Smooth Operator - QUAD's New Revela 1 is a Large Standmount Loudspeaker With a Super Svelte Sound
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- Опубликовано: 19 фев 2024
- The standmount loudspeaker market is hotting up, and this new design from QUAD is likely to raise the temperature still further. It's not the very best that Mike and David have ever heard, but it does offer awfully good sound per pound. Or as our American viewers would put it, serious bang for your buck! The guys think it's one of the best small speaker bargains around right now, no less.
Each episode of Hi-Fi Riff features Mike and David's unedited, unexpurgated views about all manner of weird and wonderful hi-fi designs. Business executive Mike has a wealth of knowledge from previous hi-fi retail experience, and David has written about hi-fi for thirty years. Now Editor-in-Chief of StereoNET, he's picked up a few things along the way.
So relax and enjoy some one-take hi-fi riffing - and please leave your comments below. And don’t forget to hit the Subscribe button, this one goes up to eleven!
The eighties-tastic title tune is called ‘UFO/Mike’s Jumper’, and used with the express permission of our old pal and rights holder Simon Lythe.
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The best chemistry of any channel I watch about hifi.
Yes.
The sad thing is that we are exactly the same sad old gits off camera and talk non-stop about all sorts of random subjects (mainly cars, motorbikes, music and Hi-Fi). It gets particularly bad when beer is involved, we can clear a pub in minutes! Mike
@@Hi-FiRiff Well you are, I'm not.
Oy!
@@Hi-FiRiff Even better then!
Great riff- it's like being in a room with old friends talking about everything and anything! You can't have a bloke conversation without an SD1 coming into the equation. Great music tastes and thanks for the info on the Quads. This is RUclips gold and the best hifi channel by far.
Thanks Rory. It is a source of amazement to Mike and I that a video of us bickering is such fun for some!
I picked up a copy of Pelican West the other week, took me straight back to holidays in Cornwall in the early 80's ❤
Strangely enough, me too! Mike
If you guys are going to the Hi-Fi Bristol Show, please report on the new Wharfedale Super Denton, which will be launched at that show.
Great Riff again chaps, well done. Had a pair of Misson 763’s floorstanders designed by Peter, these very good in the then system. I had these years until the mid driver gave us the ghost. I did get them replaced by Misson and they lasted years and were sold on. Again a high standard Riff guys.
Unbelievable - my dad owned a Maxi too! Another great Hifi Riff 👍
One of the pleasures of reading Hi-Fi World, besides David's wonderful reviews, was the DIY supplement with Peter Comeau's World Designs - they looked like really well thought-out amps and speakers, and good value.
Great riff as always. I have a soft spot for quad - my first “real” system had a Croft micro and Quad 306 at its heart and that combination still does great service in a secondary system. And I also remember hearing the Heybrooks at the Heathrow Penta show and that sound is what convinced me to go in search of my first good system. Thanks!
Penta! Those were the days! Mike
Best show this month. Grew up with Akai... Thx
Great video. You guys make quite a pair together. Love it! Just subscribed!
Great Hifi riff again
I love watching you two old friends having a bit of fun. Mike's head and face turn red and his eyes turn the brightest blue when Dave makes a crack at Mike's expense. All in good fun. Y'all must have been friends since you were kids. Nevertheless, I enjoy your talks about hi-fi, old cars and bathrooms ;) take care fellas
More bathroom humour to follow! Mike
Love the random walks down memory lane chaps, im definitely 'of a certain age'.
What lovely looking speakers, Im really impressed by them.. I always seem to prefer ribbon, and indeed amt tweeters, so these ceratainly appeal. Sounds like they deserve to do well.
Some good choices of test tracks guys. 'otherside of life' is a fave of mine too 😊
what a great looking speaker and stands
Great idea to display the records used for the reviews, along with the comments about these. Japan is great. The things that Sylvian did with Holger Czukay is also amazing. Sound quality, music, everything about it. Cool Riff!
I must check that out.
David and I are firm Japan fans... a wholly underrated band. Mike
Heard these at last years NW Audio show being driven with the upcoming Platina amp..... WONDERFUL! In fact in bang for buck this was the best of the show imho. Right nearby was a Luxman/YG Acoustics combo at many many times the price and i preferred the sweeter Quad setup. I am awfully tempted by the Revela 2 floorstanders.
The speakers look like grown up versions of my Quad S2s
Crossing at 2.9kHz sounds extremely high for a 6.5" mid-woofer. I've always thought that crossing at 2.3kHz (necessitated by the nature of the ribbon tweeter) on my ProAc was at the limit for such a mid-woofer.
Nice riff, I’m taking it all in, looking for some large stand mount speakers this year or next. These as you say are worth an audition. And I love a bit of Donna Summer too 😍
Stroke away David. Tweeter mesh saves the day 😂
Brilliant! Mike
One of the best speakers I've ever owned was the Heybrook quartet
Beautiful looking speaker. The floorstander reminds me of my Wharfedale Elysian-4 s. No surprises there as they are also designed by Peter ( quick google to check spelling of second name ) Comeau. He says he relies primarily on his ears, rather than just measurements, and wants his speakers to sound good with a wide range of music. I'm all for that.
