I should've listened to you guys from the beginning.
I needed a better amp to make these puppies sing. Here's what I posted in the Mac forum about the MC452 and it's effect on the Revels:
After roughly a few hours of listening to some rock and Jazz, starting to formulate opinion. Overall, wow, it sounds great!!!
Here's the good and bad (well, not bad, just different).
It is so musical and smooth, I can listen forever. Makes my older redbook CDs come alive, and actually makes them listenable again! 
It completely erased my initial issues with the Salon2's, adding missing bass, midbass, fullness, musicality, etc. Great depth and air. Really hear recording space. Voices are incredible, and can distinguish different singers like never before, but reverse is true for instruments. Seems a little more uniform but congealed, not as easy to pick out individual instruments. Also, missing a little of the metallic shimmer and twang that was more spotlit before. The highs/treble (cymbals, guitar strings, etc) are a little subdued compared to what I'm used too, so we'll see how I feel long term.
Not yet sure if its my end-it-all amp, but have a lot more listening to do.
One thing this amp did was show me how much difference each component makes in the chain. I had a reasonably good mid-fi system: B&W N803s, various B&W surround spkrs, Velodyne Opt-10 sub, Sunfire multi-ch amp, Sunfire TGP5 prepro, Denon 3930 universal player (newly replaced by OPPO BDP95). Got the upgrade itch and, believing speakers were the most important component, jumped on a pair of Revel Salon 2's. Much to my dismay, the Revels had not much bass or midbass in my room, and made lesser/older recordings sound bad. Not fun. The guys here all suggested (in addition to room treatment) a more powerful amp. Couldnt believe 200/400 wpc into 8/4 ohms wasnt enough, especially since several reviews I read online had people gushing over the Revels with lower powered amps (ie, Cary 7.125 multi-ch amp).
What a fool I was to question my fellow AA'ers. Guess it's quality and quantity, but the MC452 ended all speculation about the room (although surely it can be improved acoustically), and ended any issues I may have had with the Revel in the bass and midbass dept, the deconstructing of music I heard previously, and the rendering of lesser recordings unlistenable. EVERYTHING is listenable now!!! What a revelation 
.
So I have to take my initial "downside" impressions of the MC452 with a grain of salt and wonder if the next leg of the journey (better prepro and/or preamp) will add back some of that missing high end definition and sparkle.
Now it's getting both interesting and rewarding. Whew! What a journey.
Sorry for repeating this post here, but wanted to share this happy ending (figuratively speaking of course, lol) with those of you who tried to help this stubborn fool get it right.
Thanks
