Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Revel?

Has anyone here directly compared Axiom products with Revel products sound wise?

Crazy. I was just looking up the same thing earlier today, but for different reasons than you probably...

The Axiom M80s made a list of 4 great speakers under $4000 a couple of years ago:
Axiom Audio, KEF, PSB, Revel -- Four Terrific Floorstanding Speakers for Under $4000/Pair

Yeah. Considering options. I think Bob mentioned auditioning Revel when he was looking. I know he ended up with 100s.

I'm saving for a no holds barred super system. My plan is to have enough money put away by the time I hit 40 to buy whatever I want. 34 now. Its fun to dream!

I'd be building a system around M100s or f208s. Where is that Bob hiding?

I had a chance to listen to a pair of Revel towers (maybe F12 but thought the number was higher) that were for sale used in a local audio store. Roughly same configuration as M60s except slighly larger woofers IIRC.

Didn't get a chance to do a direct comparison, was thinking about taking them home and giving them a listen (ie they sounded decent) but dawdled and someone else bought them instead. Initial impression was a bit less bass than the M60s and with that came the slightly "tighter" sound I associate with smaller speakers on a stand.

I don't have much luck comparing speakers unless they are in the same spot in the same room though... if the room is good or the music is good I tend to think the speaker is good too. Even then I get stuck in the "ok they clearly sound different but I have no idea which one is right or even closer to right" trap.

I'm still fiddling with the listening room and still hearing big changes even though the speakers are always the same M60v4s. I hadn't been happy with the sound recently then remembered I had temporarily put the glass-topped coffee table back. Removing it made a huge difference in both imaging and soundstage... started hearing sounds outside the speaker pair again, including some seriously WTF?? sounds *way* off to one side or the other. Soundstage width is one of the areas where v4's seem to be significantly improved over the ti's in my HT system.

It's amazing how little things make a difference - I had been reading a hard-cover book and realized that even having the book open on my lap made a small but noticeable change in imaging. I probably need to replace the big overstuffed chair with something smaller as well.

Makes you want to go back to headphones

Thanks for sharing. I am really looking to put together a system capable of startle factor. A dynamic ststem capable of genuine fear and anxiety when called upon in certain movie soundtracks. Dread even.

My current system really sounds great. But huge and effortless dynamic capability is definitely lacking.

One thing that periodically surprises me is how much difference a big-ass power amplifier made each time I added one (this time going from HK 3270 receiver's 65WPC amp to a used Adcom GFA555 at >200WPC). It only allows the volume control to go a moderate amount higher before the clipping lights start to wake up, but that seems to be a very important handful of dB in terms of "slam" or whatever we are calling it these days.

At least with an HT system stacking up big-ass subwoofers gets you most of the way - I was always impressed with how effortlessly John <user name escapes me>'s 4-subwoofer system handled peaks that my system couldn't touch. IIRC he was running a mix of EP600s and SVS's to take advantage of their different strengths and weaknesses... I ended up copying that on a smaller scale by adding an EP500 to my SVS PC+ 20-39 and it does make a very nice difference.

EDIT - lightbulb moment... I was in PEI a few weeks ago and had a nagging feeling there was someone I should be looking up while I was there. Three weeks late, oh well...

I guess I successfully derailed another thread. Sorry about that

I'm using 150wpc seperates to drive the front 3 channels. The rest is driven by my 80wpc AVR.

Power on hand is not an issue (I hope! ) I think it might be coming down to a higher spl design with more driver surface area. A future subwoofage upgrade is probably a good consideration.

I hope you had a great time on the island. Three weeks ago was a rainy spell if I remember.

Hi Serenity Now,

I know what you are looking for. I love the same thing myself and my system delivers it. I really think you are way under powered to get what you are looking for. The key is loads of power for the dynamics which means not just a lot of RMS output but also lots of dynamic headroom above that. I am running my LFR1100s with a 4-channel ADA1500 which is about 700 watts RMS per speaker and lots of dynamic headroom above that. I use an ADA1500-5 for the rest of the channels and two EP800s for the subs.

Have you considered the LFR? Every time I listened to them over the course of the day I was at the Axiom I was more impressed. The clarity and presentation of the female voice was incredible.