The two tone aesthetic also owes a bit to the Q Acoustics Concept 300, I think.
Ps. There is a multichannel SACD version of Duke which, I think, sounds much better than the two channel cd mix. Long time since I have listened to it on vinyl, though I have it.
Never realised it is such hard work to review hifi equipment. Four times have to listen to a 17 minute version by Donna Summer of MacArthur Park.!
Thank you for your empathy! It was purgatory! Mike
@@Hi-FiRiff Still got your prized copy of 'Another Place and Time'?
Nice one chaps
Because Japanese | German pressed vinyl was recorded or better yet, mastered with a lot more attention to clean, quiet recordings, followed by Canadian pressings as it relates to hard versus soft records, like those from Britain.
Nooooooo...Dave....please tell me that is not a handkerchief tucked into the cuff of your jumper ...Makes me think of going to Sunday school.😄😄😄
Lovely speakers guys and great review but the Quad S2 speakers have a better frequency response of 48Hz ~ 22kHz at (+/-3dB) for £650. Brand X wow saw them in concert, fab gig, also I have been listening to Snowy White and Larry Carlton's back catalogues and they are some of the best recording's have heard for a while, cheers ☕
Yous are soo eccentric I love it 😂
It occurred to me that Walker-era Quad (or The Acoustical Manufacturing Company, to give it its proper title) was perhaps the Lyons-era Jaguar of hi-fi; British, the vision of one determined man with some very talented helpers, every product highly significant and relatively affordable. Both are under Asian ownership now, I'd hold out more hope for Quad than Jaguar.
Peter Walker and also Gilbert Briggs...both giants of Hi-Fi history....👍
What if Quad was one of us? Sorry,I'll get my coat...
@oliverbeard7912 why did I not think of that! Genius. Mike
@@Hi-FiRiff You're too kind, Mike. Thank-you. Cracker jokes and Dad jokes are the best. You really know you've been successful when people roll their eyes and shake their heads at you after you've told them. 🙂
Try telling that to David!
Definately the more bit!
Love the channel, don’t say it enough. Nice to see you staying on the correct sides of the sofa. Found those occasional seating dysfunctions far too distressing. Us oldies love our routines.
How did Mike manage to do a full take without mentioning Rush?
Thanks. Mike was so taken aback by my Donna Summer LP that he had a momentary lapse of Canadian prog!
OMG! First Riff ever where that has happened... must do better next time. Mike
Tad more money, hear the ATC SCM 19s? That's a great Brit speaker I own. I hope to compare them to the Quad's some time.
Would love to hear that. I was about to but the SMC 19’s but went for these instead. These Quads are glorious. I can not fault them at all.
Evening gents👍👍
Evening!
Ahh, the Dynamic Duo is back doing product reviews in nines. It's this channel and Tyrell's Classic workshop that gets auto-likes from me.
Your description of this speaker sounds (p not intended) like it could well be the, dare I say, modern classic Wharfedale Diamond 225, also a celebrated Peter Comeau design that delivers way above it's modest price tag.
Great Video, your description of Revela 1 as 'Delicate' is reminiscent of Mission 770s sound considering they both were designed by Peter Comeau. How do both models differ?
Thank you and looking fwd to more riffs! 😊
Personally I'm a big fan of the new 770's.
We did a riff on them a while ago.
Mike
@@Hi-FiRiff I watched that as well. Thank you 😊
I've just discovered that the Vanden Plas trademark is also now Chinese owned, by MG owner SAIC by way of Nanjing Automobile. Unlike Quad, it seems to be dormant
Excellent factoid! Mike
@@Hi-FiRiff To be tediously pedantic, JLR (as we must now learn to call them) still seems to have the rights to Vanden Plas in North America. In gentler times it was used as an across-the-pond equivalent to Daimler, which some Germans claimed rights to in the USA and Canada.
Great review, I'm actually quite interested in these and there's not been a lot of reviews so far so thanks.
I had the Z1's for a while which I liked apart from them being quite sibilent, which I find ribbons can be generally, how were these in this respect please?
To my ears they were super smooth... although Donna Summer definitely pushed them to the limit! Mike
I've seen two other YT reviews of this speaker, one of whom says they excel at low volumes and the other saying that they're not good at all unless they're loud. And I understand that reviews are inherently subjective, but I wouldn't have thought they were THAT subjective....
I feel your ESL pain Mike. My 2805’s are with Alan in Banbury and the bill is going to be large!
He's a legend... send him my best and tell him he's a Riff regular!
One day, many years from now there'll be a documentary made about the 'missing Akai R2R' video! 😂
Yes, sorry about that. We had a couple of technical issues with that one, and decided to have it refurbished, so it actually works before we do a Riff on it. Mike
Perfect review as we come to expect from you two,just a great chat with your mate on the sofa! ..could I ask you,I have a exposure x amplifier that has been re capped,is there a better John farlow design in the old exposure amplifiers please?
