Revo SuperConnect Stereo Review
A radio that's also an all-in-one audio system
Verdict
You could call the SuperConnect Stereo a radio, but it is more than that with its features, connectivity options and music streaming abilities, delivering a consistent sound across its sources that’s big, detailed and spacious. It is expensive, however, and its bass output is not the most balanced.
Pros
- Big, detailed, and spacious sound
- Consistent performance across its sources
- Plenty of connectivity options
- Looks great
Cons
- Expensive for a ‘radio’
- Uneven bass output
Key Features
- StreamingSupports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
- TunerDAB, DAB+ and FM tuners along with Internet radio and podcasts
- SpeakersBalanced Mode Radiator drivers powered by 30W of amplification
Introduction
As is increasingly becoming the case with each passing year, radios aren’t just radios in the conventional sense, they’re a breed of versatile music systems that can also pump out tunes from your favourite radio disc jockey.
The Revo SuperConnect Stereo is one such device, boasting support for DAB, FM, Internet radio, podcasts, and music streaming over a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection. With the SuperConnect Stereo it’s near enough an all-in-one system that sits at the heart of your daily listening activities.
It also replaces the well-regarded SuperConnect that launched several years ago, bringing stereo sound to its repertoire. This is undoubtedly an expensive radio, and has German brand Revo done enough not just to produce a ‘modern’ radio but one that also offers enough value?
Design
- Great wood finish
- Big footprint
- Plenty of connectivity options
Revo, like British audio brand Ruark, has always made systems that stood out from the pack, and the SuperConnect Stereo is another that I think would sit proudly in someone’s home from an aesthetic viewpoint. It’s a lovely looking radio and it really puts the ‘super’ into SuperConnect.
The Revo has a big footprint with dimensions of 370 x 190 x 150mm (WHD) – so this isn’t so much a radio as a stereo hi-fi system with a radio tuner. It’s a handsome looking unit with an outer wood cabinet selected for its acoustic properties (wood tends to add warmth to audio). Rapping my knuckle on the cabinet gives off a solid feeling, and the wood used has received FSC certification.
The wood finish comes in furniture grade American walnut, and further combinations can be had with the choice of the silver or black anodised fascia. It’s worth noting that the walnut/black version used for this review did attract a few scratches and smudges over the course of testing. Tip the radio over and you’ll spy a downward firing bass port on its underside.
The fascia has an almost symmetrical appearance with the highly visible (and readable from a distance) OLED screen in the middle, speaker drivers to either side and a row of buttons across the bottom. Presets are placed in the middle with playback buttons to the right (as you’re facing the unit), with menu and alarm buttons off to the left. Volume can be adjusted with the slider on the side, or you could make use of the slim and well laid out remote. You’ll want to point the remote directly at the radio, as using it in my living room caused it operated my soundbar too.
There’s also a headphone output on the front, backed up with a digital optical output on the rear, an aux input and an RCA cinch port, so there are quite a few options in terms of hooking a device to the Revo or connecting it to another source.
Features
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support
- Undok app for music streaming
- Two alarms
The Revo SuperConnect Stereo supports DAB, DAB+, FM and Internet radio, offering plenty of options to listen to your favourite local stations or to journey across the world for a new one from the 36,000 available. Wi-Fi support also brings podcasts into the equation as well as music streaming services such as Spotify Connect, Deezer and Amazon Music.
The latter two services, like the BoomBocs Studio reviewed earlier in 2023, are accessible through the Undok app. Within the app, you can select and access all the various modes, assign stations and tracks to presets, and adjust settings with the various EQ options (News, Rock, Pop, Custom, etc.,) as well as the audio quality (low, normal, high).
It’s an app that’s easy to traverse, and like BoomBocs, it’s the method of control I use the most given how easy it is to search via the app (though annoyingly the app never remembers any search previously conducted). I do find that there are a few too many spinning circles during navigation, which suggests it could be more responsive.
Another trait the Revo shares with the BoomBocs is the rather confusing set-up regarding presets. On the radio itself there are six presets for each mode, on the remote are seven presets and in the Undok app there’s a maximum of ten presets. If you programmed 10 stations in the app, you’d only be able to access six or seven on the radio or remote respectively. It’s not the most thought-out approach.
You get two alarms, which seems to be par for the course with radios these days. You can set them daily, once, on weekdays or for the weekend. The alarms can be programmed to alert the user with a buzzer sound, Internet Radio, DAB+, or FM.
There’s also Bluetooth 4.2 support, though there are more steps than necessary to pair it with a smartphone. When selected it ought to go into pairing mode, but you need to dive into the settings first to start the pairing process.
