Revel F206 Tower Speaker Review

[IamJF]

I should be less sarcastic maybe

Or you just should give them a try.
Sorry but Adams T5V ...

Check a dealer with KH150s, force them to do a proper setup with MA1 at your listening distance and have a listen.
No magic but what's possible now with these small speakers was not possible 5-10 years ago. Like with Purify lf drivers - they play at least one size bigger as they are.

 

[dzerig]

I like Focal but I've heard the 926 and if the F206 is anywhere near my F208, then the F206 would sound better to me.

I'm happy with the Focal for the price I paid. At retail it's way too high. Maybe one day I will think about the 226be or 228be, if I ever have a room large enough to justify the power.

 

[fritobugger]

I'm happy with the Focal for the price I paid. At retail it's way too high. Maybe one day I will think about the 226be or 228be, if I ever have a room large enough to justify the power.

I have the slightly older Focal Chorus 706 in a bedroom system with the Yamaha WXA-50 streaming amp. They look and sound great. No idea how they measure but they got my family and I through the long weeks of covid lock down with disco light dance parties on the bed for the kiddies.

When I was shopping for main system speakers, I tried Kef Q series towers, an older Dynaudio tower, the Chorus towers, the Aria tower (out of my budget and not on sale), and the F36. I ultimately chose the F36 and I was very happy with them for years. Recently a pair of F208 came up for sale at $2k (for the pair) and I jumped on that immediately.

 

[uwotm8]

Sorry but

You ignored what I said above about using 5" + 10" sub before but that's okay

you just should give them a try

I don't interested neither in KH 150 or Revels, looking further I'd like to get either LYD 48 or A8H for my "mostly desktop" setup. Sort of proper 3-way with 8" LF driver and familiar signature.

(Sure, sure, KH 150 are better, newer technologies)

 

[anphex]

Doesn't the step response look pretty messy? Looks like timing misalignment and bad damping/too high cutoff of the mid range.
Just a hunch though.

 

[Beave]

Doesn't the step response look pretty messy? Looks like timing misalignment and bad damping/too high cutoff of the mid range.
Just a hunch though.

How are you drawing those conclusions from looking at the step response? What about it do you think is "messy?"

 

[soundofsilence]

How come many of these are literally 50% off in the UK?

 

[cavedriver]

How come many of these are literally 50% off in the UK?

Are you talking about the Revels or the other speakers mentioned by people above? In the US Harman is a relatively big company in this industry and often has deep sales on the products, presumably due to efficiencies in manufacturing that give them wide margins to work with, or perhaps inventory balancing problems. Last year they were selling a couple of their JBL speakers at $200 a pair that normally cost $1000.

 

[CapMan]

How come many of these are literally 50% off in the UK?

End of line - clearing old stock I imagine

 

[anphex]

How are you drawing those conclusions from looking at the step response? What about it do you think is "messy?"

Okay, please bear with me, and correct me.

From what I see, my hunch is that the impulse get's not clearly routed to the tweeter as it should and also ends up on the mid or even sub woofer, thus the messy first part where it's like two bounces, the second shortly after the first one. As for the long decay, I can also only think of the woofer having trouble to "calm down". Or the tweeter itself has bad damping, but considering it's size it doesn't make sense.

 

[mns3dhm]

End of line - clearing old stock I imagine

This is a good guess - Revel introduced the Performa 3 line sometime around 2014 I think so it is probably due for an update or a new mid price line.

 

[CapMan]

This is a good guess - Revel introduced the Performa 3 line sometime around 2014 I think so it is probably due for an update or a new mid price line.

Their loss is our gain

 

[IamJF]

You ignored what I said above about using 5" + 10" sub before but that's okay

I don't interested neither in KH 150 or Revels, looking further I'd like to get either LYD 48 or A8H for my "mostly desktop" setup. Sort of proper 3-way with 8" LF driver and familiar signature.

(Sure, sure, KH 150 are better, newer technologies)

In that price range I would try KH120ii + KH750! Calibration to YOUR listening place is a big benefit in most rooms and MA-1 is better as Sonarworks or similar systems.
But A8h are for sure a step up from your setup.

Maybe we should get back to Revel ...sorry

 

[Beave]

Okay, please bear with me, and correct me.

From what I see, my hunch is that the impulse get's not clearly routed to the tweeter as it should and also ends up on the mid or even sub woofer, thus the messy first part where it's like two bounces, the second shortly after the first one. As for the long decay, I can also only think of the woofer having trouble to "calm down". Or the tweeter itself has bad damping, but considering it's size it doesn't make sense.

No, not at all. What you are seeing is a completely normal step response for a 3 way speaker. The tweeter response comes first, then the midrange response, then the woofer.

A step waveform doesn't just contain treble that goes to the tweeter. It is a full range signal. Some of it goes to the tweeter, some to the mid, some to the woofers.

