Revel Salon 2 versus WP 8

Jkalman - I'm a bit surprised by your bass problems in a room that was designed for audio applications by a specialised company (Rives). I also initially have had bass bumps, but those were fixed by adding specially designed helmholtz resonators, that were tuned to a specific freq. Right now my room response is virtually "bump-free" (I do have a suckout in the 50-60 range, but that is room size related and is hard to cure).

You can check my room response in my system page.

My Watchdog as per Wilson was not needed w. the Maxx IIs. But in reality, simply turning the sub on & off answers the question. It is an absolute must. That is w. Maxx IIs. I had WP7s so it is easy to deduce the WP8s needs. If I optimize speaker placement for bass I lose the mids & highs. That is almost any speaker. That is why the best systems have a separate woofer tower etc. There is no way around it. What is best in every room is different. Wilson & the Revel's allow you to optimize but in different ways. But Subs are 100% must in a large room. But even w. subs (single) I have a suckout. I would love to try a 2nd sub but that is for another time. My sub has a remote turn on so the preamp turns it on. I use True RTA to analyze my output / freq response. It helps but is a pain. Turn on your subs & measure. Use a Y cable if you need separate connections for home theater & stereo. Hope I helped. There are several good subwoofer threads here on Agon.

JKLam, it was the new Salon 2s. Obviously my impressions really reflect my own tastes,...

Elberoth2- I'm not a bit surprised by Jkalmans bass problems. I too have a Rives room and have been fighting a huge 80hz bump even after adding (rather, knocking out a finished wall and building) a large Helmholz resonator. After parading a number of different speakers from active to single driver, the bump is persistant, albeit the magnitude varies slightly. A wholly disenchanting experience.

To sum up my experiences:

The W/P8 vocals sound more open and natural, while the Salon2 bass sounds more balanced and natural (with the compression setting in the middle setting). The treble on the W/P8 is a little more lively sounding.

I expected more of a clear choice, but instead both speakers have strengths and weaknesses. I wasn't sure which one I would like better, but I really thought it would be cut and dry either way. It just isn't. :(

Since the choice isn't cut and dry for me, I'll probably base my decision on what will work best in my HT situation... :D

Having the built in treble controls and boundary compression controls is a definite advantage for the Revels if someone is looking for out-of-the-box, quick-and-easy EQ. There is no denying that. Both are excellent sounding speakers, so I don't think someone can go wrong with either one.

That the W/P8 has a little bit of extra boom in the 70-80Hz range that happens to coincide with a room mode in my setup is an issue (someone people like that extra boom, I don't, as mentioned previously in this thread), and one that might come to play in the decision. The other issue in consideration is that I am going to be putting a third large speaker behind an acoustically transparent screen as a center channel. Having a built in treble control, while not an absolute solution to the roll-off this kind of situation can cause, is a boon.