Frequency Range, Tonal Balance, Imaging, Bass

I'm still looking.

I'm not sure what our German friend was listening to but his review is soooo far off base it's not even funny (I can speak German). I've owned these speakers for almost 9 months now and I couldn't be more happy with the purchase. The speakers have now melted away in my room. I can truly listen to music for hours without any fatigue. The imaging from these speakers is fantastic. When listening to CD's such as Roger Waters - Amused to Death or Madonna's Music with the special spatial processing done on these CD's, it's frightening how large the soundstage is - easily extending far beyond the left and right of my speakers. Obviously the center seat is the sweet spot but these speakers are amazingly balanced sounding when "off" center. The bass on the Salon's is also incredible. I've never even had an urge for a subwoofer. These are easily the best speakers I've ever heard for less than $30k

Assoc Music:
Acoustic
Vocals
Trance/House
Electronic

Assoc Equip:
Krell FPB600
Wadia 27ix DAC
Wadia 270 Transport
PS Audio P300Multiwave
Nordost SPM bi-wire speaker cable
Nordost Quattro-fil IC's

Similar Products Used:

B&W Nautilus 801 & 802, Wilson Watt 6, Avalon Eidolon

Once you get past all of the high end hype surrounding all high end speakers and once you get your speakers home from the store, you have to live with them. It won't make a bit of difference how nice the cabinets are and it won't matter how much the high end gurus rave about them. If you get them home and they sound harsh you will hate them. I made that mistake with Wilson Audio and had to get out of that whole high end flim-flam snake oil show. So, I went for the scientific approuch and picked speakers designed with the ideals of the NRC in Canada. I would have got the Waveform Mach17 but, that company went out of business. My good friend got them and I can tell you they sound wonderful. So, I listened to these speakers and bought them. They sound so good and I can listen for hours and hours on end and never get tired of them or wish for something else. You can't beat a speaker that sounds good hour after hour day in and day out. Also, almost everything sunds good on these things. I could never say that about my Wilsons. They were so anal-litical that you had to have just the right recording to be able to stand them! They were irritating and turned out to drive me crazy. My only point isn't to dump on over-priced Wilson products, rather, to suggest that what makes a speaker great is something that allows you to enjoy them on all recordings and enjoy them hour after hour. Find those speakers and you have found the best speaker. For me it is the Revel Ultima Salon. Every time I lisen to them I love them.

Bass definition.

Horrible brightness.

Heard these at an audio salon driven by Levinson 33 Monoblocks, Reference Line Stage, Levinson DAC Transport.This was the most unmusical sound I have ever heard from a System.Every CD sounded bright and unlistenable.Could not wait for demo to end.I suspect that most audio reviewers have lost their high frequency hearing.

Similar Products Used:

Wilson Watt Puppy6, B&W Nautilus 801, Martin Logan Prodigy, ESP Concert Grands.

a great speaker

none

this is a message to the previous review, It is safe to say you know nothing about this speaker because there is a rear tweeter and front tweeter reduction, so people such as you with great hearing can reduce the brightness

Similar Products Used:

wilson, martin logan ,etc

Bass, clarity

Heavy, very unreliable company

I wanted to choose a loudspeaker between REVEL Salon, JMLAB Utopia and Egglestoneworks Andra. I was very lucky, because the local agent arranged that I keep the Revel Salons at my home for one week.

The sound was quite satisfactory, although I preferred the sound of the Utopias (not auditioned at my home), however the Utopias were about $4.000 higher, so I ordered the Salons.

The order was given 9 of September and I was promised a delivery time of 1-2 months. Now, four and a half months later, they have not been shipped yet.

It's a shame. I am an importer of high-end equipment myself and I know that everybody can delay 1-2 weeks, but not 2-3 months.

I have to warn everybody who wants this speaker that they have to expect very strange things.

I am also concerned about the quality of the product also, because, if they can not keep the promised delivery time, why should they keep the promised quality also?

System used:

dCS Verdi SACD/CD transport
dCS Purcell upsampler
dCS Elgar D/A converter with SACD input
Mark Levinson No. 32 Preamplifier
KRELL FPB 350Mc Amplifier

Similar Products Used:

JMLAB Utopia, Egglestoneworks Andra

This loudspeaker will send chills down your spine! Unbelievably accurate. Perfectly neutral. Simply magical. So good you will hear any flaws in your electronics (or recordings). Truly a reference speaker. Hard to position because of their weight (almost 240lbs./each). Sound great being driven by Mark Levinson 33H mono-blocks and any high quality front-end.

I auditioned the Revel Salon immediately following a lengthy session with the B&W 802 Nautilus. I really liked the B&W 802. The imaging was incredibly precise, and they sounded very accurate with tight solid bass.
The Revel Salon ($14,000), sounded as accurate, if not more so and the bass was better. The immaging was different than any other speaker I have experienced. The soundstage was much larger and there was an airiness that completely changed my perception of what two channel audio can provide. I think it maybe due to the rear firing tweeter, but the output for the rear tweeter seemed much lower than the other drivers. I then listened to the Revel Studio ($10,000) and I found the same spacious sound stage and airy sound quality. See my review under Revel Studio.

Levinson 33 monoblocks, krell 25 cd, and a gazillion dollars in cables. The store claimed the whole setup was $80K.

The Revel Salons are very "High-Tech" looking. I like the styling, but my wife thought I was f*****g nuts.

I don't think I will ever get my wife to go for the Salon as long as they share a room with her. I'm still trying to sell her on the Studio, (a smaller version of hte Salon, but with the same high tech looks).

Tut mir leid, aber das ist nicht mehr als ein Hallsoßenwerfer mit im Frequenzgang leicht nachweisbaren starken Verfärbungen und einem völlig überhöhten Bassbereich. Dazu maßlos überteuert. Und das Design ist wirklich Geschmackssache.

Excellent high, mids and lows. The best looking and sounding speaker I have ever owned.

none. But you must own top notch equipment to get the full capability of what the speaker can do.

Excellent craftmanship and quality. I own 2 pairs of them for sound pressure levels and the full sound you get with 2 pairs of speakers. I also bi-amp them with 2 pairs of 33H's and a #32 preamp and a linn ikemi cd player. Bi-amping any system if you can afford the extra amps and cables open the speakers in any system. I also own 1 pair of 436 power amps for when wadia comes out with there new dvd player for theater use in my system. I plan on buying another pair of salons with the 436 for rear channel surrounds and revels voice for the center channel. Thanks to madrigal for there contribution to there hifi systems. There sound, quailty, looks and craftmanship is Unparalleled. And a special thanks to ken for all he has done for me, and dave for allowing me to do the thing I have done,. and staff at Sounds Like Music. Keep up the good work.

Similar Products Used:

Cello 3 pairs of amati's, B&W 801 matrix 3 2 pairs, martin logan, and magnepans

Separation, clarity, soundstage, depth, tightness of bass.

I got a chance to have a listening session with these speakers, and I must say that I have not heard anything like it before. They produced the absolute definition of soundstage. I agree with much of what has been said about these speakers (except for the JBL comments). As far as the equipment goes though, I don't know if I agree with the Levinson setup. I listened with them hooked up to a Wadia frontend, a Spectral preamp, and some Classe Omega monoblocks (some mighty beautiful beasts). Transparent cables throughout except for Spectral (they demand MIT hookups). This was an amazing setup, and speakers weren't even broken in yet. I can only imagine what they could possibly sound like when they are.