NHT, B&W or Revel?

May 13, 2008

To Doug Schneider,

I was just reading “The Traveler” from January 2006. I am in the market for a minimonitor in the $1000 price range. One of my choices (that I've heard) is the B&W CM1 (not sure if my 50W NAD C720BEE receiver will drive a pair, as they are rated at 84dB sensitive), so I have to hear the B&Ws with my amp. I've also heard the Revel Concerta M12, which I liked.

Most of the music that I listen to is acoustic, whether it be classical or folk. I don't listen loud, as I am currently using a pair of Mirage M-290s rated at 86dB sensitivity and rarely get the volume up past the 10:00 mark. I'm also interested in the NHT Classic Threes, but I have not heard them and no one around me carries them.

I was just wondering what your thoughts were when comparing the NHT Classic Three, the B&W CM1, and the Revel Concerta M12. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Mark Broome

All of these speakers have been reviewed and measured by the SoundStage! Network. Therefore, the reviews should give you a good idea of what the speakers sound like, and the measurements can give you some objective data on the sound (providing you can read the graphs) and, also, they’ll be able to tell you something about how the speakers will mate with your amp (mostly from the sensitivity, impedance and electrical-phase measurements).

Of those three speakers, however, I’ve only reviewed one of them -- the Revel Concerta M12. I thought it was outstanding, and it’s one of the speakers I’d consider buying. But, if you read the reviews, you’ll see the reviewers quite liked the others as well. Therefore, try to listen to each yourself.

One more thing I will say, though, is that you say that you have a 50W amp and that you don’t listen at loud levels. From my experience, then, your amp should have sufficient power for any of those speakers….Doug Schneider

"First Episode at Hienton"

May 8, 2008

To David J. Cantor,

Thanks for a great article. More writing like this which explores the value and meaning of everyday life should be done.

Nils Diaz

2001 Audio Aero review

May 5, 2008

To Doug Schneider,

I read and enjoyed your March 2001 review of the Audio Aero Capitole 24/192 CD player. I am interested in purchasing this player -- seven years following your review. I was wondering if you have had a chance to review a more recent version, as I understand further upgrades and improvements were made. Or if you are familiar with any other recent reviews on the Capitole and could refer me to them. I would greatly appreciate it.

I noticed that Audio Aero came out with a new CD/SACD player, the Prestige, but it's a bit pricier than the Capitole. Any thoughts on it would also be greatly appreciated. My goal, as you can see, is an all-in-one CD player with the ability to invert phase.

Thank you in advance for any help you can give me.

George Katsampes

I'm impressed by the "legs" these reviews have. Seven years ago is a lifetime when it comes to CD players.

As far as the Audio Aero CD players go, from what I understand, our reviews were what put the company on the map. After that, everyone else followed. Ironically, though, we haven't reviewed any of their products in years. In fact, that sort of surprises me. One reason could be that ownership of the company changed hands some time back and some of the people we dealt with there are gone.

That said, the Capitole 24/192 was a fine-sounding player, but there were two things that I learned over the long run that I couldn't glean from a short-term review. One thing was that Audio Aero had a habit of applying consistent upgrades to their players, even if the model names didn't change (i.e., changes were made and the model didn't necessarily become Mk II, Mk III, etc.). As a result, the one I reviewed wasn't necessarily the same as ones other people had, and those weren't the same as other models. Therefore, I have no idea what "generation" the player I had was, and which one you might buy would be. The second thing was that I learned that over the long term the original Capitole had a high failure rate -- I talked to many people long after and found out that plenty in the field had to be fixed. However, on the bright side, I learned that one of the things that did improve over the years was their quality control. Supposedly, later-generation Audio Aero products are a lot more reliable than the earlier-generation stuff. But, as I said, the company hasn't sent anything recently for review, so this is just from information that I've gathered since 2001.

Where does that leave you? Well, I can say that I still really liked what I heard in 2001, but be aware that what you buy may not be exactly the same as what I heard, and also make sure that whatever you buy on the used market is still working....Doug Schneider

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