Multitest bookshelf speakers – 2500 Euro – part 1

Revel M106

An American in among the Northerners. Interesting! Revel is part of the Harman group and has a rich history when it comes to loudspeakers, based on R&D. Co-executed by the giant Harman. These speakers should offer great value for the money. In fact, just like the ‘Be’ version, although it aims more for neutrality and resolution. This ‘poor man’s Be’ does not have the Beryllium tweeter and fancy crossover components. But then again: it can’t be done like that in this price range.

The sound

Martijn notes that the pacing is a bit different from the previous three models. As if it is slower. The sound is very rich, completely free of sharpness and the image is large and generous. In that respect it really is an American. “Larger than life”. There does seem to be a little less ambiance audible than with the Dynaudio which managed to reproduce the ‘air’ in the music very well. All in all, it is a pleasant sound though.

The midrange is rich (richer than the previous three), which is nice for longer sessions. You can listen to this for hours without ever getting tired. With the Nilai, the richness remains and we hear that the song Sohn can be played quite differently: it is big, blustering and beautiful! It lacks some detail compared to the rest, but it doesn’t matter: this is fun!

Measurements Revel M106

The Revel measures pretty tight! We see a fairly straight response except for one peak. Between 3 and 7 kHz. Will Revel also apply a Bowers bump? The Be version does not have it…. So that must have been a choice. Distortion is incredibly low. The bulk is at 0.1% which is just super in this class.

Impedance does not dip below 5 Ohms, which is wonderful. A tube will do just fine on this Revel. The modest peak of the mid/high is at 1000 Hz, so coloration is not to be expected with a tube.

Specifications Revel M106