2. speakers
  3. 155032-131752

Revel F328Be's Have Arrived! / Contradicting Specs?

Well I'm only about 8 hours in with my new Revel F328Be's & I am enjoying them & they are flat out awesome. They are replacing a pair of KEF R11's in my main system which I will be moving to another system as I still think the R11's are fantastic performers. That said, the new F328Be is in another league right out of the box. More finesse, more muscle, more detail than the R11 which I think will even widen as the Revel's continue to break in. And I wish we could post pictures here because I was floored by how they arrived...they come in a heavy duty flight road case, one for each speaker with custom lettering outlining the Revel F328Be. Each case & speaker weighs over 200lbs so when the 19 year old delivery service kid showed up with no dolly, ramp or even a box cutter to unwrap the cases I knew I would be helping to get these in the house.
On a side note, I know these speakers are brand new but Revel does appear to have some contradicting specs that has left me wondering what the true specs are? For example...
-The Revel site has not yet published the frequency range for the F328 so I asked several dealers & they both came back & said the Revel rep said 26Hz - 40khz at -6db. However the manual that came with the speakers states 32Hz - 40khz at -6db? Per the manual it also states the low-frequency extension is 25Hz (-10db); 32Hz (-6db); 44Hz (-3db)
-There is also a discrepancy with the weight of the speaker...the site says 90 lbs. but the manual lists each speaker at 112 lbs which I find much more accurate after moving them around yesterday.
-The speaker dimensions are also off between the site & the manual...the Revel site lists it as 13.5" wide & the manual states 11.83". And depth on the site is listed at 17.6" while the manual states 16.56". (both the site & the manual list these measurements with grille included).
Just thought I would get this info out so you can keep it in mind if you are considering the F328Be. I want to also publicly thank Jay O'Hanlon from XTend Technologies in Cleveland for his outstanding service & assistance, I would highly recommend Jay & XTend. Thanks
spookyfoot
chrissain
470 posts
 
Anyone who is not getting exceptional results from these speakers are either driving them with gear that's a poor match or they are not set up properly in their room, Details matter. The 228 is one of the cleanest, clearest, most effortless and coherent from top to bottom speakers I have ever heard regardless of cost. They  simply embarrass speakers costing much more, they are a value. The only thing (most)  more expensive speakers have are prettier cabinets. 
chrissain
470 posts
 
Another question, why would someone buy a 16k speaker, think they are mediocre, and then bring up that  they are made in China as way to degrade their perceived value? Wouldn't those issues prevented one from buying them in the first place? Sounds like someone with an axe to grind against Revel for whatever reason, I cannot believe someone spending 16k on speakers wouldn't have thoroughly vetted them before bringing them home.
dreas's avatar
dreas
86 posts
 
I recently upgraded from F228Be to F328Be and I am very happy. My sound room is a mere 13' x 13' so in some respects it borders on overkill. McIntosh MA352 drives them fantastically. Custom length Blue Jean Cables Ultrasonically-Welded. For all the critics, I'm very impressed with them. Highly recommend.
cd318
2,636 posts
 
@dreas,

Now if any speakers are going to help you escape that nagging feeling that there's something wrong with your sound, or that something about it could be better, it's those Revel 328s.

I've been listening to headphones a lot recently and when I sat down to listen to my Tannoys I was a little surprised at their bass overhang on certain tracks. Time for more experimenting with positioning I think. Now where's those Marley CDs?

Of course no speaker is perfect and I'm still struggling to get kenjit's words out of my head, namely that the KEF Blades would be acceptable for background music only.

Now the Revels vs the Blades could be a good head to head matchup.
james633
905 posts
 
Little bit of an old thread but I plan to demo the 328be in the next few weeks (also at Xtend).
I am really only interested in the 228be and would be running them off a McIntosh MC462 with two JL E112s subs high pass at most likely 60hz. I have not found a speaker that does better than the subs 60hz and down. I also like the tuning flexibility.
I see that there are some differences in the tweeters among other things between the 228be and 328be. For those that have heard both how do they compare from say 60hz up? Is the extra cost of the 328be more noticeable than just the bass?
I see some Kef talk too. I demoed the Reference 3 a couple of times and they did not connect with me. The highs were average, the bass felt kind of one note maybe due too strong of a port turning. But my main issue is they lacked dynamic in the mids. They just had no mid range snap/punch. I have heard the Salon Ultima 2 a number of times and they outclassed the Kefs in all aspects and blew the Kefs out of the water in the highs. The Salons have some of the cleanest highs I have heard without any edginess (looking at you focal...).  I am hoping the 228be brings the mids and highs of the Salons at a cheaper price.
I imagine the people that don’t like Revels don’t care for the flat bass. Probably my original issue to but these days I tune my bass to taste with subs anyway.

More to discover