Come on friends, help (Mephisto Talking Chess Academy)

[Reinfeld]

I picked this one up about nine months back after getting sucked into a debate about Morsch-Barnes collaborations. I walked out with this question:

Is the Mephisto Schachakademie the strongest dedicated machine with a voice component?

Separate question:

One obvious feature surprised me: the voice speaks in German, which makes perfect sense on one level - the seller was based in Germany. Still, I figured I'd get the English version by picking the English model (Talking Chess as opposed to Schachakademie). The manual is in English first, German second. "I talk!" the packaging boasts - not "Ich rede!"

I see no option to change the language. I thought I'd avoided that. I wonder if model numbers play a role here. The box model number is marked as CT06X, as opposed to CT06U or CT06V. Would that be the secret?

Extra trivia:

...this would be my guessed-at final four of talking machines, in order of seeding:

1. Talking Chess Academy/Schachakademie
2. Kishon Chesster*
3. Excalibur Igor
4. Chesster Challenger*

The Chessters are problematic. I wasn't aware until recently that there are two versions of Kishon (one Fidelity, one Mephisto). Perhaps that would explain certain discrepancies. I have the sense that Kishon is *stronger* than the original Chesster - it is certainly newer - but sources seem to differ.