fm table radio

1. Posted: Jul 8 2008

   The Good Sound quality is very good for a fairly small single speaker radio. There's plenty of base, etc. The quality and workmanship appear to be very good. It has a stereo headphone jack on the front (and the input jack on the back) to allow you to listen to late night radio w/o disturbing the significant other. The radio reception is very good with the internal antenna (I haven't tried the external connection to date). A was able to DX some distant AM stations - (Summer is not the ideal time for DX'ing).The RDS allows you to see the song titles, radio station name, etc. I haven't found a station in my large metro area that broadcasts the RDS time - an atomic clock feature would have been much more useful. The Bad It has a single alarm setting (vs dual alarms). Setting the alarm is initially complicated (not intuitive - you would have a hard time initially w/o the manual). The display is not that easy to see from any distance (LCD vs. LED) day or night. It has three back light level settings. The backlight lights up the room at night, so you end up turning it off. Then if you wake up and try to look at the time, the back light is off, so you can't see it. It has separate backlight settings for radio on and radio off and retains the settings (ie the backlight would come on with the alarm if you had it set that way). The Ugly The illuminated blue LED power light is way too bright - It lights up the room at night and you have to point it away from you to avoid the light in your eyes. I purchased the "Walnut" version - it was more like light pine in color. I bought a stain/finish at HD and refinished the radio to a walnut color (another $7 and two coats of stain-finish).

2. Posted: Jun 25 2008

   This looks like an excellent product, but I've had a terrible time trying to get an factory new one from sangean through amazon. The speaker was dented on the first; the case was dinged up on the second and third, clearly the result of prior use. When paying $140 for a glorified clock radio, I think it's fair to expect mint condition!

3. Posted: Apr 21 2008

   I bought this for my wife, as a kitchen radio. It works and sounds better than I expected. Reception is good without external antenna. I would recommend this radio to anyone who wants a compact stationary radio. I'm planning to hook-up my wife mp3 player to this radio also, but have not gotten around to it yet.

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1. ( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jun 22 2008

   I bought this radio for my kitchen, which is a high traffic, high use area. It has great sound but the features are the real sell. I was frustrated because most everything out there was focused on the iPod which I will never own. Also, most of the CD players will play mp3s but not wma format. My collection of thousands of songs are wma. This radio plays mp3 and wma formats from 3 different sources (USB drive, SD card or CD). It also has an aux jack so I can plug my (non-iPod) player in. Now, my kids and I can each have our own music on whatever media we like and just plug it in. On top of all this, it has RDS (Radio Data System) that tells you the names of songs and groups from radio stations that participate. I have always loved this feature on my car radio. Now for the downside. All the functionality is on the remote. All you can do from the radio is power and volume. I would have liked a little more functionality available on the radio. Also, there does not seem to be a way to make it so the RDS display is the default. I have to hit the mode button when I switch to a station that supplies RDS. This radio is a little pricey but well worth it and much less expensive than the Bose Wave radio that has nowhere near the features.

2. Posted: May 7 2008

   This is one sharp looking radio...it has a beautiful symetry about it....& yes, it sounds as good as it looks....so good it seems there is only one thing this Sangean cannot do that full size stereo systems can....& that is produce sound at levels that will distort your perception of time & space....& you know what?....i have outgrown the need for such things & am perfectly content to listen to music at decible levels that are comfortable to hear....in this Sangean, less is truely more....the WR-3 is packed with features i may never use, but it is great to have them anyway....love the blue info display....& how it "says" hello when you boot it up....i have parked this under the wide screen on the wall in my modestly sized living room, & it is accusticly & astheticly perfectly suited for the room, it looks so good it competes with the tv at being a focal point of attention....reception in both AM & FM is excellent & the remote is nice too, one glance is all you need to get it set up in seconds...the cabinet is heavy & sports an excellent finish....one complaint i have though.....is that stupid sticker they put on the FRONT of the unit...which, if they were considerate enough to have used a label that does not leave behind glue residue....would not have been a problem....but they were not considerate, & it is a problem, as it does leave behind a sticky, hard to clean mess right on the front of your new radio....how freaking lame!.....a minor point but worth noting non-the less.....the WR-3 is a unique peice of sophisticated, fine fidelity furniture that i highly recommend to all in need of such.