Sound Quality
- Spacious and detailed performance
- Energetic, if not particularly dynamic
- Uneven bass output
- Smooth vocal perfomance
Armed with Balanced Mode Radiator (BMR) drivers and 30W of power from Class-D amplifiers, the SuperConnect Stereo is more than capable of delivering a big, spacious, and detailed performance across its streaming and radio modes – DAB+ stations sound crystal clear without any background noise.
There’s a smoothness to the Revo’s midrange performance that avoids any traces of sibilance when listening to radio on the Rock or News EQ profile, and a stream of Janelle Monae’s The Electric Lady confirms that by bringing out her voice with clarity and confidence.
With Harry Connick Jr’s cover of Cry Me A River (in stereo), the Revo sounds fantastic, offering high levels of clarity and a weighty sound while describing Connick Jr’s voice and instruments with plenty of detail.
The Revo’s sense of dynamism is merely decent, streaming Linkin Park’s Meteora album without a noticeable shift between quiet and loud. Even with Michael Giacchino’s Can’t Fight City Halloween from The Batman, the rising notes of the distinctive four-note-motif as the song builds isn’t portrayed with the rousing power the track demands.
However, the Revo can communicate the thrust and energy of tracks, providing plenty of punch and impact to the drum hits in Audioslave’s Spoonman and The Day I Tried to Live, making for a rocking good time with this radio.
With high frequencies the SuperConnect Stereo isn’t overly bright, in fact I’d describe it as slightly dulled as it could benefit from more shine and sharpness, but it’s detailed and clear enough to render the varying piano notes in GoGo Penguin’s Raven.
Bass is the most qualified aspect of the Revo’s performance. Yes, there’s heft and power to the lower frequencies, but the balance seems off, especially in its radio mode. With Sparks’ This Town Ain’t Big Enough For the Both of Us or Betty Davis’ They Say I’m Different, the bass hogs the limelight and doesn’t sound well-formed, leading the midrange and treble sounding slightly recessed as a result.
It shows more confidence with its bass handling when dealing with music over streaming for a performance that carries more heft and is presented with more control. I wouldn’t play around with the bass settings in the EQ though, as pushing the those settings creates an even bigger imbalance, fawning over the low frequencies while the rest of the frequency range is left in the background.
Moving onto its Bluetooth performance and what marks the Revo out from other radios I’ve reviewed recently is how consistent it sounds across its sources. Bluetooth streaming doesn’t require a boost in volume to make it audible, with vocals described with clarity, detail, and that customary smoothness. Again, there’s solid energy and momentum to a track like The Preatures’ Is This Is How You Feel?, even if the more dynamic parts of the song aren’t the most potent.
Plugging in a pair of Sivga Robin cans into the headphone port and the Revo describes tracks with clarity, detail and space. To repeat myself again, the difference between quiet and loud is not the most pronounced, but the bass is firm and weighty in its delivery.
Of course, one of the key selling points about this device is that it outputs in stereo. With stereo tracks it outputs an open, broad and uncluttered soundstage, and moving across the room there’s no obvious shift in how the SuperConnect Stereo sounds at various angles.
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Should you buy it?
If you want a radio/stereo system: The stereo support, connectivity options and music streaming functionality put this radio within the realm of an all-in-one music system, so it’ll have appeal to those who listen to lots of radio but also get music from other sources.
The expense is mighty: For a radio, this is an expensive amount to pay. For a music system, it is less so, but with speakers such as the Era 300 and Pulse M available for less, the Revo arguably doesn’t offer as much bang for its buck.
Final Thoughts
Given its size, range of features and integration with music streaming services, the Revo SuperConnect Stereo is less a radio and more an all-in-one sound system.
It produces a very good and consistent sound across its sources, offers a good range of physical inputs and outputs, and an appearance and build quality that’s of high quality.
Bass is an aspect that can be uneven, especially when listening to radio stations. It’s also a big unit and requires space, and of course there is the high price tag of £489.99. That treads on the toes of wireless speakers such as the Sonos Era 300 (£450) and Bluesound Pulse M (£449), and while those aren’t radios, they offer a more hi-fi sound and wider range of features than the Revo.
How we test
We test every radio we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
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Tested for a month
Tested with real world use
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FAQs
The SuperConnect Stereo is compatible with the Undok app (Android, iOS), and that allows for changing the radio and audio settings, as well as selecting various radio and Internet modes, and streaming from Deezer and Amazon Music.
Full specs
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
