Thread: Unbeatable offer on Revel Salon2’s

Depends on your amp as the power requirements are vastly different.

I don't think they sound at all like a Focal speaker. If you can't hear them in person then you will have to depend on other owners and the reviews which are plentiful.

Originally Posted by hodgsmia@nbnet.nb.ca

I have a Sunfire Grand Cinema Signature amp at over 400 WPC. My biggest concern is sound quality between the two. Always found my Focals to be a bit to bright and forward.

Sounds like a good reason to dump them and move on.

Originally Posted by hodgsmia@nbnet.nb.ca

I have a Sunfire Grand Cinema Signature amp at over 400 WPC. My biggest concern is sound quality between the two. Always found my Focals to be a bit to bright and forward.

The Salons will sound far more neutral tonally to ears >500hz ish, but that doesn't guarantee you will like them audio-visually playing music in your room. They go deeper and in room bass/modes can have a large impact on perceived sound.
However, if the deal is a good as you imply, you might be able to flip them an minimal loss if you end up not liking. They are pretty big/hefty. Good luck.
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cheers,

AJ

Originally Posted by GSOphile

The Revels are great speakers in the right room with the right amplification.

This.

If they are indeed Salon 2’s and not the ugly Salon 1’s, then you will want to upgrade your amps.

Look for a used pair of Bryston 28SST’s.


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Originally Posted by Mike

This.

If they are indeed Salon 2’s and not the ugly Salon 1’s, then you will want to upgrade your amps.

Look for a used pair of Bryston 28SST’s.


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or a pair of Pass X260.8's, I've heard them on the Salon 2's and that is what I have driving my Studio 2's.

Originally Posted by Mikado463

or a pair of Pass X260.8's, I've heard them on the Salon 2's and that is what I have driving my Studio 2's.

Yes, Pass is a great match. Imagine XA600.8’s driving them? Wow!


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I have voiced a number of systems to rooms with both of these models.

Assuming well matched amplification, the Revels have always yielded greater musical engagement, and the Focals were a bit brighter.

Hi Art, welcome to the forums.

I also prefer the Salon 2 and recommend an upgrade in amp, it's not so much the power as it is current, but both are required. For amp recommendations, any budget and what other gear is in the chain? Notice Mike suggested Bryston and another Pass Labs. Pass will be a more relaxed or polite sound where the Bryston is pretty much neutral. If in the budget a Levinson 534 would be great IMO.

Originally Posted by hodgsmia@nbnet.nb.ca

Hey Jim could you suggest some amplifiers that would work well with the Salons.I am planning to use my Sunfire 5 channel amp for av applications only. thxs Art

Hi Art,

Actually Mike at Suncoast has a lot of experience with the Revels. I primarily have used Pass amps, and have found the larger integrated amps to work well.

Frankly, I've not seen nor heard Mike's suggestions to be anything but excellent in this area.

Originally Posted by hodgsmia@nbnet.nb.ca

Hey Mike ,in case my deal on the salons fall through could you suggest an amp that would work well with my Focal .1038's.My front end as mentioned previously was the cinema grand cinema signature amp with the Sunfire theatre grand processor. I'm. . using a Lumin D2 streamer run to my Denafrips Pontus 2 dac My cables are mainly Nordost. I'm using Frey 2 speaker cable and Frey 2 interconnect. Streamer to Dac s Nordost Silver Shadow BNC. Power cables are Heimdell 2.Any suggestions. Everything I have is for sale f I can make improvements. P.S. I was planning to move up to the LuminT2 as it has Tidal connect. I absolutely despise the Lumin App. Thxs Art

If you’re in Canada, I think it’s best to speak with a local dealer.

But for now,!I would find an older VAC integrated like the i160.


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heard the big 1038be a number of times and enjoy them . had the 1028 with various amps and loved them too

I owned the Revel Salon 2’s with Pass Lab’s XA-100.5 monoblocks for several years and it was some of the best sound I’ve heard in my listening room. The Salon 2’s are very neutral speakers with one of the flatter response curves measured by JA. They do require significant current delivery for them to reach their full potential and need to be played at medium to high volume levels to produce solid bass response. Overall one of the best speakers values at their price point.

Ken

My first instinct would be no, typically the Salon 2's would need more than 70 watts and the M9 manual mentions 4 to 16 ohm. On the other hand I tried a set of 1400's at the time using 100 watt monobloxks from Conrad Johnson, although the 1400's are rated to be efficient I felt the 14000's would benefit from some more juice. I got decent sound it just seemed like the woofers weren't being driven as they should. So if the M9's get the 1400's woofers pumping the Salon 2 is worth a try, although the impedance will swing much more than the 1400's.

Welcome to AS.