3. ( 2 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: Mar 14 2008

   After much deliberation, and as much research as the Internet would afford me, I decided to buy this radio and try it firsthand. As always, I felt safer buying from Amazon because of their fair return policy and outstanding reputation. I knew I was going into this somewhat blindly because there are precious few reviews of this piece anywhere online, and even fewer by real folks like me. Anyway, I got the product yesterday and test drove it in depth last night. Its first impression is an excellent one. The substantial heft and gorgeous "piano" finish would probably sell a ton of these radios if they were more readily available in stores. Set up was expectedly simple, and the user's manual wasn't needed until later on. Personally, I liked the metal, telescoping antenna mounted on the rear of the unit (where, by the way, you'll find a clean array of additional I/O plugs and the "3-D" sound selector. From every angle, this is a beautiful radio. The first thing I did after plugging it in, was check a few local FM stations. They all came in very well, which was no surprise given Sangean's radio heritage. Be certain of one thing about this unit: it is a radio first, and then a CD player, audio file player, etc. The RDS feature was a novelty, but not as intuitive or lavish as I was hoping for. I'm not entirely familiar with what RDS normally provides on most equipment, though, and I don't fault this unit for anything in that respect. It wasn't until I put in the first CD (a standard "red book" audio CD) that I experienced that all-too-familiar consumer electronics letdown. It didn't play. The unit acknowledged that it read the CD and recognized how many tracks were on it, etc. But I could not get it to play any of it. The CD was not suspect; in fact, I deliberately started with a CD that was playable on every piece of CD equipment I've owned. Subsequent discs, however, did work, and apparently with no further problems. It was while I was waiting for the first CD to play that I removed a promotional sticker the factory had stuck on the front of the unit (advertising what types of media it can play). Where every other manufacturer I've seen has used a static-cling or no-residue adhesive to make sure the sticker comes off cleanly, such was not the case on this radio. The sticker came off with much effort and left behind quite a bit of very stubborn adhesive. This might've been negligible had this radio not been so beautifully finished, and the sticker not been put in so prominent a spot on the front. While this had no bearing on the player's performance, this was pretty disappointing to me. In playing with the sound options--the part of this unit I had the most interest in and curiosity about--I ultimately realized that even the fine design and speaker capabilities of this radio/CD player are limited by the direction of the speakers and bass firing. In a very specific listening zone, this sounds pretty good. And by specific, I found that directly facing the speakers from a distance of about 6 feet, with some peripheral area to either side, was idea. Step much further outside this cone of sound, and the overall listening experience is compromised significantly (though the 3-D sound effect lessens the degradation a bit). This is more a limitation imposed by the direction of the speakers, and not by the design or components. But it's reason enough in my opinion to consider a radio/CD player with detachable speakers, unless you're using this on a nightstand or a very small room. The USB and SD card input options are really fun novelties, and I wish more manufacturers would get hip to this simple technology. But in the end, when you have a unit that already plays MP3 CDs, these additional formats aren't as needed. In the end, after only a day, I'm sending it back for a refund because of the fickle CD player issue. I'd rather not take my chances on this one. In a nutshell: Pros: -product feel and look -simple set-up and easily moved -excellent radio capability -clean inputs and outputs on the back -telescoping FM antenna -full function remote -SD card and USB drive options Cons: -Small "ideal listening zone" -Unnecessarily bright display Too bad these aren't in your local store where you can play around with them in advance. Hope this helps.

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1. Posted: Jul 5 2008

   I love listening to NPR in my Kitchen and have been searching for a radio that will pull in the two NPR stations that are available to me here in Charleston. My first try was the Tivoli Model 1 from Henry Kloss. It was very attractive and worked fairly well for a short period of time. One day (after the warranty ran out) it just stopped and it still is dead. Piece of junk..... Anyway, I digress. I have had this WR-2 now for 3 months and let me tell you, it is flawless. Great sound (better than the Tivoli), allows me to play my Ipod and it pull all of the available stations in if I use the auxiliary antenna. All in all, a great radio for a killer price. I cannot rate this as a clock radio but I don't think that this is it's primary purpose. Love this radio!

2. Posted: Jun 11 2008

   I did a lot of research, both online and in stores. This little baby by far has the best sound, and a really good AM tuner. I love it. Bought a white one. Then I bought another as an xmas gift for my sister. Then I bought a black one for my bedside. Obviously, I love this radio. You will, too.

3. ( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: May 31 2008

   This is a decent radio, but it doesn't belong on the night stand for 2 reasons: 1. The display is back lit instead of just illuminating the lettering. That means there's a lot more light coming from this unit than is necessary. I have to turn off the display entirely at night and can't read the time if I wake up in the middle of the night. 2. There is only 1 alarm setting and it takes a 3 key strokes of little buttons all next to each other to turn off the alarm. So, if you wake up early and want to turn off the alarm to spare your significant other, you have to fumble in the dark with a cryptic interface. It's too bad they didn't do enough user interface studies because the unit has a good radio and a nice look and feel. I'll keep it but move it to another room.

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1. Posted: Apr 26 2008

   The small orange power-on button has a very bright white half moon glow on it. It's irriating at night as if some one has cracked open the bedroom door. Original purchase and this replacement that I received are both like this. Weird design for such a costly Taiwan made radio to have a button that looks like someone never finished coloring the plastic orange on button. Rich deep bass sound but you never can crank up the volume if you want to blast a song. Volume dial goes up to 60 on the dial but it's not much louder than when the dial is set a third lower at 40 on the volume dial. Like the white enclosure as it matches my white kitchen applicances where I moved the radio to.

