REVEL Performa M22
Stand mount monitors
With the M22s the dust and haze dissapears, the air becomes clearer, crispier and more sparkling. It is as if the cones have no mass - the Revels are superfast and superfocused. Not a bad combination, don't you think?
Function and form
The midrange/bass driver of the Performa M22 has a ceramic composite cone, driven by two neodymium magnets that are mounted with opposite polarity to comply with requirements for home cinema applications. A 5cm aluminum voice coil gives impression that Revel got inspired by Danish Dynaudio. The bass output is supported by a rear firing reflex port.
Also the tweeter is not a stock item. It has 1" titanium dome cooled by ferofluid and is protected by two thin wires instead of a grille. I was ready to hear the metallic colouration of the highs but was not able to identify anything like that.
Bass management
Considering that we discuss rather small speakers the Revels went quite deep. They had no issue whatsover to reach 40Hz and the amount of bass was subjectively even bigger than with the reference speakers (JMlab Focal Micro Utopia). Not only big the bass of the M22s is articulated and textured too: the kick drum was punchy, the double bass resolved, the speakers could react fast. There was no overhanging or boominess, rhythmic compositions were a feast.
Clarity & delicacy
The titan tweeter could not compete with the beryllium one in the Revels Ultima range yet this only became apparent during a direct comparison. The M22s are precise, sweet, highly resolved - Airto Moreira's The Gods of Jazz exhibited with amazing cymbal sounds and the crystalline piano of Herbie Hancock. The M22s let me feel the release of the piano pedal half a minute into the track as if the pianist was in the room with me.
Tonal accuracy
On the rear panel of the M22 there are two knobs that can adjust the output of the tweeter and the midrange/bass driver in the range of +/- 1dB. Though I tried to improve the balance of the speakers in the room during my listening sessions, I ended up with neutral voicing as it gave me the best sound. Adding 1dB to highs made them too prominent, attenuating them by 1dB made the sound uninvolving. The Revel Performa M22 are on the lighter side of neutrality anyway (I could hear it on female vocals that were more ethereal). Adjustment of the bass outut to either side brought subjective imbalance.
Spatial resolution
The Performa M22 throw wide and deep sonic images and then dissapear. The lateral soundstage width is not limited by the speakers' distance, the depth is beautifully layered. I have already heard more 'three-dimensional' speakers but not at this price. Bravo.
Recommended resellers
Excelia HiFi, Chrudim, tel. +420 724 00 77 44
Manufacturer's website: http://www.revelspeakers.com
Associated components
- Sources: Vincent CD-S3
- Ampilfiers: Mark Levinson No. 432
- Interconnects and speaker cables: the whole line up of diffeent Cardas Audio cables from Crosslink to Golden Reference
- Loudspeakers: JMlab Focal Micro Utopia Be
Gallery
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