REVO SuperSignal

Unlike many of the reviewers here, I was specifically looking for a radio with Bluetooth and a decent remote control, along with great sound and a small footprint. My bedroom radio lives in the far corner of the (fairly small) room rather than on the bedside table, as I can’t bear sound blasting into one ear. A recent knee injury elevated a remote control from ‘nice idea’ to ‘really useful’ so I started looking for a candidate. There don’t seem to be many radios out there with a physical IR remote (who wants to be faffing around with a phone app in the middle of the night?) The Pure Evoke series look lovely, but their remote controls seem like a waste of time as you’d have to get out of bed to switch the device back to radio after using Bluetooth. They also appear to lack any tone control, which I find essential as I nearly always have to boost the treble and lower the bass for speech as speakers become ever more bass-heavy. The Roberts Blutune was a contender but I’d read some mixed reviews of its sound quality and it’s a bit big for the limited space in my room. Having decided to sacrifice stereo speakers and go for the Revo Supersignal, I was still a bit dubious about the radio’s appearance, but once I got it out of the box it was love at first sight. The quirky retro-industrial look might be a bit obtrusive in a bigger device but in such a small unit it just gives a quality, stylish look. Were it in a more public part of the house I’m sure it would be a great talking point. This is a supremely functional device. It picks up rock solid signals on DAB and FM, its menu system is totally intuitive and the huge, clear display makes it easy to operate from across the room. Yes, the minimum display is very bright at night time but you can now get an update from Revo to switch it off completely on standby. [And the software updater will run on a 64 bit machine with Win8.1 32 bit – just search for a guide on switching off the requirement for digital signing of drivers.] Bluetooth pairing is simple and reliable from my phone and my Cowon X7. Above all, I absolutely love the remote control. It’s big and solid like a chunky chocolate bar and just as reassuring. Buttons are widely spaced and in two colours – it’s a cinch to find and operate even in the dark – and it controls absolutely every feature of the radio. The most important aspect of an audio device has to be the sound, of course. I got off to a bad start here, as my radio seemed to have a very harsh, almost scratchy quality in the treble. Thanks to the quick response from other Amazon reviewers it was apparent that I’d got a duff unit. Amazon excelled themselves and couriered a replacement to me in 24 hours and I can now report that the Supersignal sounds amazing. It took a couple of days to get used to the clarity and brightness of the treble but the more I listen, the more I love it. Talk radio, podcasts and audiobooks are crystal clear and I’ve yet to find a musical style that doesn’t sound good, even over Bluetooth, although the quality of the recording/stream will show up. Streaming jazz and baroque from Qobuz or audiophile internet radio at 320kps is a real pleasure and flac files from the Cowon sound just great, whether I’m hankering for a thumping funk bass or some ethereal choral music. The icing on the cake is the friendly and helpful Revo service team, who got back to me very quickly regarding the software update. They’re a Scottish company making a quality, distinctive product and they listen and respond to their customers. What’s not to like? Well worth the money and highly recommended. Update 15th November 2015: Still loving the Supersignal - finding it hard to get out of bed at weekends because I'm enjoying listening to it so much! Last week I added a £30 Chromecast Audio to the auxiliary 3.5mm input socket and now have high quality streaming from all sorts of Internet sources in the package as well, without having to use the phone's bluetooth. A winning combination.

Packaging: Premium, sturdy and well thought out Accessories: Came with power lead and various interchangeable plugs including UK 3 pin. Remote was the standard slimline offering you get these days, however it feels better made and very responsive in comparison to the remote for my Edifier speakers, for example. Remote has everything you need to control the Super Signal without having to use the controls on the unit itself. Build quality: for the offer price at the £160 mark all I can say is "wow!". It is weighty and the wood finish is first class in looks and touch. The grille feels thin but solid and the dial, joystick & buttons are all plastic but well constructed and have the correct quality feel when you push them / turn the volume dial. The buttons do not give you that cheap hollow feeling when used. Everything here is well engineered. The display is crisp and scrolls out plenty of information when using DAB. Cannot comment on how easy it is to scratch the screen like some reviews. This screen is immaculate and I intend to cut a tablet screen protector to size and place it over the display just in case. I inspected the unit on arrival and I could not find a single blemish or inconsistency. Sound: I have owned a variety of quality audio devices and taking into full account of the unit size; mono speaker and intended use of the Super Signal - Audio is fantastic. This is not a Hi-Fi system, it's not 7.1 surround sound, it's not intended to be the main player for a banging house party. I expect those looking at this unit want great sound in the Kitchen, Bedroom or Living room without shattering windows? This unit produces great sound range between lows, mids & highs and the soundstage & separation for a single mono speaker in a £160 unit is remarkable. The sound is rich and the base & treble can be adjusted with great results. The volume can fill any decent sized room in your home - it is loud but the volume feels conservative and sound quality does not break sweat at max. I would say volume would be great day-to-day and when having a few guests over for a party it will fill the room no problem. Features: My phone picked up the Super Signal via bluetooth instantly and connected within 5 seconds, it really was that quick and easy. Range is good with no drop outs so far. Audio quality over bluetooth is also excellent with no background hissing or muffled audio. Bluetooth seems to be receivable only so you could not pair bluetooth headphones to the device, for example. I purchased a small Aukey BT transmitter and plugged it into the headphone jack to solve this (works superbly). Not tried the AUX or phono jacks at the rear of the unit as of yet. DAB instantly searched for stations when first connected and stored everything it picked up. A massive selection of stations were detected and I still need to find time to go through them all. The antenna is old school and is massive at full extent. I like this quirk but others may prefer an internal antenna. Verdict: It is a beautiful unit for those who like the 70's styling. I feel it is so much more aesthetically pleasing than the Bose & Sonos offerings at the same price. This is not just the same old generic bluetooth speaker design, it holds character, stands out and demands to be spoken about. This ticks every single box for me and at the price it's a bargain. This one is a keeper for the long haul.

