Did you listen at Definitive Audio in Seattle? Your experience sounds similar to mine, auditioning-wise.
Last year I listened to the "new" 802Ds, at Definitive (they just came in) and they certainly didn't sound veiled at all. Interesting that you had that impression.
Personally, I don't care for the sound of Wilson speakers. They seem "voiced" for a particular spectral balance, and I prefer a much more neutral speaker. Dave Wilson must like "Technicolor" frequency response curves. I do like Wilson's fit and finish over the Revel's. Harman clearly spent the bucks on R&D, drivers, and cabinet construction, and the Salon2 looks cool to my eyes (especially in black), but it doesn't look like $22K.
Where the Revel cleans house, IMO, is in imaging. I've had my pair for a about a year now, and I'm still amazed by the soundstage they throw. Just amazed. A couple of nights ago I was letting someone else sit in the sweet spot in my room, and I sat in front of the right speaker. Even in that skewed position I still heard the image coming from between the speakers and not from the speaker in front of me.(!) I've only heard two other speakers that can pull off that trick, the OHM Walsh (I heard the 4000 in a private home) and the Linkwitz Labs Orion, and neither one of those seems to do the pinpoint imaging trick in the sweet spot.
Nonetheless, I can understand where different people, with different preferences and priorities, would prefer the 802s or the Wilsons. I suppose that has always been one of my complaints with high-end audio, in that many of us want to search for the "one best" solution. As with musical instruments, I'm not sure there is such a thing wrt speakers in real rooms.
Last year I listened to the "new" 802Ds, at Definitive (they just came in) and they certainly didn't sound veiled at all. Interesting that you had that impression.
Personally, I don't care for the sound of Wilson speakers. They seem "voiced" for a particular spectral balance, and I prefer a much more neutral speaker. Dave Wilson must like "Technicolor" frequency response curves. I do like Wilson's fit and finish over the Revel's. Harman clearly spent the bucks on R&D, drivers, and cabinet construction, and the Salon2 looks cool to my eyes (especially in black), but it doesn't look like $22K.
Where the Revel cleans house, IMO, is in imaging. I've had my pair for a about a year now, and I'm still amazed by the soundstage they throw. Just amazed. A couple of nights ago I was letting someone else sit in the sweet spot in my room, and I sat in front of the right speaker. Even in that skewed position I still heard the image coming from between the speakers and not from the speaker in front of me.(!) I've only heard two other speakers that can pull off that trick, the OHM Walsh (I heard the 4000 in a private home) and the Linkwitz Labs Orion, and neither one of those seems to do the pinpoint imaging trick in the sweet spot.
Nonetheless, I can understand where different people, with different preferences and priorities, would prefer the 802s or the Wilsons. I suppose that has always been one of my complaints with high-end audio, in that many of us want to search for the "one best" solution. As with musical instruments, I'm not sure there is such a thing wrt speakers in real rooms.