Houston, one of my Revel Salon's may have a problem

[Irvrobinson]

I believe Walter is really on vacation, and Irv is filling in for him here.

Which Irv?

 

[RichB]

After 13 years, I paid for two midranges $180.
1 Mid-bass $200.
The tweeters may not have needed replacing, that was likely a misdiagnosis. But, since I play on keeping them, it is not big deal.
Total maintenance after 13 years is $700 and the speakers sound fantastic again.

As far as power handling. I read the article suggested by Walter mainly it clearly points out the advantages of high-efficiency drivers.
The woofer heat build up is not an issue with the Salons and other ported speakers judging by the Salons. The port is moving a lot of air when those 3 woofers are woofing.

I had a look at the CinePro Evo 2 front speakers and perhaps they are more durable in the mid-range, I can't say, but three woofers would be better than two.
The Salon has a 4 inch midrange and a 6 inch mid-bass (7.5 lbs). The EVO 2 has two 6 inch mid-bass drivers.

I suppose if no one ever had a CineoPro driver fail that would be something, but I am not sure we know that.
None of this speaks the actual performance of either speaker.

The Salons play louder than I should listen to them.

- Rich

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

You know most people with blown speaker drivers would never even share it, especially if their speaker systems cost over $20K.

 

[walter duque]

You know most people with blown speaker drivers would never even share it, especially if their speaker systems cost over $20K.

I almost smoked my whole system on New Years Eve about 5 years ago. Turned everything up to max and there went a tweeter. Did get (2) tweeters 2 days later at no charge.

 

[walter duque]

After 13 years, I paid for two midranges $180.
1 Mid-bass $200.
The tweeters may not have needed replacing, that was likely a misdiagnosis. But, since I play on keeping them, it is not big deal.
Total maintenance after 13 years is $700 and the speakers sound fantastic again.

As far as power handling. I read the article suggested by Walter mainly it clearly points out the advantages of high-efficiency drivers.
The woofer heat build up is not an issue with the Salons and other ported speakers judging by the Salons. The port is moving a lot of air when those 3 woofers are woofing.

I had a look at the CinePro Evo 2 front speakers and perhaps they are more durable in the mid-range, I can't say, but three woofers would be better than two.
The Salon has a 4 inch midrange and a 6 inch mid-bass (7.5 lbs). The EVO 2 has two 6 inch mid-bass drivers.

I suppose if no one ever had a CineoPro driver fail that would be something, but I am not sure we know that.
None of this speaks the actual performance of either speaker.

The Salons play louder than I should listen to them.

- Rich

A little miss understanding on my part. I thought you had the recent version of the Salons. I didn't know you had the good ones or shall I say the real ones. $700.00 after 13 years of enjoyment is well worth it.

 

[Alex2507]

How is that Salk center.

Mine is the smaller Cherry one. I've been happy enough with it.

Bed time though. Night.

 

[herbu]

Which Irv?

Big Irv.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I almost smoked my whole system on New Years Eve about 5 years ago. Turned everything up to max and there went a tweeter. Did get (2) tweeters 2 days later at no charge.

Just keep in mind that even the best aftermarket tweeters can't handle more than the FULL 200 watts of power.

I think you and Rich are definitely in the minority in terms of blowing tweeters.

 

[TheoN]

My Right Revel Salon can sounds a bit scratchy. I notice it when playing tracks with Piano solos. Although, it is not awful.

I have switched channels on the HA-1 and Parasound amp. Played the same channel on the other Salon and it persists and occurs only in the right Salon.

The Rear Studios are fine when hooked up as the mains.
Covering the tweeter makes no difference so it seems to be the midrange.

Should I suspect the driver or the crossover or something else?

Thanks,

Rich

Rich,

Anytime you run into an issue with your Salons, ping Harman support. Their after-sales support is usually great.

 

[RichB]

Rich,

Anytime you run into an issue with your Salons, ping Harman support. Their after-sales support is usually great.

