Another reason to buy used. Covid really screwed up a lot of things and I think revel sources all their cabinets from china. Maybe the boat sank?
I can appreciate your disappointment with the ordeal. It sucks
Warning for Revel lovers
I have read these forums for some years, and have never contributed, but feel I really must let people in on what is happening at Revel. I ordered a pair of Salon2's in March '21 through the great folks down at USA Tube Audio in Scottsdale, who I can unreservedly recommend for excellent customer service. After ordering the Salons, Revel estimated their delivery at the end of April. When that date approached the delivery was changed to end of June. Then it was changed to August, then November, then February. '22. Just found out the new delivery date. It is August '22. Well, you might say, this is supply chain, pandemic related. Read on. During my year-long wait, Paul and Charlie down at USA Tube several times tried to find out what the story was for the delays. I also wrote to Revel to try to get updates; I had sent them 50% down to reserve the speakers. The most either I or USA Tube received back was a one or two terse sentences which shed no light on what the issues were effecting delivery targets. During this time, I sent some equipment in to Audio Research for factory restoration. It took them 6 months to get the job done, but they were excellent at keeping me in the loop, and I always knew when to expect them to finish the job. Just last week I canceled my order to Revel. I will receive a refund, but there was not one word from them apologizing or attempting to explain what happened. I have since ordered a pair of Aspen FR30's from PS Audio, and have already been contacted by them several times for updates and videos of in home installations. Anyway, they are delivering the first couple of pallets as I write this, and somehow are able to honor their commitments to their customers. Though I will have to wait for mine, I have high confidence they will arrive at my house when Paul and company say they will.
The point of my ramble is that the high end community is rather small, with many excellent companies competing for for business within it. It is sad to note that one of the absolute best, Revel, is now under the corporate umbrella of Harmon, which is under the corporate umbrella of Samsung. They have not been represented at the last two T.H.E. shows in Long Beach, home state for Revel. They sent me an email back in January, announcing a change in their management, along with no information on the status of my speakers. They appear to have had no interest in keeping a buyer of their flagship product either happy or informed, for an entire year. I am not a wealthy man. I've been trading and buying audio products for almost 40 years, and was excited to lay down a large commitment in capital for some amazing speakers. I am assuming that sometime in the recent past Revel, after having been absorbed by its corporate overlords, was "restructured" (read gutted), and is not currently equipped to supply a quality product to discerning audiophiles. It also appears that the parent company is content mass-marketing cell phones and "speakers that rock", but sound the same whether playing MP3, CD quality, or high rez. If anyone out there is thinking of sinking a bunch of money into a high end speaker, Caveat emptor! P.S. I own a pair of original Salons, and have always enjoyed Revel's products. Very sad
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Sorry for your experience. As has been said, Covid has revealed a LOT of flaws in our business practices and supply chain Be glad you didn’t buy a Samsuck refrigerator. 1 1/2 yrs after buying it, the ice maker stopped working. I called them but it was out of warranty of course.. No help. I later discovered that this is common place among Samsuck ice makers. They freeze over and stop working until defrosted. But the problem gets progressively worse. I was defrosting it every 2 weeks til I got tired of it and bought some Ice trays and bucket which are in the freezer now. There is a class action suit against them now. One facebook group has dedicated to get them to recall these ice makers. But they have every excuse imaginable to play games rather than fix the problem They are on at least their 4th "fix" But none of them work because it is a known design flaw. In my case they ltook it apart and put it back together & said I had damaged the unit. The unit didn’t work after they left. Then they avoided my phone calls and never called back when I asked how to make it work again. I will NEVER own another Samsuck item. BTW, they are still using the same ice maker but have relabeled it and said the problem is fixed. I’ve talked several customers out of this item when I see them in Lowes, etc. |
I tried to get a replacement grill for one of my Revel m106 under warranty. It was a pretty bad experience and it was just a grill. They actually told me they had to wait until new stock arrived so they could take one off of a new speaker ...... it literally took 5 months. Red flag that they stock no spares for the Performa speakers. They were good speakers but that scared me about future service so I sold them
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@artemus_5 If your Samsung has the ice maker in the refrigerator section, I may have a solution for you. We have a french door Samsung refrigerator with the ice maker in the upper left side. It would stop working every so often. Upon investigation, the problem is not that it was "freezing up", but rather, the ice was melting in the back of the ice container and forming a blob of ice, which then blocked the dispenser mechanism from working. Each time, I had to use a hair dryer to melt the blob of ice that was blocking things up. At that time, the refrigerator section temperature setting was 36 degrees. At that temperature setting, there apparently was enough air getting into the ice maker section to raise the temperature in there to just above freezing. After realizing this, I set the refrigerator section to 35 degrees and, wow, problem solved. The ice maker has worked perfectly since then and it's now been maybe a year since then. So, I suggest setting the refrigerator to 35 or maybe 34 degrees and see what happens. |
So you are finally getting a refund on a speaker system that was discontinued 2 years ago from Revel which has been sketchy at best, and now you're going to buy an euber expensive highend speaker system from a company that hasn't made highend speakers in the past.