OMG... don't get me started!
Brilliant question.
The x is an incredible amplifier. a totally underrated classic, however John was (is) a genius and personally I love the dual regulated iv power amp... even by todays standards it sets a brilliant benchmark (I have 3).
The xiv is also a stunning pre amp, especially when paired with the ix power supply.
I hope you are enjoying your x. What do you use it with? Mike
@@Hi-FiRiff I have a naim cdx2.2,and a blue node streamer,with wharfedale diamond 12.2 stand mount speakers with linn k20 speaker cable which seams to suit the exposure x
For some reason, I’ve never heard of the band Japan - I grew up in the seventies and eighties - I really liked Haircut 100
Check out Quiet Life (single), Ghosts and Visions of China. Also stream some live vids as Mick Karn's bass playing is sublime (as is his silly walk). Mike
Fun review. More revealing transparent than the LRS +?
Hello gents. Considering you reviewed these with an amp that can goose-step into Paris, did you try them with something more modest? What would you guess would be the lower range of power or current delivery and still get the grins?
I think a solid 60W should do it, unless you're a big church organ or drum'n'bass fan...
Fantastic bookshelf speakers. Why didn't you buy Quad Revela 2 floorstanding speakers?
Gents, how do the AE500's stack up against the Quads?
Excellent question. I really like them both, but for my personal taste the AE's "rock it up" and that gets me every time! Mike
I'm considering these speakers, but the cost of the stands is eye watering.
Agreed!
Mike
Aren't they sounding a bit thin? Ribbon tweeter generally don't have good low highs, it need to be three way. do they sell the Ribbons on their own how much?
I know what you mean. I wouldn't use the word 'thin', but they're certainly 'delicate'. Not really a disco speaker - unlike my Wharfedale E70s!
@@MrVinylista yes I think that's why they need a at least two inch silk dome mid-range/tweeter, there really only suitable for a really top end high frequencies above 3.5 KHz. what do they claim they cross down to do you know?
@@jedi-mic Proac 2-way Rs and Ks say: Hold my beer...
@@razisn I'm sorry I'm not getting it
Just mention Quad and electrostatics spring up. That should tell you how long I've taken a break from HIFI.
Donna Summer, Macarthur Park.. you need your Wharfedale E30's or E70's for that...and a medallion.
I'm old enough to remember the Richard Harris version....🤣
Don't forget the chest wig and polyester flares!
@@MrVinylista LOL. Then home to warm your feet on the deep pile paisley carpet and stare gormlessly at your new lava lamp. Those were the days eh David.?..
@@steven2809 Me too ...sadly
David - is that an original Racing Bear mug from the early 70s or a modern reproduction?
Sadly it's a reproduction, as you say, of Hesketh Racing's teddy bear logo. An original HR mug would cost more than what Mike has spent fixing his QUADs.
@@MrVinylista There's nothing better than knowing a friend's precise weakness and letting them know you're fully aware of their fallibility. I've feeling we're of a similar age and have similar interests: F!/motor racing , cars, Hi-Fi and would it extend to computers and photography too perhaps? Possessing a strange attraction to interests designed to eat large through amounts of money!
Doubt it. Mike
These new speakers from Quad have an uncanny resemblance to Monitor Audio's Platinum range.
Yes, but they're a bit chubbier. Kind of a like an MA Gold 100 5G that's put on a growth spurt and developed a passion for eating pies!
@@MrVinylista I'll never refuse a good pie, so that can only be a good thing 🙂.
@@playbackvintagehifihunter9669 Fair point!
Is the area between the bottom of the ribbon and top of bass driver called the perineum? That would make them a real pair of See You Next Tuesdays wouldn’t it🤣 I did hear (pun) that QAD threw everything at these tho….. as an apology for the ’63’s. Cheers Big Ears!
You're hilarious.....NOT 😖
Your sad Not Not haha@@steven2809
And your sad not not haha. Anyways Dave was the one fingering the tweeter bud@@steven2809
Dave was the one fingering the tweeter saddo hahaha@@steven2809
Im sure hes torn you dont get it🤣🤣🤣Anyways Dave was the one rubbing the tweeter saddo hahaha@@steven2809
As usual, an enjoyable episode. Can they be placed on bookshelf with only about 15cm to the back?
Good grief....🙄
Good grief about the enjoyable episode or the less than ideal speaker placement?@steven2809
@@davido4872 Aweful speaker placement ... of course! 🙂
15cm from the rear wall is pushing it, I'd say. 25cm or more ideally. They will still work at 15cm, but the bass won't be as tight.
@MrVinylista I gather they don't ship with foam port bungs. Would be nice to see real bookshelf models come back for those of us who live with the speaker Taliban. Remember Allison Model 6?
Give the bald guy a turn with that wig!
No one is interested in chummy beating around the bush. Get on with it !
How did you know that Chummy is David's dog?
au quad making normal speakers... JEEEJ.... not really its chinese crap