Revel M20 and B15 (1 Viewer)

[Craig Morris]

Well, my neighbourhood crack dealer (aka my audio dealer) hooked me up with the M20's and B15 I was considering at a pretty killer price.

They're being delivered on Saturday, so I'll keep you posted.

 

[Craig Morris]

Well, my speakers arrived Saturday afternoon.

The M20's are sycamore finish, a very blond wood with a silver baffle around the drivers.

The B15 is black ash, but the finish is much nicer than other black finishes I've seen.

Everything is still breaking in, although after about 10 hours, the M20's already started to open up and sound less congested.

The B15 setup software and EQ is amazing. And the quality of the bass continues to surprise me. I'm hearing bass lines in music that I didn't even know existed. And some scenes in movies that used to boom and rattle now perceptively have less bass. However, other scenes punch and growl like I've never heard before. It's definitely going to take some getting used to. My ear has to get accustomed to clean, full-range sound.

My only complaint, the B15 arrived with a few minor dings in the center of it's kevlar/alloy driver. I've mentioned it to the dealer and I'm waiting for a reply. It may only be cosmetic, with no audible effect, but for the price, I expect a flawless product. I have no idea how it got damaged because I saw the delivery guys carefully unpack it, and they never removed the grille. To get at the center of the woofer cone, they would have had to punch through the grille... so it may be a factory defect.

Anyway, if you have any questions about the M20's or the B15 and its cool EQ/software setup, fire away!

 

[CraigR]

Congrats on the new speakers and sub Craig.

I know you listened to several speakers before picking this combo. I'm looking to replace my mains and was interested in monitors instead of floorstanders. I have listened to several myself and am getting a little weary.

I am leaning toward the B&W N805's because all of my other speakers are B&W's except for the sub which is velodyne.

I was curious if you listened/compared the 805's to the M20's and if so what your thoughts were.

Thanks for your comments.

Craig

 

[Craig Morris]

Hey Craig,

I did listen to the 805, but it was before Christmas, and at that time, I too grew weary of looking. I didn't seem to like anything I heard, and that included the 805's. Now, I probably should have gone back to listen to the 805's once I discovered the Revels, but my local B&W dealer has a no negotiation policy... so there would have been a huge price difference. I paid about $2600 CDN for the M20's with stands. The 805's are $4000 CDN with stands.

My impression of the 805 when I did listen was that although it wasn't doing anything wrong, it didn't sound 'right' to my ear either. Keeping in mind that acoustic memory is poor, and this is just my subjective opinion, I found the M20's to have better bass. Both tighter and more extension. I have also been craving an analytical speaker... almost too analytical. I think the M20 provides more of that than the 805.

I think you should listen to the M20 if you get the chance. But I'm sure the 805 is a great speaker as well, especially since it may blend in more easily with your other speakers.

 

[rich wu]

Craig,

Congrats on your new Revel speakers. The B15 takes awhile to break-in so you have not heard its best yet. Mine took at least 100 hours before it really started sounding good. I am still breaking in my Sycamore M20's. I have had them for 3 weeks. I am using them as part of my rear speakers in my HT.

I compared the M20's to the F30 which I had briefly and I prefer the M20. I think the M20 has better vocals and imaging which may be due to its size and easier for placement. The M20 with the B15 is a fantasic system.

Enjoy.

 

[John Doran]

if you don't mind me asking, Craig M, what did you end up paying for the revel b15?

it's on my short-list for subs (with the svs cs ultra and velo hgs-18), and i haven't been able to find a street price in canadian dollars...

 

[Craig Morris]

John, I have a long-standing relationship with my dealer and therefore was able to get about 30% off my package. So the B15 was about $3450 down from $4950.

If you can make it to Ottawa, I might be able to help you out.

 

[John Doran]

thanks for both the reply and the offer, craig.

i have some problems with mid-bass peaking myself, and would find the EQ and optimizer software for the b15 a godsend.

you may well hear from me in the future.

again - thanks a lot, craig.

 

[steve paul]

Man..I almost bought teh SAME exact setup, the M20's in sycamore with the B15 sub. My delaer loaned me a pair of M20's and i was amazed at the sound for only $1k US each. I REALLY wanted the B15 for my HT as well, but already had a sub I bought a month ago, so my wife would of probably killed me if I ordered the B15 - Anway, we ended up with a pair of Revel Studios at $4k off list price. Was a deal so I couldnt pass it up. I use these for music only, but wanted 4 M20's and the B15 for my HT..well, maybe next year!

Congrats on those speakers, enjoy them.

BTW, I listened to the B&W 805's with the M20's side by side. The B&W's I DIDNOT LIKE at all. They sounded like a p air of $300 bookshelves to me. The M20's blew them away.

 

[Craig Morris]

I finally spoke to my dealer and asked them to order a new driver from Revel for my B15. I may have to wait a few weeks for it to arrive, but the damaged driver will be replaced.

Meanwhile, things are sounding great. My only complaint so far is due to my Marantz SR-18. The M20's sound much better (cleaner and more upfront midrange; voices seem to leap forward 1 foot) if I use Source Direct bypass mode, but that defeats the subwoofer output. I'm going to experiment with line-level connection. My only concern there is that I will likely end up with a lowpass cutoff of 40-50Hz, which eliminates about half of the B15's EQ range. The setup software is easiest to use with a standard 80Hz crossover (although it does allow for any x-over point), but I'm sure with some experimenting I'll get it right.

The 3rd option would be to use line level and use the B15's 80Hz lowpass and highpass. However, I'm not convinced that it wouldn't affect the midrange as much or more than the Marantz's x-over. I suppose I could try, but that's a lot of cables.

 

[Craig Morris]

The custom Revel stands for my M20's arrived. Not only do they look cool, but they are higher than the temporary stands I was using. Even though the M20's are not yet fully broken in, they sound more open and less congested on the higher stands.

My B15's damaged driver is being replaced on Friday afternoon, and I picked up some Y-splitters to try driving it from my pre-amp outputs, rather than the LFE output.

Things are finally coming together. I'll post a thorough review once everything is broken in.