Revolver Audiovue 2S System review

Revolver's AudioVue 2S 5.1-channel speaker system's wood-veneered enclosures make a good first impression. The tall main speakers house a side-firing 130mm woven glass fibre bass driver, a pair of 75mm paper cone mid/bass drivers and a single 26mm metal dome tweeter. Frequency response is quoted at 40Hz-28kHz.

In order to assist integration between the units, the centre and rear speakers carry identical mid/bass and tweeter units, only eschewing the larger bass driver. Frequency response is therefore 70Hz-28kHz.

Animal magnetism

All of these speakers are magnetically shielded, so positioning them close to your TV will not cause problems. The rear boxes can be wall mounted if you go for the optional brackets, or can happily sit on a shelf.

The subwoofer is a sealed enclosure, packing 300W of onboard amplification for the 254mm pulp cone. The bottom end of 30Hz should give you some real rumble, while the crossover is adjustable and peaks at 200Hz.

Revolver also sells all of the models in this range individually, offering several packages for convenience and savings, so you could easily add a couple of extra AVR surround speakers to upgrade to a 7.1-channel system, or pay extra to enjoy a setup featuring four floorstanding AVFs.

As this system stands you are getting a promising level of performance in a system that is very space conscious. The speakers sit against walls without compromising on performance, which means that this package can fit into modestly sized rooms.

The subwoofer is also in a conservative mood, tucking up against a wall with just a 210mm width, giving it an unusually small footprint for such a powerful model.

This system might not take up much room, but that doesn't mean you won't notice it. The design is refined enough to attract attention when dormant, and once fired up the performance will demand it.

Smooth operator

There is a very pleasing level of coherence across the soundstage, with the individual elements meshing well to create a smooth impression.

The handling of aggressively steered sound effects is effective. Excellent treble response ensures that directional cues are bold and forthright, but this does mean that there is a fairly defined sweet spot at the centre of the listening area.

Adding to the impression is a quality effort from the subwoofer, managing to add the low-end grunt you need but not detaching itself from other elements of the system. It is not strident, nor is it overtly bold, but it combines with the other elements of the system in a convincing manner, rather than rumbling away in its own corner.

The overall sound is not as refined as you will find on some systems, but it remains at a level higher than you might expect from such enclosures.