The Revo super signal is a superbly thought out radio alarm, with exemplary audio performance, beautiful craftsmanship and a strikingly retro design. In this price category it has few peers, and comprehensively outperforms the Pure equivalents. Set-up was fairly straightforward, with the time and date being set off the DAB signal. Once set up the menu system allows easy access to all of the important settings, including equaliser settings (which were adequate but I would have liked to see more customisation). Listening to the radio in both DAB and FM modes was a real pleasure, with detailed sound and a strong bass showing for such a small cabinet. Classical and acoustic performances really shined, and rock music was also handled well, although sounding a little more muddy due to its single driver design. The alarm setup is its only real stumbling point, despite having excellent customisation for radio selection and daily repeating alarms, setting of one time alarms was harder than it should be. To set an alarm for the following day only required not only a time, but a date which lead to some errors from this bleary eyed human who's bedtime had long since passed. Hopefully Revo will provide an update for a one time alarm that doesn't require a date, or defaults to the following day. All in all, revo have shown a great understanding of its customers needs and produced a product punching well above its weight, only falling short because of its slightly frustrating alarm set up.

A pleasing 'throaty' sound. However, after receiving it in early April and using it sparingly as a second radio, probably no more that fifteen hours, the display has died

Well, for £150 what else do you expect :)?! Seriously though, this replaced a clock radio that I had used for about 30 years and I decided to splash out for a DAB unit to see what the fuss was about. Not been impressed with the early DAB radios both on price and the quality of the sound. This unit however changed my expectations as it can receive both DAB and FM radio, offering the best of both worlds. Sound quality is excellent from such a small box, voices sound normal and not 'thin'. Music sounds natural if a touch too much bass, but this can be adjusted to taste. The volume is easily adjusted by a large dial on top. The clock radio aspect is good as you would expect, alarms can be set daily, weekday or weekends and there is two of them so you can have different times at the weekend if preferred. The sleep function works well and you have the ability to wake up to a different station than the one you went to sleep with.It also wakes you up gently without annoyance. If I have any criticisms it would be that the clock controls for alarms and sleep functions etc could have been made more accessible i.e. on top of the unit instead of along the front and in menu's. But this (for me) is a minor matter. The other issue is the display; it's bright and although it can be dimmed I still found it too bright at night, I have no idea how these manufacturers test these devices but surely it's not in a darkened room! The solution I found was just a small cloth over the display :)! For the price it sounds great, the controls once learned are pretty easy, it's compatible with DAB/DAB+ (European standard) and FM. It seems to be an all round well made product that should, hopefully, last for years. Oh, it also has a remote control which I didn't need but will suit some people. If money is no object then it's well worth considering.

We have several DAB radios, but wanted another for our dining room. Our requirements were: very good sound quality; quality build & look; straight forward to operate, including pre-set buttons; DAB+ & FM; Bluetooth streaming; modest size. We didn’t need internet radio or portability, and price (within limits!) was not a factor. The SuperSignal met these requirements, and as we are delighted with a Revo Supersystem elsewhere in the house, we were confident of the brand’s quality and aesthetics. We bought this as a Revo refurbished unit, via Amazon. I have bought a couple of iMacs and Sony TVs as refurbished units from the manufacturer - and am almost more confident with these than straight production line units. The radio Is quite heavy, and has the feel of quality. It looks very good, and set up was a doddle. The five preset buttons were allocated quickly for DAB and FM, and it paired fine with my iPad. The joy stick worked well for finding and locking in on new stations. It found more stations than some of my other DAB radios - so has good sensitivity. The remote is OK, better than some of the tiddly credit sized ones, but not as chunky as the excellent remote of the Supersystem. The sound is rich and pleasing for spoken word on Radio 4, or for Radio 6 Music. The volume is excellent for its size. Very adequate for our dining room, less so if required for a large lounge. To my relief, my wife was happy with all the controls, and delighted with the sound quality. So really pleased with the purchase, and reinforced our confidence with Revo products.

