Revel is a high end American brand. They advertise themselves as being the "worlds finest loudspeakers" and, whatever you make of them, they are not being ironic. This makes these large and relatively budget loudspeakers slightly difficult to figure out. The entry level Concerta series are built in Revel's own factory in South America (to a very good standard) and come in one of the more plausible vinyl versions of cherry veneer. There is black ash too.

Truth is, the sub £1000 F12 floor standers might be considered 'compact' in the USA, but they are quite chunky by our standards. On the other hand, these are well engineered products that actually sound pretty good in hi-fi terms. As A/V speakers, they do an excellent job of showing where most sat-sub combos have their limitations. Across the range, the prices are extremely competitive and the abilities high. Even in our fairly bijou cinema room, with the F12s placed far too near corners, they manage to sound clean, open and uncongested. The bass is meaty and extended enough to allow you to pass on the sub-woofer, although this could be a mistake, since it is one of the best subs available at its price (£700).

The B12 sub-woofer comes with parametric room correction (including the set-up CD) and offers 650 watts of power. A better guide to the quality is the weight and at 29 kilos you can tell that it means business. Pull it apart and you'll find that the bulk of this mass is in the remarkable 10" bass driver's magnet assembly..

The C12 is another star in the range and this centre more than justifies the £400 asking price.

For the rear / side effects, there is a choice of S12 tripole or the M12 stand-mount monitor. Both will integrate seamlessly with the others from the range. Of course, if the F12 are simply too intimidating, you can use M12s for the front channels too.

Have a peek at the various package prices in our on-line shop.

STOP PRESS : a new upgrade to the B12 sub will soon add wireless operation, removing the need for a coaxial cable to the sub (other than the mains one). This has led to a very special deal on the non-wireless one of just £499.

Reviews?

Stereophile

Audio Revolution

Ultimate AV

AV Guide

Secrets of Home Theatre

Arcam, ATC, Creek, Chord Company, Eichmann, Dynavector, Epos, Focal / JM Labs, Grado headphones, Harbeth,

Isoblue (and special branch), Kudos Audio, Lyngdorf, Lyra, Michell Engineering, Naim Audio, Neat Acoustics, Nordost, Origin Live, Ortofon, Nottingham Analogue, Partington, Primare, Roksan, Sim2, Graham Slee, Shahinian, Something Solid, Stands Unique, Stax Earspeakers, Sumiko, Trichord, Wireworld, Wyrewizard