Sounds like you're a glutton for punishment.
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Never enjoyed Revel, but sorry to hear about your experience. I think that most manufacturers can do with better communications. I will say the brand that I find extremely good at communicating is Classe. Regular updates on orders, and great feedback loop.
I am personally waiting on my next Audiovectors that I ordered first week of February. I hope I don’t have your issues! |
Thanks for the feedback. This is what is extraordinary about our hobby. I am definitely a glutton for punishment when it comes to purchasing items that are very hard to explain to most people, but I have reasons for picking the FR30’s. Paul, at PS Audio has a history of working with Arnie Nudell of Infinity IRS fame (I’ve owned a pair of RS 2.5’s), and after leaving a previous iteration of PS Audio, started Genesis, which has made some outstanding speakers. I still have one of their powered subwoofers. Nudell was involved in designing the FR30’s until his death in 2017. At any rate, the FR30’s can be returned with free shipping if they are not what I want. I used to have an HCA 2, and currently stream thru a PS Audio DSD Dac w/bridge; I like their products, as well as their excellent customer service. By the way, in one of the few emails Revel sent me, they insisted the Salon 2’s are still being manufactured. Would have been really stoked to have gotten some. |
@bratscheboy Did you know that the Salon’s were being discontinued when you ordered them? If so, I find it a bit strange that Revel would be still building new stock on a discontinued line. Those PS Audio speakers look interesting. BTW - I had Revel 1 long ago. The best bass I ever had in my home, but those damn tweeters kept blowing up on me.
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Another issue with Revel. I wanted to replace an upper mid driver a few years back; they were not available as NOS. Planned obsolescence? I had to cannibalize an ultima center channel. The main reason for replacing the Salons is the tweeters, which are a bit impolite on classical stuff. The beryllium units on the 2’s are much better, I am told. I asked about the reports of being discontinued when I ordered the 2’s. Was told they were not being discontinued or replaced in the near future. Now I’m not sure what the real story is. |
I am very suspicious of any company within the Harmon group. I would be concerned about the situation that has occurred with Revel would happen, and here it has. I like to stay with companies that are independent and do not serve at the pleasure of their corporate master as opposed to their customers. |
English and US premium audio brands owned by a US conglomerate within a Korean conglomerate. A 2 year world-wide pandemic, supply-chain disruptions, employment disruptions, a less than peaceful transfer of power and now another humanitarian crisis caused by a crazed autocrat. I'll be happy with uninterrupted electricity to power my modest stereo system. |
I personally auditioned Mark Levinson equipment. I absolutely will not touch their new equipment for the same reason that you canceled your Revel speakers for. That Harman group aka Samsung ruins everything they touch. As an authorized servicer for many years repairing all of this stuff, it is not what it once was. They are purely living off of the names of these once fine companies. And they figured out how to cheapen them up while maintaining stupid prices. And most importantly, their service is poor at best! |
Interesting thread indeed. Sorry OP for your experience. I can feel your frustration. What I found really interesting about this thread is that I never thought about how these big corporations buying out these highly valued brands and completely shift their focus on profits instead of qualities. Definitely something to watch out for on my next purchase. |
The place I work has had been a Revel dealer since the company's founding as a Harman Luxury brand. To say the least supply chain issues have plagued them worse than most due largely to their total reliance on Indonesian manufacturing. Design is shared between Northridge, CA and SB Acoustics in Denmark, but production is all Indonesia. And yes, Salon2s have been discontinued so the non-fulfillment of a new order is not surprising. Did the dealer receive assurances it could be before placing? A 50% deposit on a dubiously obtainable item for which the dealer would not be invoiced until the item ships is also questionable. We are taking 10% or 20% on orders for hard to get items like McIntosh and Magnepan with predictable 8-12 week backorders. |
Thank you all for the "revel"ations and insights. I guess I may have dodged a mahogany veneered bullet. Sure helps to interface with others and gain new insights on a changing high end hi-fi landscape. I have wonderful memories of listening to Revel products down through the years, but I think, luckily, there are still many highly motivated, committed and amazingly knowledgeable people and manufacturers of audio products out there. I look forward to many more years of listening to and supporting them. High end audio is alive and well! |