Nice enough system although like others say a little too bass heavy as factory set standard. Thankfully bass can be adjusted from a scale of +5 to -5 in the equalizer settings. I prefer it set all the way down at -5. Unfortunately I have noticed if I don't use the system for some time and just have it sat in stand-by mode with the time displaying, then when I do eventually decide to listen to it the bass always reverts back to its factory set of too heavy bass. You have to trawl through the settings every time to the bass setting (which by the way will still say it is set at -5 even though it is not) and hit select again for the bass to re-adjust to the -5. A minor gripe but a highly annoying one hence only one star. Don't know if I was just unlucky and got a duff unit but not massively impressed.

Having had this unit for 5 years, it is now kaput. Silent. Useless. If it was cheap, I'd be thinking "Meh, I'll just buy another one" but at 180 GBP I would expect it to last for 20 years or more. I have a Sony radio in my shed that has been bombarded with damp, vibration, saw dust and other airborne particulates for a couple of decades now and it still works just fine. Having read on the internet of similar failures with these units I know I'm not alone. Today it has lost 3 stars. Read on for how it performs for the first 5 years... Having had this for about a week, I have yet to fault it. This unit looks, feels and sounds great. 180 quid might seem like a lot of money but I think you get what you pay for. A nice frequency response from a surprisingly punchy bass to crisp highs. I had read that the Revo lacked some high end sparkle but I don't share the view; I very much like the way it sounds. The display is another plus, enough characters to actually show you which station you're listening to unlike some others that display "BBC Radio"..... wait for it..... Wait for the scroll.... "2". A nice bluey white dot matrix display shows the time in larger numbers. A pleasant to look at clock in the dark. When I turned it on it found all the stations quickly and set the time. This unit has now replaced the cheesy clock radio alarm we had before. Press and hold a preset to store, click to play. Five preset buttons are on the front - 6 would be nice because I listen to 6 Music so six lives on 5! The chunky volume control on top has a soft notch fee. Nice. All the buttons feel good, more of a clunk that a click. I have yet to look in the manual and have worked out in no time how to use it, just do what makes sense and it works. Good signal reception too, every other radio tried in the same room has produced nothing but hiss, the Revo has yet to skip a beat. Flawless Bluetooth too, played a couple of albums from my android without a glitch. If I had to nit-pick I'd say the icons on the remote are a bit difficult to see without glasses, though it would be fair to point the finger of blame at my eyes. Having spilled a glass of water next to it, I now see why it sits on those rubber feet. Everything about it is a winner, glad I chose this one. Update - I've heard some reviews regarding poor sound quality. I found when using a CD player through the aux in port that the input was clipping making the unit sound distorted even a lower output volumes. To all of you with this problem, use a line with a volume control to attenuate the CD players (or other devices) line out level. You can get these cables with various PC speakers and the volume control is often redundant as there is also a volume control on the speakers. It may even be cheaper to by some cheap speakers for the cable and throw the speakers away.

Calidad...

Ottima radio, qualità audio molto buona, molto comodo il telecomando. La qualità si vede, si tocca e si sente, tutto questo si ripercuote purtroppo sul prezzo. Mancano le istruzioni in italiano, per me non è stato un problema, è una radio i comandi sono semplici e intuitivi, niente di complicato. Comunque, per chi ha difficoltà, su internet si trova facilmente il pdf anche per la lingua italiana. Consigliato.

Ideal para habitación. Sonido y calidad de construcción excepcional.

Ich besaß bereits das größere Model Superconnect (inkl. WLAN) und wußte daher was ich in etwa bekommen würde. Der Klang kann nicht ganz mit dem teureren und größeren Gerät konkurieren, ist aber immer noch gut. Wer einen ausgewogenen Klang ohne großen Bassdruck möchte wird zufrieden sein. Die Tivoli-Geräte bieten für meinen Geschmack einen etwas knackigeren Bass aber das ist sicherlich geschmackssache. Über den Equalizer kann man den Klang etwas an den eigenen Geschmack anpassen. Die Einrichtung und Bedienung ist wirklich sehr einfach, das größere WLAN-Gerät kann die updates automatisch runterladen und installieren, bei diesem Model kann man es über den USB-Anschluss aktualisieren. Die Fernbedienung ist sehr praktisch. Die Verarbeitung und das Design sind erstklassig, die billigeren Alternativen wirken dagegen auch entsprechend billig. Der Preis ist zugegebenerweise recht hoch aber wer hohe Ansprüche an Verarbeitung, Design, Bedienung und Klang hat wird sehr wahrscheinlich mit den deutlich günstigeren Konkurrenz-Modellen nicht wirklich Glücklich. Als Alternativen kann ich Modelle von Ruark Audio und Tivoli empfehlen.

No me a convencido lo e de vuelto