Stereophile has measured and provided plots for step response for decades. Look through the various 3-way speaker measurements on their website, and you will see dozens of speakers with similar step response.

If any of the things you are concerned about were actual problems, they would show up in the frequency response curves because frequency response and step response are related mathematically. But there aren't any such problems in the frequency response.

 

[Gatordaddy]

Another great review Amir, thank you!

Interesting that the Revel F35 has been mentioned by another member. I am thinking about getting tower speakers for a music/HT setup and have considered the F206, the F35 and the JBL Studio 698. Does anyone have any recommendations or experiences with these speakers. After reading so many of Amir's excellent reviews, I always come back to the issue of putting more weight on flat frequency response and even horizontal dispersion, vs. dynamic capabilities and lack of distortion. I have been very impressed by horn speakers in how dynamic and realistic they can sound, and it seems like there are a few horn speakers that have seriously surprised Amir in how much he liked them, even if the graphs and data werent' very impressive. The JBL 4349 and JBL 4309 come to mind, but there are others.

The Performa line imo offers an audible improvement over the Concerta line. Their lower distortion and all around improved spins make voices sound more accurate and are just all around a little easier to live with since their flaws are very hard to pick out. The Concerta do sound very fun since they're voiced with an upper bass boost that accentuates percussion. When buying my first pair of "high end" speakers I initially preferred the punch of the M16 to the more refined M106. For music/HT I think the additional output afforded by the F36's larger drivers would be advantageous over the F35. I don't have any experience with the Studio 698 but they seem impressive.

These are three very different speakers at different price points. If its within a budget you've already allocated the F206 are very impressive at their closeout price.

 

[fritobugger]

The Performa line imo offers an audible improvement over the Concerta line. Their lower distortion and all around improved spins make voices sound more accurate and are just all around a little easier to live with since their flaws are very hard to pick out. The Concerta do sound very fun since they're voiced with an upper bass boost that accentuates percussion. When buying my first pair of "high end" speakers I initially preferred the punch of the M16 to the more refined M106. For music/HT I think the additional output afforded by the F36's larger drivers would be advantageous over the F35. I don't have any experience with the Studio 698 but they seem impressive.

These are three very different speakers at different price points. If its within a budget you've already allocated the F206 are very impressive at their closeout price.

I recently moved from the F36 to the F208, the F36 were great with a subwoofer and on paper look somewhat similar to the F206. The F208 could easily work for most music with a subwoofer. The F208 is very similar to the F36 except more bass and more distinct mids plus generally just better.

 

[fritobugger]

Their loss is our gain

I believe Revel officially discontinued production of the Performa3 line in mid-2023 and expects to put out the Performa4 (or whatever it will be called) later this year (or maybe early next year)

 

[anphex]

No, not at all. What you are seeing is a completely normal step response for a 3 way speaker. The tweeter response comes first, then the midrange response, then the woofer.

A step waveform doesn't just contain treble that goes to the tweeter. It is a full range signal. Some of it goes to the tweeter, some to the mid, some to the woofers.

Stereophile has measured and provided plots for step response for decades. Look through the various 3-way speaker measurements on their website, and you will see dozens of speakers with similar step response.

If any of the things you are concerned about were actual problems, they would show up in the frequency response curves because frequency response and step response are related mathematically. But there aren't any such problems in the frequency response.

Ooooh I always thought Step Response == Impulse Response. So Step Response is full spectrum and Impulse is infinitely high frequent signal in theory? That it all makes far more sense. Thank you.

 

[SPFC]

The Performa line imo offers an audible improvement over the Concerta line. Their lower distortion and all around improved spins make voices sound more accurate and are just all around a little easier to live with since their flaws are very hard to pick out. The Concerta do sound very fun since they're voiced with an upper bass boost that accentuates percussion. When buying my first pair of "high end" speakers I initially preferred the punch of the M16 to the more refined M106. For music/HT I think the additional output afforded by the F36's larger drivers would be advantageous over the F35. I don't have any experience with the Studio 698 but they seem impressive.

These are three very different speakers at different price points. If its within a budget you've already allocated the F206 are very impressive at their closeout price.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Very helpful.

 

[CapMan]

Listening to this great album on my F206s and it’s glorious. They play clean and clear, detailed but not etched. They seem very happy playing louder and louder with no distortion.

Dirac is helping to balance the lower end with the top and the balance seems just right to me.

Where a female vocalist has been close miced and decides to accentuate their sibilants, and breath all over the mic (yes you Diana Krall!) these speakers will tell you about it … but my take is that it is an accurate reproduction of what’s been recorded, mixed and mastered for better or worse. I hear the same on IEMs.

I think if you favour a warm
And polite sound - these may not be for you. If you seek transparency, detail and balance they are worth a look.