Aesthetics? Forget the clunky wooden box speakers that made your father drool (although the Corner Ribbon was and is lovely): The Revela 1 (which for the remainder of this review I'll occasionally call the R1) would not seem out of place in a billionaire bachelor pad. The cabinets are gorgeous, with real walnut veneer finished with several layers of high-gloss lacquer. The baffle is a similarly glossy piano black. (The Revela 1 is also available in Piano Black all over.) Those rounded corners and edges contribute to a striking silhouette. The speaker seems to float above its dedicated stand.
The stands are crafted from lacquered birch plywood uprights and a carbon steel baseplate with four massive stainless steel spikes; a pair is included in the modest price. Like all IAG products, the Revela 1, including its drivers, was designed in Huntingdon, UK, and manufactured at IAG's Jian, China, factory.
SetupSetting up the Revela 1 was tricky. I tried many positions before hitting the sweet spot. First came the ribbon tweeter's dispersion, which I dialed in—positioning and toe-in—with careful listening. Next, this speaker benefits from bass reinforcement, yet the port needs a little room to breathe; it should not be too close to the wall. Fortunately, these speakers are light enough that experimentation is easy. In my room, the back of the speakers (hence the port opening) landed 13" from the front wall, the fronts of the speakers 9' from my listening seat; speakers were 57" apart from the outer edge of the R1. When I sat, my ears were between the ribbon tweeter and the mid/bass driver. I listened with grilles removed.
When I heard the R1, using the PrimaLuna EVO 300 amplifier, my first thought was of a wide arc of sun-filled, pure treble energy in which the music was illuminated from within. The next was that the ribbon tweeter blended seamlessly with its mid/bass driver, ensuring a balanced presentation. That True Ribbon tweeter, which as mentioned rolls in at a high 2.9kHz, was vivid; it dug out detail without succumbing to harshness. It sounded pure. Otherwise, the R1's performance was a masterclass in upper-octave clarity and, with the right music, hair-raising momentum. The Quads' clarity helped create a sense of ambient space, faithful to the original recorded space. While the soundstage cast was big, wide, deep, in my setup, images were somewhat diffuse (footnote 1)—a small price to pay for what I got back: outstanding musicality and emotional communication.
The Revelas presented Miles Davis's Workin' (Prestige PRLP 7166), a very familiar recording, quite differently than I'm used to, casting the focus onto Philly Joe Jones's cymbal work and snare drum jabs and on every burnished note of Miles's trumpet. But far from seeming bright, the subjective result was a fresh level of detail and new openness. This balance showed me instrumental nuances I'd never noticed. Recall that the crossover frequency is 2.9kHz, just above the highest F on a standard piano keyboard; that means that most of the music is handled by the midwoofer, that ribbon tweeter mostly handles harmonics, which is to say, instrumental timbre. John Coltrane's tenor sax had bite and punch, while Paul Chambers's bass was precise, with real impact.
The R1s gleaned fresh insight from guitarist Mike Moreno's Standards From Film (Criss Cross Jazz 1410), Pat Metheny Group's First Circle (ECM 1276), Steely Dan's Everything Must Go (Reprise R1 48435), Kems Kriol's Equanimity (Nous'klaer Audio NOUS024), and Jerome Sabbagh's Vintage (Sunnyside SSC 1698). They renewed and reanimated every record, inspiring me to strut around my Village flat like a deranged Palladium club boy circa 1990.
The Revela 1 transformed rock and electronic records, too. Those vivid highs were matched by vivid bass. I've listened a thousand times to Steely Dan's "Do It Again," from their debut Can't Buy a Thrill. Whether I played my original pressing (ABC Records ABCX-758) or the Analogue Productions UHQR double-45rpm version (Analogue Productions UHQR 0009-45), the bass on "Do It Again" was seismic, profound. Walter Becker's low notes had the warmth, tone, and mass I associate with EDM. The R1s may not be able to compete with larger floorstanders for sheer power, but, for a smallish standmount, they showed they can deliver substantial and engaging bass.
Trading in the PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid Integrated Amp for the Rogue Audio RP-7 preamp and Rogue Audio Stereo 100 power amp changed the game dramatically. Now the R1s were more tonally saturated, more colorful, with a more abundant, lusher low end—bloom city in all its tubular glory. The soundstage expanded in all directions. The treble remained brilliant, but now it was softer and somehow more whole. The R1 likes tubes. A lot. Quad meets Riviera Labs
Running in its 30Wpc pure class-A mode, the Riviera Labs Levante integrated took the strengths of the previous amps and injected them with even more clarity and—surprisingly at just 30Wpc—more power. Focus was extreme; everything, including imaging, snapped into place. The R1 plays well with tubes and with class-A solid state. I bet it also plays well with class-D.
With a specified sensitivity of 90dB/2.83V/m and boasting a folded ribbon tweeter with a 6" polypropylene-cone upper bass/midrange driver and a pair of passive radiators, the GoldenEar BRX is a worthy comp to the Quad HiFi Revela 1. Priced at $1900/pair without stands, the BRX has been a Stereophile Recommended Component for years. The BRXs lacked the bass mass and exuberance of the R1 but delivered more detail and low-end clarity. They sounded drier on top but exposed more nuance and punched harder. Occasionally, they came across as a little bit sharp. Their point of view was more analytical and revealing than the R1's warmer, richer, more romantic perspective. Instruments were more distinct with the BRXs, with a bit more air, and the soundstage was slightly more intimate.
ConclusionNo matter what I threw at it, recordings or ancillary gear, the Revela 1s made me forget my cares and get happy. Sparkling, pure highs meet rich, warm bass for a very satisfying sound. Forget harsh treble; the Revela 1's treble is smooth, see-through, and revealing, and allied to rich, flowing, surprisingly impactful bass.
Footnote 1: This surely is partly due to my setup decisions, putting the speakers close to the front wall and far from my listening seat. Later listening made it clear that matching amplification mattered, too.
