Revel Ultima Salon loudspeaker

EQUIPMENT REVIEWresearch and development facilities plusthe luxury of being able to design driveunits from scratch. Throughout thegestation every aspect of performancehas been painstakingly evaluated,while listening tests have been someof the most rigorous and controlledever, with participants having to gothrough a three stage computer aidedinstruction and testing program as partof a vetting process, before evenqualifying for the panel.The Salon is the largest loudspeakerin the Revel range; all are characterisedby a similar aesthetic, which as I havealready described is certainly eyecatching. A four-way design, it uses noless than seven drive units, housedin a two part cabinet of substantialdimensions. Three 8” woofers with micaand carbon filled domes occupy thelower part of the cabinet, coupledwith a 6.5” mid bass unit of similarconstruction, bass loading is via a flaredrear firing port of enormous dimensions.The multiple bass drivers are said tohave greater power handling thana single 15” unit, as heat build up inthe motor assembly is spread over sixvoice coils rather than two, minimisingcompression at high power levels.(As an aside, one of the benefits ofbeing part of the Harman organisationis the ability to pull in the expertiseof a sister company, in this case JBL,when required. The two companiesworked together on the low frequencyalignment of the Salon. JBL lendinga hand with bass? Now that is scary.)The upper section of the cabinethouses the mid-range and tweeters,the 1.1” aluminium domed unitcomplemented by a smaller unit ofsimilar design firing from the rear, this isclaimed to flatten the in room responseat the top end. The upper cabinet iscontoured to minimise diffraction andenhance the high frequency response.There is not room here to discuss thedrive units individually in detail, butthey all incorporate some pretty hightech engineering as part of the ongoing66research project.The back panel has two sets ofbinding posts to facilitate bi-wiring,while there are controls that provideadjustment in 2dB increments for lowfrequency compensation (centred about43.9 Hz) and level adjustment of thefront and rear tweeters. Small thoughthe adjustments might seem on paper,do not underestimate the differencesthey makein practice– it is worthspendingtime playingwith them.The Salon givesoff the air of a productin which every last detail has beenthoroughly considered, from theadvanced technology of the drive unitsand the superb finish of the cabinets,down to the effective spikes with capsfor hard floors.The Salons that I had for review hadseen considerable use, and I was notanticipating having to run them in, buta quick listen suggested otherwise.Much heaving and grunting got theminto what sounded like a favourableposition in my room, but the mid andtop had a ‘knife edge’ qualityinconsistent with the rest of the audioband. A few days later this had all butdisappeared, and although I was awarethat the mid range units had recentlybeen replaced, they had not beensubsequently used. That was exactlywhat I heard – a lack of integration withthe rest of the loudspeaker. For a largeloudspeaker, the Salons are not overlyefficient, although they do not representa particularly difficult load to theamplifier. The resident Primary valveamps at 300 Watts per channelwould appear to be fine on paperat least, and I guessed I wasabout to find out just how capablethey are at the bottom end.When a product first arrives forreview, I tend to find that I selectmusic to demonstrate certain qualitieswhere you think the systems strengthslie, or conversely, fall short. Tell me youhave never selected your music to showoff the system when you have interestedguests in your house, and I won’t believeyou. For me, it also acts as an anchorto further evaluate, and discover thelimits if you like, of what a system cando. With the Salons, I simply could notbe bothered, instead going for whatevermusic I wanted to listen to at the time.Forget the demo discs, you won’t needthem, as the Revels seem to makethe most of whatever you feed them,regardless of its origin. They also do thesame thing with partnering equipment,by not drawing your attention to itslesser attributes (for example, the slightlack of bottom end control with thevalve amps). The fears that I hadregarding the Salons’ match withequipment and room proved to beunfounded. Extended, yes, overblown,no. They singularly failed to exciteany of the room resonances that I knowexist, and have seriously made merevaluate just what is achievable inmy present domestic situation. Whilelistening to music, there were noindications as to the size of theloudspeakers, as the image that