Revel & Mark Levinson

RMAF 2010

By John Atkinson • Posted: Oct 22, 2010

One of my two best sounds at RMAF was from Revel's Ultima Salon2 speakers ($22,000/pair), which have been favorites of mine since Larry Greenhill's review appeared in the June 2008 issue of Stereophile. At RMAF, the Revels were being driven by Mark Levinson No.53 monoblocks ($25,000/pair), which in turn were being fed straight from the variable output of a Mark Levinson No.512 SACD player ($15,000). Cabling was all-Transparent. The superbly stable soundstaging extended beyond the physical positions of the speakers, the tonal balance was one of the most neutral I heard at the Show, and the bass was both extended and defined. I would have stayed listening for longer, but the Show only had 30 minutes more to run and I had two more rooms to visit.

Comments

Submitted by Patrick on October 23, 2010 - 11:13am.

I agree these speakers sounded great for the most part but I went in twice during different days and both times I felt the bass overloaded that room. With the right music, and the volume set to reasonable, the mids and uppers were almost ethereal.

Submitted by Bill Bailey on October 23, 2010 - 12:46pm.

Hi. I'm lucky to work for a Levinson dealer in the UK, and I just want to say these new elecronics are paradigm shifting. We have the 512/326s/532 system set up and I can honestly say I have never heard anything approaching this quality before (with either Revel or ProAc Carbon series speakers). I'm fully aware of the expense involved in acquiring these components but I urge anyone with even the vaguest interest in our hobby to do their utmost to hear them.

Submitted by Sheraton on October 24, 2010 - 7:57am.

ML 53s cost $50,000 a pair.I sure will buy a pair if they really cost $25,000.

Submitted by Knut on October 24, 2010 - 11:18am.

There was another room, by Jones Audio, showing the Revel Ultima Salon2 powered by Jones Audio Monobloc 2 electronics. They definitely had the room acoustics much better sorted out and were able to demonstrate the full potential of the Revels. As well as the capability of their amplifier/preamp combo, which were able to drive the Revels with ease. My favorite room at the show, much more rewarding than the quite disappointing setup in the identical-size Revel/ML room.