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Shout out to Revival Audio Atalante 3 speakers

Normally I’d write a long review of something as I never seem to keep it short. Right now I’m looking at over two pages of handwritten notes and can’t bring myself to put it all to pen, so to speak. Throw in images and links and it becomes a thing unto itself. And it’s sad to say I won’t for what deserves pages of accolades.

I will say this though: if you want a great all around speaker that’s eminently musical at the expense of nothing of import, then the Revival Audio Atalante 3 speaker should be at the top of you short list.

If you crave tone, body and soul, then listen to this speaker.
If you enjoy air, ambience, shimmer and decay, again, listen to this speaker.
If etch, shrillness and a hot top end bother you, no need to look elsewhere.
If the bottom octave is not of paramount importance but a strong mid and upper bass done realistically floats your boat, this will easily suffice.
If coherence and presence is a big deal for you, no need to ask for any more cards as you have a winning hand.
If a beautifully finished cabinet is important, one that harkens back to better days, then this will fit into any decor.
If pedigree matters, then rest assured that this is designed and assembled completely in France. Also, the designer has over 30 years designing speakers for Focal-JM Lab, Dynaudio and others. The drivers are unique to the brand and not off the shelf for other brands to use.
Finally, if price is a factor, these retail for only $2500 and if made by another company, would command multiples of it’s asking price, which I was told, is probably going to go up soon. One member who I’ve been communicating with told me they got 5 pallets of speakers in and they were all mostly accounted for and 5 pairs sold while he was at the dealer auditioning them (2 were of the larger 5 series).

Demand is so high that they came out with a less costly design (two models) to take up some of the slack and to spread the love to those of lessor pockets, which is admirable.

I can’t tell you how much I love these speakers but this should give you an idea: I no longer listen critically to anything anymore. I no longer crave this or that. I can listen at lower volumes and hear all I want or need to. These speakers emotionally connect with me and did so within the first few minutes of listening. There’s no more wind in my audio sails but if I had the money and the space, I’d give the Atalante 5 a serious listen and most likely get them.

Now I find most of the discussions here amusing, at best. Too many unicorns chased and nothing to show for it. Too many lost in search of that perfect tree when you have the whole forest to enjoy at any time and at any angle you wish, if you chose to. Time to choose.

All the best,
Nonoise

 

 

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nonoise OP
10,563 posts
 

@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

 

abd1
155 posts
 

@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.

 

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