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Revel Salon 1 still worth it? Possible a small room?

Hi A'goners, I've heard a pair of Revel Salon 1s recently at a dealer with some Audio Research gear and it sounded absolutely amazing. For those of you who have experience with them, I got a few questions:

1. Are they still worth it even at used prices? They are quite old tech, so will another pair of similarly priced used speakers from more recent times be better performers?
2. I'm in a pretty unideal room, it's 12x16, with the system along the long wall and only 12' from the front to the back wall. One side of the room is also open to the kitchen. Given how big these speakers are, they'd have to be pretty much backed up right against the front wall. I know they won't sound their best their way, but is it possible to still have 80-90% of their magic with crappy placement?
3. I heard people mention the metallic hash that comes from its metallic tweeters, I didn't hear it in the demo but I didn't spend nearly enough time and not many genres of music. Have you experienced that with these speakers and will they eventually be bothersome?

I know the answers to these will all be somewhat personal, but I'd like to hear your opinion.
Thanks.


divertiti

Showing 1 response by yyzsantabarbara

yyzsantabarbara
647 posts
 
I actually had my old Salon 1’s in a room just a little bigger than that and it was OK. I did bring it up from the front a bit due to the rear facing tweeter. The bass was a problem when played loud but I could not play that loud most times so I was not that bothered (neighbors).

I moved and put the speakers in a room twice as large and I was in heaven. I was able to play at any volume level I wanted and the speakers had room to breath.

I doubt I would get such old drivers today. I am a hesitant to buy old speakers.

The tweeter on my current KEF LS50 and my Audience 1+1 V2 are better than the Salon 1 tweeters. More detail and just sounds better. The KEF is $1500 and the 1+1 is $2600. I would imagine a new floor standing speaker with good bass at around $5K price point could give the old Salons some competition.
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