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.