They are great. We are on a first name basis

Were I to buy speakers again, I would look at the field, but budget permitting, the Ultima line would be on the list.
I like the way they sound, that they are full range, dispersion/in-room response, and most importantly, they have good WAF

- Rich

 

[Irvrobinson]

Rich,

Anytime you run into an issue with your Salons, ping Harman support. Their after-sales support is usually great.

I'm not so sure I agree with that. My Revels have never needed service, but my Levinson No39 CD player did, and their service was expensive, slow, and out-sourced. I ended up selling all of my Levinson components while they were operating perfectly because I didn't want to risk needing service again. It was very disappointing, because I was otherwise thrilled with that CD player. It is truly an electronic and mechanical work of art, with awesome ergonomics.

Should the Salon2s go out of production I might consider selling mine soon after, based on Rich's experience. I'm not too worried about the crossover, but the drivers are all full-custom, and I'm sure effective repairs would depend on Harman's replacement inventory. That'a a pure expense to Harman, and I wouldn't trust them to make a large investment in the future of past products. Earlier in the thread I did counsel Rich to sell while he can.

 

[RichB]

Should the Salon2s go out of production I might consider selling mine soon after, based on Rich's experience. I'm not too worried about the crossover, but the drivers are all full-custom, and I'm sure effective repairs would depend on Harman's replacement inventory. That'a a pure expense to Harman, and I wouldn't trust them to make a large investment in the future of past products. Earlier in the thread I did counsel Rich to sell while he can.

Children have adjusted my priorities
The drivers are not that expensive (relative to the speakers) and Harman shown some commitment to maintaining replacement parts.

They are shipped from United Radio; the same folks that fixed my AV8801. Small world

- Rich

 

[walter duque]

Children have adjusted my priorities
The drivers are not that expensive (relative to the speakers) and Harman shown some commitment to maintaining replacement parts.

They are shipped from United Radio; the same folks that fixed my AV8801. Small world

- Rich

Is that United Radio from Syracuse NY??

 

[RichB]

Is that United Radio from Syracuse NY??

Yes, United Radio from Syracuse NY; Fast shipping to MA.

- Rich

 

[scwlw]

I know this threads ancient but the way the speaker designer dude keeps going on about the xover point being too low for the salon to work is nonsense, it's a 4 way design and the mid range operates from 450 to 2000 hx, the ultima studio is a 3 way design but uses a larger midrange to compensate for the lower bandwidth.

 

[RichB]

Since this thread got resurrected, I did end up selling my Salon1', Studio1's. and Voice1. All were replaced with Ultima2's. Wonderful speakers.

- Rich

 

[Rayyeh]

Hi guys possible to advice is the united radio still have salon ultimate 1 4" woofer a pair available ? My is damage I need to get a pair and my local dealer do not have the stock I need to get from Over sea any one can help with that

 

[scwlw]

I emailed revel support and they have replacements now for all but the rear tweeter. good luck

 

[scwlw]

I expect the difference was significant to justify such an investment. I listen to my salon v1's and can get excited about an updated pair and having even better sound but in reality i'm probably just scratching the surface of what the originals can do with my electronics and room acoustics, add 37 years of construction without ear protection and 20k on speakers would probably be wasted on me. still tempted tho'.

 

[monkish54]

I'm not a speaker designer like you, but I think this is a good guess, since my major gripe with the 150s was imaging. It absolutely flunked my jet flying over your head test. Monkish knows the track I'm referring to. I also wonder if that 15" woofer's dispersion doesn't match too well with the dome midrange.

Since this thread has been resurrected I think this is the perfect time to end the suspense and confirm that I do know the track of which @Irvrobinson speaks. Great track. (Though I can't find it on my hard-drive.)

EDIT: Found it. The track is entitled "Spoken Introductions to Works of P.D.Q. Bach- Introduction to..."