Revel Salon 3?

James63,

You are correct about the Salon2. Amazing as well and I may even move up to them depending on how my Studio2 perform in a bigger room. Both Revels are Stereophile Class A rated for many years in a row. Not too many others can say that. My Studio2 are incredible.

P59teitel,

Thanks for the comments. You have an amazing setup. Thanks for sharing the photos.

James63,

You like the Salon2 more so than the Thiel 3.7? It would be interesting to hear your opinion. I have read quite a bit of your posts during my speaker research activities and found them informative.

I owned the Salon1 for quite a long time in a great spacious room. While I enjoyed the heck out of them I prefer the Thiel 3.7 more than the Salon1. The Salon 2 sounds different on the top end than the Salon1. Maybe better but I have not heard it at my home to say for certain.

It was a shame the Revel changed the looks of the Salon1 when they designed the 2. The Salon1 had a cool modern look in my books.

The bass on the Salon are out of this world. I just loved that.

The Salon 2 and Studio 2 are fairly common used, at prices that are very attractive. There is no way I'd pay for a new pair, but you won't get hurt buying a used pair even when and if we see a Salon 3.

I have a dedicated room and first class electronics behind my Studio 2's. While they sounded great from day one, it was only after I did quite a bit of research into room acoustics, as well as speaker and listening chair placement, that I obtained the full measure of what this speaker can do. While the first thing that grabbed me was low level detail without artificial brightness, after I finally found the optimal set up location the soundstaging left me speechless. The Ultima 2's really are chameleons, it is my firm belief that the great majority of listeners who don't like them simply heard problems from the room, their listening position or upstream coloration. Look at the way they measured when tested by Stereophile. Then look at Wilsons!

While some may not like their look, they passed my WAF, they look the way they do because of acoustic choice.

Yyzsantabarbara,

The thiel 3.7 is a special speaker and they have always sounded great. I was about to buy them before I ran into money issues (wife lost job) and just garbed the 2.4 to hold me over. Anyway all is good now and I am looking again.

Having owned the 2.4 for about 2 years now I just want something different and will most likely move from thiel for the sake of change. I have demoed the 3.7 and salon 2 at different dealers (rooms/amps) so it is hard to say. Generally I feel the Salon 2 has better highs and much deeper bass. In between the extremes it gets hairy. I feel the impact (leading edge) is stronger on the thiels and drums snap a little more. In the mid band I also found the thiels more engaging. I guess I want a 3.7 with more bass.... Where is the 7.3?!? A sub would not fix the problem for me because I want that added power throughout the lower band not just depth.

This time around I want a full range speaker with lots of bass. Even if the bass is not ture to source (a little humped is ok). About a year ago I heard the Sophia 3 and Thiel 3.7 in the same room/system and thought the 3.7 was the better speaker (better=true to source) but enjoyed the Sophia's bass more because of the added power (not depth).

Anyway at this time I would maybe buy the Studio 2 over the thiel 3.7 just for a change in house sound. This time around I have put a much higher priority on bass power/depth but at the end of the day either would be a big upgrade for me. I also have the Kef 207/2 on my list. Used these are all about the same price.

If you have even the slightest sensitivity to aggressive tweeters - these are for you. The Revel tweeter is as smooth as silk. I've owned both the Salon 2 and Studio 2. Both are excellent. Big room, go Salon 2. Small room, go Studio 2.

Other than MAYBE the Magico S5, there isn't a better full range speaker under $30,000 that I have heard.

Anyone who wants to know more, can PM me.