Revel F228Be – Floor Standing Speaker – Pair

Revel F228Be – Floor Standing Speaker – Pair

The Revel Performa F228Be is a powerful and elegant 3-way, dual 8-inch floorstanding loudspeaker that sets a new world standard in performance. Using the award-winning Performa3 F208 as the starting point, virtually every component was re-engineered to extract the finest details, the highest level of performance, and the most emotion possible. Featuring an all-new Beryllium tweeter, the F228Be delivers unparalleled detail and accuracy with an expansive and cohesive soundstage.

At the heart of the Revel Performa F228Be’s immaculate sound lies a 1-inch beryllium tweeter driven by massive 85mm dual ceramic magnets. The powerful tweeter is mated to a 5th-generation ceramic-coated, cast-aluminum Acoustic Lens waveguide engineered to seamlessly integrate with the directivity of the companion midrange driver. The 5.25-inch midrange driver has been updated with a larger Deep Ceramic Composite (DCC) diaphragm, bigger voice coil and ceramic motor structure. The result is greater efficiency, less compression, improved dynamic range, reduced distortion, and increased power handling. PerformaBe crossover networks utilize all film capacitors and air core inductors in the midrange and tweeter circuits. These premium components allow Revel’s world-class engineers to extract nuances and details from music that would otherwise be lost. Combined with traditional Revel high-order crossover slopes and proprietary Acoustic Lens waveguide geometry, transducer integration is seamless.

THE BEAUTY OF BERYLLIUM Beryllium – Element 4 on the Periodic Table – is a rare earth metal that is renowned for its remarkable physical properties that make it the ideal material for a high-frequency transducer. Compared to aluminum and titanium tweeter diaphragms, Beryllium offers 4.5 times the stiffness and three times more damping, and does so at only half of the weight. ELEGANT DESIGN F228Be top panels are painted in stylish metallic black with raised electroform badging. The speakers are available in a choice of four high-gloss finishes for seamless integration into any décor: Black, White, Walnut, and Metallic Silver

A stunning sense of realism from a Revel masterpiece

I had the pleasure of auditioning a pair of Revel F228Be floor-standing speakers prior to their launch. I came away from my listening session impressed by their three-dimensional soundstage and pinpoint imaging. Read on for a detailed look at this finely crafted speaker, along with my firsthand listening impressions.

Exceptional dynamic range

One mark of a great speaker is its ability to faithfully reproduce every detail of a musical recording, no matter now loud or soft. The F228Be excels at this — and then some. It can play whisper-quiet passages with subtlety and nuance. But it can also belt out super-charged beats and high-energy guitar or sax solos with zeal.

The F228Be offers a wide dynamic range that rivals any of the top-shelf loudspeakers I’ve listened to in recent years. 

The magic all starts with the beryllium tweeter

One of the secrets to the F228Be’s great sound is its uniquely designed beryllium tweeter. You may have heard of beryllium back in chemistry class (it proudly carries the atomic number 4 on its virtual nametag).

Beryllium is several times stiffer than aluminum or titanium tweeter diaphragms. And it’s also super-lightweight, so it moves quickly and in a very controlled fashion — two key attributes of a high-quality tweeter. I found that the F228Be created detailed, neutral, and non-fatiguing sound — even at extended high listening levels.

An acoustic lens waveguide for great sound in every seat

One of the best attributes of the F228Be is its off-axis listening. The beryllium tweeter uses an acoustic lens waveguide, which helps it produce remarkably accurate sound, even if you’re sitting off to the side of the “sweet spot.”

When you invite friends over to listen to these beautiful speakers (and trust me, you’ll want to), everyone in the room will enjoy terrific sound.

Impressively hard-hitting bass and accurate midrange

Revel paired its beryllium tweeter with two 8″ Deep Ceramic Composite (DCC) aluminum cone woofers for deep, tightly controlled bass. A dedicated 5-1/4″ DCC midrange driver bridges this speaker’s lows and highs with smooth, well-blended sound.

My listening impressions

The pair of F228Bes I auditioned were driven by a Peachtree nova300. At 300 watts per channel this is a high-current amp, and it paired beautifully with the F228Bes. I was treated to an extensive playlist of high-quality tracks that spanned multiple genres, which let these elegant speakers show off their versatile capabilities.

During “Audio Note,” the O-Zone Percussion Group’s array of drums showed off the F228Be’s wide frequency range. The bass drums thundered with power and punch, while the distinctly pleasing tones of the xylophone rang out with sparkling clarity.

While listening to Eric Clapton’s live rendition of “Layla,” I intentionally stood way off to the left side of the left speaker. The soundstage held up astonishingly well. I could close my eyes and feel like I was in the audience during the recording of Clapton’s famed 1991 Unplugged performance.

A friendly heads-up — this speaker is huge

At nearly 4 feet tall, and weighing in at 82 pounds, the F228Be is truly a “tower speaker.” Just something to keep in mind as you’re planning out the logistics of your new system. You’ll probably want a buddy to come over to help you move and unbox this massive floor-stander.

Tested by instrument and by ear

Revel’s world-class speaker design and testing facility features an anechoic chamber and the latest high-tech measurement gear. But some of their most critical test instruments are the ears of their trained listening panel. When working on a new design, Revel’s engineers set up a series of controlled auditions comparing their design to several competing speakers.

Speakers under comparison sit on a rotating platform, and each model is moved into the identical position by a computer-controlled belt drive system. An acoustically transparent screen hides the speakers from the listeners to avoid visual bias. These double-blind listening tests provide an essential reality check, and help the engineers correlate measurements with what listeners actually hear and prefer.