2. Posted: Mar 28 2008

   I've owned the Boston Acoustics Receptor radio for about a year, and knew that any other competing table radio would have some big shoes to fill. This Sangean WR-2, now for an even lower cost than the Receptor, is a more-than-adequate contender. In fact, given the choice to keep just one of these two, I'd go with the WR-2. The sound is amazing, even at flat EQ levels (i.e. the default tone settings). But with a pretty impressive range of bass and treble adjustments, this unit provides very crisp sound with a substantive amount of bass to back it up. The RDS feature is charming, the clock and alarm options are on-par with with the Receptor, and the AM/FM reception is, in my very unscientific testing, the same as BA's radio. This WR-2 is a little bigger, but the finish and appearance more than compensate for that. The I/O's on the rear of the unit offer a record-out jack, which the Receptor doesn't. I'm not sure I'll ever find the application and determination to use it, but it's a pleasure to know it's there. This unit, like just about everything else made today, has a standard 1/8 inch input jack that will play any audio device you can hook up to it, though marketed almost exclusively to MP3 players and iPods. And, like just about everything else made today with this kind of input, the volume you get from your battery-operated audio device is silly; so soft you're required to turn both units up to at least 75% for audability. But that's to be expected. A far better use for this input, however, is a more robust device, say your DVD player via a simple RCA stereo-to-mono 1/8 inch plug. The sound is full and abundant, and through this radio in aux mode, sounds terrific even if it's not in stereo. Perhaps my favorite feature on the WR-2, and what gives this an easy lead over the Receptor, is the full-function remote. You can set this unit up across the room from your bed and still use the remote to turn off the alarm in the morning. I bought the white finish model, and while is looks great, I've found myself wondering if the wood-finished one would've looked better. That's entirely subjective, though, and at the end of the day, I'd love this radio regardless of what it looked like. The cost is absolutely a value for this radio, and I'm now trying to convince myself that there's somewhere else in the house that could use a great radio so I can buy another one.

3. Posted: Mar 15 2008

   I've become frustrated with the poor quality of radios in clock radios. We really enjoy listening to the news when we wake in the morning, and the poor sound quality and reception of the clock radios you'd find at Best Buy or Target makes them unacceptable choices. Based upon the stellar reviews this Sangean radio received, I decided to give it a shot. And the radio doesn't disappoint! The reception is far better than any other clock radio I've had in recent years; the sound quality is amazing for everything from jazz to news. The user interface for the alarm, however, is amazingly byzantine. The process of setting (and turning off) the alarm is so convoluted, I need to refer to the manual each time I change it. Setting the alarm, for example, requires that two different buttons be pressed in sequence, and for different lengths of time, before you set the time for the alarm! Turning off the alarm requires the same sequence, until you get the alarm icon blinking, which - after two seconds, disappears - indicating that the alarm is off. Bizarre. The clock itself gets short shrift in the design. It's difficult to read from an angle (such as on the bedside table), and the clock isn't the default when the radio is on; you actually need to press the display button to bring up the clock. So, when you awake to the radio in the morning, the Sangean thinks you'd rather know what frequency you're on than what time it is. I don't see enough critiques of this convoluted alarm process in these reviews. I imagine that may be due to the compelling quality and sound of the radio. It's fantastic! So, if you're planning on purchasing this clock radio principally as a radio, go for it! But, if you need the clock and alarm functions, you may want to look for another option.

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1. Posted: Aug 1 2007

   My elderly mother lives in an assisted living community and has lost most of her eyesight to macular degeneration. Finding electronic equipment she can successfully use is a problem with SO MANY gizmos cluttered with small buttons for controlling everything. I searched for literally YEARS for a reasonably priced, well made table radio for her (one that she could actually use). The tiny picture available here suggests that the big white button on the dial actually turns the AM/FM tuner and I was delighted to find when I opened the box that it does indeed control the tuner. In fact, it gears down so that you get really fine tuning for radio stations (you turn the dial all the way around about 4 times when going from the lowest end of the dial to the highest end). It also comes with a tuning light that turns green when you have the signal at the best strength. The volume knob is also simple to operate. The built in mono speaker has good sound and nice bass. My mother is thrilled!

2. ( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jun 2 2007

   As radio, the CX-166 does well on AM, but the FM circuitry is not up to decent standards and an antenna wire dangling somewhere is necessary. It labors even to pick up FM signals from radio stations within 25 miles. It comes with a single USB thumbdrive input slot for users carrying their MP3 or WMA tunes in the root. It does not support separate folders for different music genres, nor does it allow for even random playing. Each time you choose the USB mode, it starts from the beginning and you must push a tiny hard-to-press button to skip to the next, or go back one at a time. While in USB mode, there is an annoying low-frequency hum from the speakers, but not in either radio mode. I do appreciate the analog tuning dial for AM/FM radio station selection, and also like the analog volume control, rather than stepped button pushes. The turn switch to choose between OFF-USB-AUX-FM-AM is very stiff, however, and the knob is small.

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