Originally Posted by tom1040

I am also thinking of a pair of Salon 2's (currently have JBL 1400 Array). I have Marantz MA-9S2 mono blocks. Enough juice?

Thanks for those in the know......

I had a hegel h360 connected to the salon 2, the hegel really brought the salon 1 to life, but the 250/425 wasn't enough to wake the salon 2 woofers up. I emailed revel support and got a 2 word reply when I asked how much power the salon 2 needed and the reply was '500 watts'. The man that bought my salon 2's from me used the MC601's to drive them and he says even with the headroom that amp has the red clipping lights flicker at times.

Yeah, I thought you had the tube amps. Are yours solid state? The Marantz Reference is typically very good. As I stated a friend had their solid state monoblocks driving Dynaudio C4's, that's no easy task.

Have you heard the Salon 2? They would be different from JBL. The JBL with horisontal horns I feel image much better. As good as the Salon are I still prefer the presentation of the JBL. There are trade off's though as the Salon or other tower speakers can throw a taller sound stage in most instances.

As a side note the Salon 2 are on their last run before being totally discontinued, those and the entire Revel line are having a sale with a good discount.

Originally Posted by tom1040

Indeed. As I have come to find out, I was using a McIntosh MC402 on the Array's in the past and it seemed the Woofers were a bit 'flabby' in the bass. As I investigated the reason behind this--after all the Mac is 400 wpc, there was talk of the speakers needing current rather than wpc to shine. Having positive memories from using Marantz in my youth (long time ago!) and reading some reviews it appeared the Marantz was touted as having 150 amps of peak current so I pulled the trigger and bought them--haven't looked back since. As many will attest, Marantz as a hi-fi brand is most known currently for low to mid tier HT gear manufactured in China but they do make reference gear in Japan.

Yesterday after posting my question I did some more searching online and saw this review from "Positive Feedback" whom had the Salon 2's as part of his review:

"And the Salon2s thrived on the clean power delivered by the MA-9S2s by replicating an outstanding combination of the above virtues and added an ability to convey the power and drive behind the music in as thrilling a manner as I have experienced in my listening room." Since I have only 4 posts on this forum I cannot add a link to this post to the review.


A lot of variables come into play with every system of which the room is certainly a big part in addition to how loud music is played. The sensitivity of the Salon is rated at 86.4 while the Arrays is 89.

Mr. Peabody, are you thinking I am using the original Marantz MA 9's from the early 60's?

Thanks for the welcome!

You could look at the 4367 or other Synthesis models. The Salon 2 is very good, I still prefer them over the new Performa 3 sound. If you like the dynamics and immediacy of horns it can take some getting used to if going to a "audiophile" type speaker.

I love mine. With good electronics the mid/high drivers are smooth and pristine, the sound spoils me to other tweeters, there are other good sounding but none I prefer over my JBL. Bass may vary depending on room but I find it to be excellent, especially if you want a bass guitar to sound like one actually being playing in the room, it just has whatever it is that makes it sound as it naturally should. Those horns throw a wide sound stage.

Possible downsides the sound stage sometimes isn't as tall as a tower speaker might do, the sound stage seems to bloom more at a higher volume. These may be typical of a horn speaker.

As a side note the HDI series is really good. Maybe not to replace the 1400 but the HDI punch above their weight class as they say. I actually preferred the 3800's over a set of Monitor Audio Gold overall. Both models driven by a Hegel 590 side by side.

Originally Posted by tom1040

I had a pair of JBL 4365's with the McIntosh MC601's in a separate system. The room was untreated--guess that was my first mistake but I did not particularly care for the pairing so I sold them both. Currently trying to pare down to one system at my home in Maine. I do have the Marantz reference PM-10 and SA-10 in my retirement home in State College, PA. but only have low end JBL 940T's.

In a system in my day basement in Maine I have an near mint Sansui G-8000 driving a pair of JBL S3100's (told you I was a JBL fanboy!) Looking to consolidate/sell some of these but in no actual hurry.....

I have heard great things about the 4367 and have read extensively about them on the Lansing Heritage forums---almost pulled the trigger on them at one point. Mr. Peabody, how do you like yours?

Originally Posted by Jim Smith

Hi Art,

Actually Mike at Suncoast has a lot of experience with the Revels. I primarily have used Pass amps, and have found the larger integrated amps to work well.

Frankly, I've not seen nor heard Mike's suggestions to be anything but excellent in this area.

Jim, I can only echo what you said about large (Pass Labs) integrated amps. I love my Pass INT 250. However, I can't comment on the Revel Salon 2s as I've not auditioned them. I'm running my INT 250 through Harbeth Super HL 5+ 40th Anniversary speakers in a smallish to medium sized room. Great match up and symbiosis with the Pass integrated amp.