Revel Performa3 Loudspeakers Preview

[dkane360]

To reiterate that point, HomeTheater Magazine in their review of the Ultima2 line specifically states that the Performa and Ultima2 lines are made in the USA and not just engineered in the USA. See here: Revel Ultima2 Studio2 Surround Speaker System | Home Theater

That's also from 2007. A lot has happened since then

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

That's also from 2007. A lot has happened since then

Yeah, really. The way the economy is, they'll be made in China next year.

 

[internetmin]

Very interesting...

That's interesting and funny. My Performa models say "Made in the USA" and I checked a friend's Salon2's and they too say "Made in the USA". If it was an Apple-style thing, where the product is manufactured in a different country then they would be required to explicitly say "Designed in the USA" followed by the country in which they were manufactured.

The Revel Performa and Ultima speakers I looked at, however, were not made within the past two years. They've been deployed for a bit.

If they have indeed started sourcing all their speakers to another facility within the past two years, that's probably due to the influence of the new CEO who in an interview wanted there to be some better economies of scale.

Kevin Voecks is a very meticulous guy (I don't want to speak for him) but I can't imagine that he has let go manufacturing lightly outside of the USA for the premium labeled (Performa and Ultima) Revels. The Concerta line was made in Mexico to conserve costs.

Wherever they are now made, they are certainly made to sound absolutely fantastic. I've listened to lots, and lots of speakers over the years in various setups and the Revels are, hands down, at the top.

 

[Irvrobinson]

I've already told you, Revel used to manufacture in the US, but moved production of the US-made models to Mexico. My Salon 2s, for example, do indeed say "Made in the USA", but the most recent production says "Designed and Engineered in the USA", and they are made in Mexico.

To quote their CEO, Dinesh Paliwal, at a recent conference:

We have closed on high-cost country plant. We opened best cost country plant. We have added lot of R&D in Palo Alto, in Michigan, in India and China. And we have moved our workforce for the cost arbitrage as well as where the markets are growing, and we have also aligned our workforce for sourcing point of view and we are taking leverage of sourcing arbitrage. /QUOTE]

Transcript of Paliwal's speech

I made a good move by selling their stock back when it was $90+, and I only did it because I though Paliwal was bad news. I guess my intuition was correct. You can't run a great company by treating R&D and manufacturing as resources placed for cost optimization. And I don't see anything funny about it. Sidney Harman had built a great company.

 

[internetmin]

Yup, heard you. Dinesh is exerting quite a bit of influence in reworking the internals at Harman. So it doesn't necessarily surprise me. My point was that Kevin is very meticulous so any further outsourcing of their premium line of speakers would have to meet his exacting standards.

I've already told you, Revel used to manufacture in the US, but moved production of the US-made models to Mexico. My Salon 2s, for example, do indeed say "Made in the USA", but the most recent production says "Designed and Engineered in the USA", and they are made in Mexico.

To quote their CEO, Dinesh Paliwal, at a recent conference:

We have closed on high-cost country plant. We opened best cost country plant. We have added lot of R&D in Palo Alto, in Michigan, in India and China. And we have moved our workforce for the cost arbitrage as well as where the markets are growing, and we have also aligned our workforce for sourcing point of view and we are taking leverage of sourcing arbitrage. /QUOTE]

Transcript of Paliwal's speech

I made a good move by selling their stock back when it was $90+, and I only did it because I though Paliwal was bad news. I guess my intuition was correct. You can't run a great company by treating R&D and manufacturing as resources placed for cost optimization. And I don't see anything funny about it. Sidney Harman had built a great company.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

It is funny how my Salon2 says "designed and engineered in the USA", but no where does it say "Made in". Really funny. Gutless. Don't even have the balls to say "Made in Mexico".

I wonder if it says on the back of speakers from PSB "Made in China"?

Also KEF R900 and B&W non-800 series - "made in China".

Or Paradigm - "Assembled in Canada with parts from China".

I know on the Dynaudio it says "Made in Denmark".

On the Focal, it says "Manufactured in France".

 

[Irvrobinson]

The term "Made in the USA" has a specific meaning, and is enforced by the USG Federal Trade Commission. See this link. A lot of companies are wary of these Made in the USA guidelines with modern complex supply chains, and compromise with the unregulated "designed and engineered" statement. In the case of Harman, however, since they moved driver production out of the US I doubt they could have maintained the Made in the USA label for Revel products, even if cabinet manufacturing and final assembly were still in the US. A friend of mine in manufacturing line design has repeatedly told me that the cost of complying with US environmental laws for anything involving sprayed-on finishes is so high that it makes sense to move to Mexico, even if the labor costs were equal, and they're not.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The term "Made in the USA" has a specific meaning, and is enforced by the USG Federal Trade Commission. See this link. A lot of companies are wary of these Made in the USA guidelines with modern complex supply chains, and compromise with the unregulated "designed and engineered" statement. In the case of Harman, however, since they moved driver production out of the US I doubt they could have maintained the Made in the USA label for Revel products, even if cabinet manufacturing and final assembly were still in the US. A friend of mine in manufacturing line design has repeatedly told me that the cost of complying with US environmental laws for anything involving sprayed-on finishes is so high that it makes sense to move to Mexico, even if the labor costs were equal, and they're not.

I wonder what is the manufacturing cost difference of China vs Mexico vs Denmark vs France vs Germany vs Canada vs England vs USA.

Is USA the most expensive?

 

[PENG]

I wonder what is the manufacturing cost difference of China vs Mexico vs Denmark vs France vs Germany vs Canada vs England vs USA.

Is USA the most expensive?

My guess is, no. I think it would be Denmark, Germany, France, Canada, US, Mexico. Of course that would be just in general.

 

[GranteedEV]

So... when's the real review of the F208s

 

[cpp]

So... when's the real review of the F208s

Agree surprised that nobody has reviewed these speakers.... Gene hello Gene