dr. Seuss book so what the hell do I know?

The Vivids do have that Dr Seuss look to them. I think that would be great in some homes and terrible in others. Depends on the decor and such.

I think that darker color for the Atalante posted above looks beautiful though. Sort of a mature Harbeth look, which I will never not love.