You are quite correct @bratscheboy It is axiomatic that big companies are unable to deliver. Why complain? The owners of successful small companies aren't compelled to sell out. They just want the dough. They don't care what happens to their company and their product. In fact many companies fail under the new extractive command. Private equity is the worst. It often bleeds a company dry in two or three years by overloading it with debt service that precludes R&D and further development. Cash cows don't exist in sharp end businesses like hi-fi. But we all know of many great smaller companies that have been run by their initial proprietors for decades. Stick to these and steer clear of the Harmons and Samsungs that mainly look to maximise short-term profits by shafting their customers with poor service and non-working freezers (see above). |
i've had a couple of interactions with revel's customer service/parts departments over the years and all have been frustrating--considering they're a division of a gazillion dollar conglomerate, they're like dealing with some chaotic third world, back-alley operation. that said, they're not venal--i was ultimately able to get what i needed--and they do make a helluva speaker. |
Just to help you feel better, Artemis5, I've experienced the same refrigerator/freezer situation with my Whirlpool unit. Thank goodness I watched the tech who came to fix it and see what was involved, but the same issue kept rearing it's ugly head every two weeks or so. Finally, I gave up and resorted to your resolution, ice trays and bucket. So it's not just Samsung! Sorry to stray from the original intent of this thread, but I just needed to vent after seeing your dilemma. |
I wonder if it is the business model used by Japanese audio companies. I have Technics SUG 700 integrated amp and it is a fine piece of gear but Technics support is nowhere to be found. It seems to me after many nonworking phone and www addresses were tried communication ends with the customer’s initial purchase. Unlike Schiits and PS Audio two companies, I have dealt with who are customer-centered.
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My advice based on recent experiences: I would not put money down on anything that is not confirmed already in stock these days unless one is willing to wait indefinitely. Too many good safe options for buying out there these days to play games with many smaller one-off "high end" vendors who cannot afford to keep expensive "high end" items advertised in stock. |
Just adding my sympathies for the frustration. High end isn't always what is advertised or implied. To me this was only about communication, and Revel/Harman/Samsung may not even have a process or department for it. Our Miele built-in refrigerator has the worst ice-maker we've ever had. Makes about 10 cubes a day and they freeze into a giant blob. And it's not a door unit, it is smack in the middle of the freezer. At least you have a local dealer than can help you. I always rely on Andy at Saturday Audio Exchange for these types of things. Great service, actually cares, and really friendly dog in the store. What more could you want?
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@chrisoshea Will you enlighten us on how much we are allowed to spend ? Not just speakers, make it all components. I want to be sure to stay on the right side of crazy. |
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Wealthy is a subjective term. What I consider wealthy, you might consider comfortable. And vice versa. Who are you to hold court over how someone spends their money or how they consider their station in life? In the OPs world, 25K speakers might be bottom shelf. Or maybe he ate PB&J for 10 years straight in order to afford them. Either of those scenarios is none of my business. And none of yours. |
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Three years ago I purchased a Samsung washer at Best Buy. They delivered it and after a test run it spewed water all over the floor. The delivery guys rolled their eyes and said sorry. Needless to say I did not accept the machine. Best Buy sent the same exact replacement washer the next day and it too leaked like a sieve. No more Samsung anything for me again. |
Last October I put 50% down on a Clearaudio tt/arm and Ortofon cartridge rig from HiFi Buys in Atlanta. I was told it would be in in three weeks. Nineteen days later it was in the store waiting for me to pick it up. I only mention this to point out that even post covid-19 purchasing high end gear doesn’t always have to be a big hassle. |
hmm, this is worrying me.. I purchased the Luxman C900U in March, and I have been told, it'll ship to me in June.. Sigmund from Luxman America told me on the phone, once they have the order in, it'll be good to go.. We shall see.. @gregp858 I totally agree with you on Mark Levinson.. It used to be one of my favorite brands.. But once Harmon/Samsung grabbed it, I won't touch it.. |
Just read this…IF indeed Revel is under the Samsung umbrella…that’s probably why! Samsung is awful…absolutely awful. The steps they made me go through to get an in-warranty tablet service was shocking. The communication was nearly non existent…it was truly like they make things difficult so people will give up. They have lots and lots of issues with their appliances too. Awful, Awful company. If you are smart..you will avoid anything related to Samsung. |