High-end heritage you can really hear

On Benjamin Britten's "Requiem aeternam" [War Requiem, Teldec Classics/Warner Music] the Concerta F12s showed their ability to accurately replicate the sweeping orchestral dynamics of Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic as well as sensitivity to the small-scale dynamics of individual instruments. I turned up the volume on the F12s, left my listening room, moving into the adjacent area of my living room, and had a déjà vu experience of standing in the back of the Luther Burbank Hall in California where I last heard this piece live. The Concertas proved to be champs at soundstaging, placing the contrabasses to the right and rear of the orcherstra and the upper strings forward and to the left.

It's clear that the Concerta F12s have the sensitivity throughout their range to deliver for the Classical music lover. But they show their moxie with jazz as well. Chet Baker's last live recording before his untimely death, [Chet Baker: The Last Great Concert, My Favorite Songs Vol. I and II, Enja Records] contrasts the honey smoothness of his signature horn technique with the gravely, sand-paper quality of his drug-ravaged voice in his melancholic, heart-rending rendition of "My Funny Valentine." Here the Concertas reproduced the contrast faithfully, showing that authenticity can at times be painful

Conclusion

Revel has struck a winning chord in the $1298 price range with the Concertas. I recently did some roundrobin listening to speakers in or near the Concerta's price range, including Magnepan MG12s, Triangle Heliades, Dynaudio Audience 62s, and PSB T55s. Each of these speakers has its own strengths, but for my tastes, the Concertas still won out. They had deeper and more powerful bass response than the Magnepans, better attack-articulation than the Dynaudios, more neutral frequency response than the PSBs, and overall performance about equal with the Triangles. While I didn't have the opportunity to try "blind" comparison tests between the Concertas and any of these speakers, my sense is that the F12s more than hold their ground against stiff competition in this price class.

So if you are brave enough to skip at least one of your regularly scheduled trips to the mechanic for that wallet- invasive tune-up, you can enjoy the delight of these Concerta F12s, and your car will doubtless forgive you for it. At an attractive and astonishingly accessible price, Revel has added a musical marvel to its lineup that you won't want to overlook.