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Conclusion. Revel remains part of Harman International, one of the world's largest hifi makers. It has access to extensive research facilities and spends serious sums on development. It also employs the best engineers who enjoy their work and take pride in results. All of this is evident in the Performa3 F206 which looks beautiful and possesses sonic traits which demonstrate that its designers managed to successfully overcome various problems which prove elusive to numerous competitors.


The Revel F206 speaks with powerful well-enunciated diction. It has good bass extension for its size and remains unfazed by high SPL. One may need to keep an eye on the upper midrange which, clear and communicative by itself, may become overexposed under certain unfavorable conditions. These would include systems that tend to sound clinical and listening rooms with large hard reflective surfaces. On the other hand I don’t see restrictions in terms of accompanying electronics as long as they play it tonally balanced. If we pair the Revels with an ASR or Lavardin, we should hit the bull’s eye with vividness, tonality and dynamics. It’s best to position the speakers at 3m or farther and slightly toed in.


The F206 is otherwise easy to set up. It will always sound similar. It does not require expensive electronics above its own level and will be a good match even for quality amplifiers costing less than 10.000 Polish. The review was a sighted A/B comparison with 2-minute music samples. The speakers sat on Acoustic Revive RST-38H isolation boards with matching SPU 8 spike receptacles. The reference speakers were Harbeth M40.1 and Castle Richmond Anniversary monitors driven by the Soulution 710 power amp and two-box Acoustic Advance X-Preamp and X-A160 amplifier.


On cosmetics it seems impossible to dislike slender speakers. Nicely assembled and finished, these should please everyone. Although the F206’s cabinet echoes design cues from several other manufacturers, the whole package makes a very good impression. The small curved top cap recalls KEF. Originally this was an extension of the tweeter chamber to minimize diffraction. Here it’s more of a decorative matter as the tweeter sits far lower. I wouldn’t rule out cabinet damping however as its cast aluminum would be perfectly suitable to that task. The rounded lyre-shaped back is a Franco Serblin legacy never patented to have become quite ubiquitous. Here the Performance3 line resembles Revel’s flagship Ultima2 range.


The cabinet is built up of curved laminated layers for 25mm thickness. Strategic braces create a discrete midrange chamber. The outer skins are natural veneer under high-gloss lacquer. The towers are stabilized by solid plinths and four adjustable spikes with large locking rings.The F206 is a three-way four-driver bass-reflex design with all aluminum drivers anodized black for fetching aesthetics. The midrange and paralleled woofers sport lightly ribbed diaphragms for increased rigidity, rubber suspensions and cast baskets. The 25mm dome tweeter sits inside a concave acoustic waveguide resembling a short horn. It’s not meant to raise sensitivity but provide better integration with the 133mm midrange and improve off-axis dispersion.


Revel call it acoustic lens wave guide which here appears in its 6th generation. The dome tweeter specifically designed for the new Performa3 range is protected by metal grille. The bass-reflex port terminates beneath the lower woofer. The port features identical flares inside and out to minimize chuffing. The crossover frequencies center on 275Hz and 2150Hz. The user manual describes the filters as high order with carefully selected components to reduce distortion, dynamic compression and optimize timbral accuracy whilst enhancing on-axis and off-axis phase response to minimize sound degradation in rooms characterized by a live acoustic signature (a low absorption coefficient of its surfaces).


Such rooms are actually most common. The manual also furnishes valuable information on speaker placement and acoustic room treatment. The filter networks mount on two boards attached to the back panel. One houses the bass network section, the other houses the midrange/tweeter legs. The crossover components include core and air coils and electrolytic and polypropylene capacitors. Internal hookup wiring is stranded copper with slip-on connectors for the driver terminals. A single pair of solid gold-plated speaker binding posts sits on the rear panel. The cabinet is heavily damped with low-density felt.
opinia @ highfidelity.pl
Specifications according to the manufacturer:
LF extension: -10dB/30Hz, -6dB/36Hz, -3dB/42Hz
Recommended amplifier power: 50-200W
Sensitivity (2.83V/1m): 88dB
Nominal impedance: 8Ω
Crossover frequencies: 275Hz, 2150Hz
Dimensions (H x D x W): 1051 x 249 x 347mm
Weight (each): 26kg

Revel Loudspeakers website