Well, I recently was on a quest for the perfect birthday gift for my spouse. Her portable bedside JVC ghetto blaster had finally deceased, the foam cone surrounds a fine example of biblical dust-to-dust, controls and knobs (if not missing) producing squeaks and hissing noises. So, a befitting gift would be the audiophile interpretation of a retro design mono radio combined with clock, alarm and sleep timer.
Anno 2008 the following products fit that description in price-descending order: Tivoli Model Three, Vita Audio R1, Tangent Audio Duo, Boston Acoustics Horizon Solo. They all share the same size and basic concept but achieve this using different means. The Tivolo was there first and basically created this niche.
The Tivoli is very retro (and classy) looking with its real wooden enclosure. Although the controls feel a bit lighter and less solid than you would expect. It sounds very well, although a bit bass heavy. No audio controls, so what you hear is what you get. A second (stereo) speaker is available. Just a few colour options. In the US this already is a pricy gift: $ 200. In Europe, the external power supply is replaced by an internal transformer, and price jumps to ? 325 (!). The clock is a large analogue affair, the alarms of which are kind of fiddly to set up.
The Vita is more neutral sounding, not surprising if you take into account that this is actually designed and build by Ruark a well known audiophile UK loudspeaker brand. List price is a hefty ? 275. Online it?s available for ?220. The Vita sports a very clean design, a mix of modern and retro, a unique and very well designed and laid-out rotary control. Many modern colours are available for an additional ? 30. Here sound has prevailed above all other functions. As good as it sounds, as basic are the clock/alarm/timer functions. RDS is present but doesn?t work well, nor does the clock synchronize time and date correctly. And manual adjustments are not possible, a function probably deemed unnecessary. Bye the way, the digital time display is so small that anyone with a dioptre > +2 won?t be able to see the digits sharply. This in spite of the fact that at night the Vita is perfectly capable of illuminating your sleeping room, also one of the non-adjustable features. The Vita sports an small external power supply and is the only one that must be placed upright, in portrait mode so to speak.
The Tangent Duo is a lot cheaper at ? 199 (list) or from ?130 online. But the materials used feel and look a lot cheaper too. Limited available colours, classic as well as modern. Tangent Audio is an up-market sub brand of the Danish budget speaker manufacturer Eltax. The sound is still very appreciable, but can?t match the more expensive competition. The Tangent has an analogue clock which is easier to set up than Tivoli's. The external power supply is bulky and ugly. If you like the looks and sound and are looking for an analogue clock this is probably the best buy.
The latest competitor to arrive on the scene is the Boston Horizon Solo. An American product, manufactured in China (where else) that takes a different approach. Same size, no classic wooden enclosure, but ABS, some sort of heavy plastic. It can be used in portrait or landscape mode, thanks to the rotating dial cluster. No classic colours either. The base unit is available in black or white. The front grill is interchangeable and comes in many pastel and modern colours. If retro at all, this is more a sixties than a fifties design. Build quality is very good, controls feel solid, are well laid out are easy to use. The digital clock is large enough to be read meters away from the unit, and has adjustable illumination that adapts automatically to lighting conditions. Tuning can be done in automatic, manual or preset mode while signal reception is very sensitive, no match for the competition either. Nice surprise is the sound: better than the competition, a fuller sound with the right kind of bass tuning. Goes loud enough without distortion. Second surprise: US price is $ 100. In Europe ? 149. Still too big a difference, but very competitive.
It?s amazing to find so many competitors in this niche segment. I wonder if more is on its way. But in the mean time the Boston gets you the rich full sound of a sixties radio cabinet in chocolate box size at a silly price. Although the gift season may have only just begun, you might already have found the perfect gift. All you?re left with is choosing the right colour?.which may proof to be a more challenging task altogether.
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I have been in the market for a bathroom clock/radio to replace a unit we have used for over 10 years. My wife and children all listen to different stations, so a digital tuner is a must. I like a rich, full sound, so many of the clock/radios on the market don't measure up.
Many reviews claimed the Sony ICF-S79 to be what I wanted, but that unit has absolutely no low-end and we quickly returned it.
I have only had the Solo for a week, so I cannot report on its long-term operation. Upon receiving the unit, I was surprised by the weight (very solid) and size (a bit larger than expected). But once I turned it on, I was immediately impressed by its sound reproduction.
The radio is very easy to set up, although establishing the presets is non-intuitive and requires a quick scan of the user manual. Once understood, I had it programmed and running in less than two minutes. An unexpected plus is the ability to include both AM and FM presets in the same set (there is only ONE set of presets). A bit of an oddity is that the presets get assigned by the radio, not by you, and go in the order that they are saved. If you want your presets in a specific order and miss a station, adding it later will put it at the end. The only way to fix this is to remove All presets and start over. Since setting presets is relatively easy, this is not a show-stopper.
The unit includes a bass and treble control (+/-5) as well as brightness (0-20), which can be manually adjusted to an almost off condition. The flat tone settings are quite acceptable, especially in a room the size of a bathroom. However, experimenting with the bass control proved this unit can provide a powerful low end which gives it a richer sound than some Wave radios I have heard.
I'll admit to continued difficulty with the "mode" control among family members. The unit has three knobs that are twisted left or right and pushed to select. The largest is the on/off volume and its use is obvious. The tuning knob is also easy to use and understand. The mode knob continually causes my family to switch from "preset" mode to "AM" or "FM" manual tuning mode. When the unit is on, simply twisting the mode knob will spring it into action, moving through Presets, FM, AM, and configuration settings. I have found it too easy to accidentally change from "preset mode" to "manual FM tuning mode" without the user being aware of what they have done. This will likely disappear once the family becomes more familiar with it and stops touching that knob.
I am very impressed with the speed at which the radio changes stations when using the tuning knob in preset mode. I have 16 presets, and spinning the tuning knob quickly through them allows for a very rapid scan of what's playing on all stations.
The radio has a sleep mode and dual-alarm function, but since we use it in the bathroom, I cannot report on the those functions.
As you can probably tell, I am an early fan of this radio. It appears very well constructed and its rich audio would be suited to most any room in the house. If it provides the longevity I expect from a Boston Acoustic product, this radio is a sure winner.
Alarm functionality not as expected, but otherwise a nice-sounding compact radio.
I would never recommend this radio, unless someone wanted something cute on their shelve.
I like the tuning sensitivity very well. The sound of this unit is quite respectable. I am a retired radio broadcastor and perhaps because of that, the inability of this clock radio to keep time just irritates me to no end. I will get rid of this radio probably as a give away, and replace it with something that sounds at least as good but will keep accurate time.
My Bose Wave Radio was the best clock radio I've ever had. Yes, people disagree about Bose, but I think everybody could agree that as a clock radio, not a livingroom soundsystem, it rocks. But it is pricey. For $99, I could not find a better more intuitive clock radio.