Mark - right on. I'll admit I'm sort of spoiled living in the S.F. Bay Area. I can pretty much go and "kick the tires" on any gear you could reasonably imagine within an hour's drive or less.. I would never have even heard of Hales had I not lived near their only northern Cal dealer here in Oakland (back when Hales was still in business). I'd probably have a pair of B&W's or Paradigms or similar in my system today if I hadn't come across the Hales. In fact, people who live in the midwest or southeast would have had to drive across two or three states in some cases to audition them at a dealer! I think there is a lot of really good yet lesser-known gear out there that people discover just by doing what you are doing - putting time into researching what's available that will work well for your particular needs/wants/budget, etc..
Anyway, I've never read an overall negative professional review of the Revelation series speakers. Some may nitpick here or there, but overall most agree this is very good speaker. I think they can easily hold their own and even surpass many newer speakers on the market today.
If you haven't seen it, check out the review of the Rev One at www.soundstage.com in their archives (reviewed in 1998). Very close to my experience with the speaker - not "the perfect" speaker, but very, very good. I don't detect the "slight mid-bass hump" to the presentation on music that the reviewer heard, however. That could easily be due to a difference in the reviewer's and my point(s) of reference! They do sound a tiny bit darkerer than the Hales Transcendence series (model Transcendance 1), but that probably has more to do with the poly woofer in the Revelation series vs/ the magnesium woofer in T1 (twice the price at $2k new in '98 vs. $995 for the R1). And the T1 is much harder to drive and requires more capable electronics to make them boogie. But hey, unless you play them side-by-side, fuggetaboutit. That's stiff competition, indeed. I think the Rev Ones are terrific. No two rooms sound alike and that may be more of a factor with this speaker at this pricepoint than any design flaw, as it probably is with many well-designed and executed speaker on the market. There is something about the tonality of the Hales that really lets me enjoy the music! I feel fortunate to own a pair...
Anyway, I've never read an overall negative professional review of the Revelation series speakers. Some may nitpick here or there, but overall most agree this is very good speaker. I think they can easily hold their own and even surpass many newer speakers on the market today.
If you haven't seen it, check out the review of the Rev One at www.soundstage.com in their archives (reviewed in 1998). Very close to my experience with the speaker - not "the perfect" speaker, but very, very good. I don't detect the "slight mid-bass hump" to the presentation on music that the reviewer heard, however. That could easily be due to a difference in the reviewer's and my point(s) of reference! They do sound a tiny bit darkerer than the Hales Transcendence series (model Transcendance 1), but that probably has more to do with the poly woofer in the Revelation series vs/ the magnesium woofer in T1 (twice the price at $2k new in '98 vs. $995 for the R1). And the T1 is much harder to drive and requires more capable electronics to make them boogie. But hey, unless you play them side-by-side, fuggetaboutit. That's stiff competition, indeed. I think the Rev Ones are terrific. No two rooms sound alike and that may be more of a factor with this speaker at this pricepoint than any design flaw, as it probably is with many well-designed and executed speaker on the market. There is something about the tonality of the Hales that really lets me enjoy the music! I feel fortunate to own a pair...