I don’t know your tastes, but I generally have a lot fewer nits to pick with Revel than Magico.
To my ears, they are more neutral, and can play a variety of music at a variety of levels.
Magico’s tend to always have something about them which is accentuated which IMO kind of narrows their use.
If you really like Revel's, then maybe a better contender is Monitor Audio.
Best,
E |
They’re both meh. But at least Magico is American. Samsung is Korean and some of the biggest criminals on Earth. You’d want to support that? |
Get the MAGICO A3s for best sound and best build quality.Matched with the best amp,preamp and cables they will sound wonderful.Or listen to the nay sayers that know nothing.MAGICO has sold over 700 pairs of A3s they must be doing something right can Revel say that i think not.Enjoy and good luck. |
Karl Rubinson of Stereophilerecently visited Harman and blindly listened to the Salon2 and the F228Be, he stated they were so similar in sound that he thought they switched which speaker was which. So, if their new $10,000 sounds almost identical to their older $20,000, I would look into those savings.
I would also look at the KEF Reference or Blade lineup.
I would wager that either Revel would have better imaging than the Magico, but Magico is more than decent.
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Who cares about Rubinson’s visit to Samsung? That facility is run by con artists and the marketing team.
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I haven’t heard the Salon 2 at length (it sounded spectacular at a show), but I auditioned a few lower models (e.g. Performa) and I had a long audition of the Magico A3. The Magico certainly seemed highly resolving of detail, and had nice spacious qualities. But the Revel did strike me as more even, full and neutral, a bit less colored. FWIW, results of blind testing at Harmon of the Magico A3 against the Solon etc: https://www.dropbox.com/s/quvk1ffpqw9hmyl/Revel%20F228-Magico%20A3-Paradigm%203F%20%20Test%20Report%...One may be inclined to say "Well, yeah, sure Harmon employees picked the Harmon model." But keep in mind it was double blind testing so they could not know which speaker they were listening to. As well, a great many non-Harmon subjects (including reviewers) have produced similar results when comparing the Revel models blind to other speakers. Not that I’m advocating buying simply on the Harmon data, but it, along with information from Floyd Tool, is something to consider. |
@invictus005
Calm down there. Also, Samsung only recently purchased Harman, the company is still outputting quality gear (such as the F228Be). I also don’t think Harman would like it advertised that their $20,000 flagship doesn’t sound much different than their new $10,000 speaker. Rubinson likely can’t even hear above 10kHz, so that is a factor, but measurements show they are pretty similar.
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Harman’s own research says 35% of a speaker’s weighted preference comes from bass extension. Both the Salon 2 and F228Be have more bass extension than the A3, so that alone should account for a significant amount of the preference. In fact since the Salon 2s have extension down to 30hz, you could argue that might be why it’s preferred over the F228Be, even though the F228Be actually measures flatter than the Salon 2 in the mids and the highs.
If you look at the artists chosen, the one with the least warmth/bass is Diana Krall, which also had the smallest perceived difference in preference between the Revels and Magico A3. The other thing is, we know from Earl Geddes psychoacoustic studies that humans prefer speakers with a wider soundstage/dispersion for live music, and prefer narrower staging from studio music, which probably also explains why the difference in preference was widest between the most acoustic/live music vs something that's closer to a studio mix.
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Harman, I mean Samsung, spends months teaching their employees to pick out the Revel sound and then they do these tests and the employees pick Revel from extensive training training. It’s complete an utter horse manure.
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seasdiamond wrote:
Both the Salon 2 and F228Be have more bass extension than the A3
Huh? The Revel F228Be is spec’d from 27 Hz - 44 KHz The Magico A3 is spec’d at 22 Hz - 50 KHz When I auditioned the Magico the bass sounded very deep and full, so I’m not sure where you are getting your specs.
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@prof
Did you look at the anechoic measurements that you yourself linked? lol |
seasdiamond,
Perhaps I'm reading the graph wrong - the F228Be's frequency graph isn't labelled like the others - but I'm not seeing a significant bass advantage over the Magico. Also, note the kind of weird downward tilted response of the Magico noted in the measurements and by listener comments. That seems to have been an issue as well.
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Both speakers “sound power” are down ~15 dB at 20K ("listening window" on the Revel actually deviate down more then the Magico), they just, conveniently, gave the Revel graphs more smoothing, so it is harder to see (Note the Magico scale is a bit larger). I also like how they pick on some Magico “bumps, but say nothing on their own (look at the 228 tweeter at 5K). The biggest difference will be the upper midrange, the Revel is more forward, and will sound more “present”. That can also explain a preference in A/B testing but may prove fatiguing for long terms listening (i.e., the "BBC dip"). Most experience audiophiles will agree that flat FR tend to sound too bright. These speakers were design by engineers, that may be doing too much A/B testing and not enough listening ;)
There are other things to consider, JA just published his own measurements, where you can see some serious issues with the enclosure around 250Hz (you can also see it in the impedance curve). I suspect the A3, being made out of aluminum will have none of these issues. Nevertheless, two well engineered products.
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@mzkmxcv Rubinson's high frequency hearing must be pretty limited at this point. I don't see how anyone could think the Salon 2 or F228BE are indistinguishable. The F228BE is a more forward speaker and clearly has more energy above 7k in the off-axis measurements. |
Two great speakers. Trouble is, at this level it really all comes down to personal preference and system synergy, because all speakers are pretty damn good at this price level. By the way, what upstream electronics are you running and what's your room situation? These are big variables. Reading between the lines, it sounds to me as if you really like the Revels, but you didn't really fall in love with them to the point where you said to yourself -- I GOTTA HAVE'EM!!! To me, at this price level, you have to be fiercely triggered to the I GOTTA HAVE'EM level, or you're just compromising. So, while you've identified two excellent speakers, there are many others in this price range that could very well trigger that enthusiasm. Here are some others you should definitely explore if at all possible (especially if you don't get that I GOTTA HAVE'EM response) as they all do their own wonderful things that might give you that big jolt...
Vandersteen Quattro
Joseph Audio Perspective
ProAc D48R
Usher BE10
Boenicke W11
Silverline Bolero Supreme
ATC active 40
Not to muddy the waters, but until you hear THE ONE that just knocks you back on your heels, you owe it to yourself to keep looking. FWIW, and best of luck in your search!
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I own the Magico A3's and become happier and happier with my purchase as time goes by. My dealer told me they take about 200 hrs. to break in, and he was right. The earlier hyper-detail and too forceful bass have given way to magical realism (no pun intended) and very tight, strong bass. For floorstanders, their soundstaging and "disappearing act" are magnificent, nearly equaling monitors. With the right components and cables, these are breathtaking, eminently "livable" speakers. And for the price, they are an absolute steal.
Neal
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Inviticus you are clueless about revels testing procedures, why the giant grudge against them? |
