Custom-designed drivers reduce bad vibrations

Revel designs and builds every driver that goes into their speakers. The F208's 5-1/4" midrange driver and dual 8" woofers use aluminum cones that are anodized on both sides with a micro-ceramic composite compound. This reduces resonances that can color the sound. Revel uses advanced testing like laser interferometry to root out those kinds of sonic imperfections. And the black-anodized cones look cool enough to leave the grille off — especially in the white and walnut cabinet finishes.

The F208's 1" aluminum dome tweeter sits in Revel's concave Acoustic Lens waveguide, which increases the tweeter's dispersion at higher frequencies, and also helps create a more seamless match between the tweeter and the midrange driver just below it. The result is very smooth, consistent sound both on-axis and off-axis, creating a larger sweet spot.

The F208 includes rear-panel controls for tweeter level and boundary compensation. You can fine-tune high-frequency output ±1dB, and adjust bass output depending on whether the speaker is placed near a wall or out in the room.

 Curved cabinet walls cut down on colorations

Looking closer at the F208's cabinet reveals curved side and back walls built from a series of laminated layers. These curved walls are inherently stiffer than conventional box shapes, and are reinforced by extensive internal bracing that eliminate enclosure-induced colorations. The front-firing port and narrow, tapered rear of the cabinet help reduce interaction between the speaker and the walls of your room, making placement easier and less critical. Anchoring the enclosure is a flared plinth stabilized by adjustable spiked feet.

 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.

 Build a complete Revel system

A pair of F208s can fill even a large room with gorgeous stereo sound. If you're interested in a voice-matched surround sound system, check out these other models from Revel's Performa3 series:
Center channel: Performa3 C208
Surround speaker: Performa3 S206
Subwoofer: Performa3 B112

 Who is Revel?

Revel is one of the high-performance audio companies of global electronics giant Harman International. Since 1996, Revel has used cutting-edge design tools and one-of-a-kind testing facilities to develop speakers that measure well and sound amazing. The intensive design work happens at Harman's state-of-the-art speaker R & D facility in Northridge, California.