Clock-Radio Reviews

I dunno how this little bad boy works. It isn't a strong electrolytic solution. I used simple double purified water (thru a PUR then a Brita system). It is a conversation piece most definitely. I'm thinking of giving these to a few friends for a present or a house warming. Just add water and that's what I did!!! Now if I could only do the same to my car !!!

I had to return my SoundWorks radio the day after Christmas for what was (hopefully) a problem with quality control and not the radio in general. There seemed to be a flaw in the speaker and I got serious distortion whenever certain notes were played. From all the other glowing reviews I've read, I must conclude a bad one slipped past, but at this price I feel no bad ones should get past. However . . .

I left this on my night stand for one night and discovered an issue that would be a major annoyance to me if I had kept the radio. The display automatically dims when the room goes dark, but if you have the alarm set, a very bright blue LED shines directly toward your face. Set both alarms and it gets very bright, indeed. Furthermore, the display light sensor is located between both LEDs, so they cause the display to brighten. If you like a dark bedroom, this may give you pause. (As an aside, I've had --and returned-- many clocks which lit up my bedroom like Times Square. Red LEDs don't do this, but they seem passe. All I can figure is engineers must sleep with the lights on.)

Otherwise, I found the controls and features to be excellent, and I especially like the rotating volume control. Overall, it seems like a good product, but the issues I've mentioned keep me from giving it more than three stars.

I've been itching for years to get the "famous" Bose Wave Radio. I waited and waited for the price to drop. It *never* has. So much for the prices of Tabletop radios being like computers! At any rate, rather than finding a discount Bose, I've found a radio more inexpensive than the Bose...and BETTER SOUNDING! The Cambridge Soundworks Model 730 BLOWS me away. It has incredibly rich sound, and the bass is literally AMAZING. Rather than using Acoustic Tubing wrapped around the inside of the case, Cambridge Soundworks has actually mounted a *Real* subwoofer inside of this radio. And it really does pack an extra punch! In addition, this radio has Radio Data System (RDS), a feature extremely (and unfortunately) RARE in the United States. People in Europe know and love RDS on their radios, why oh WHY more US Manufacturers don't support it is beyond me. It's a GREAT feature and would make you think you are using XM Radio with the Song Titles displayed for you...for free!

Cambridge Soundworks got it right, blowing away Bose and Tivoli. Seriously, save yourself $100 and get this radio. You'll enjoy the extra features and most certainly think your ears are deceiving you!

Very good radio for its price - the sound quality is as good as you can get from the radio of this size, the speaker configuration actually has a dedicated subwoofer (unlike the Bose Wave radio). The radio tuner sensitivity is also good - didn't have any problems tuning to all my favorite radio stations.
About the price: some reviewer below was wondering how come Cambridge SoundWorks can sell such wonderful radio for much less price than Bose Wave radio... That is simple: Bose is the only company that makes approximately 70% profit from each of their sold products, including Bose Wave radio. Cambridge SoundWorks, unlike Bose, makes a fair amount of profit (lower than 40% of the price of each sold product). This is why there's such a big difference in price (but not in quality... the quality of SoundWorks is actually better).

Thank you, Henry Kloss (may he rest in peace) and Tivoli for creating this wonderful little table radio. Clearly sounds better than the far more costly Bose Wave (which sounds just like what it really is -- a cheap, plastic pile of junk). I use my Tivoli both for AM (Mets games on WFAN) and FM (jazz on WLIU). No, it won't pull in FM stations that are 60 miles away, and no, it doesn't sound like a $2,000 stereo component system with B&W speakers. But it delivers fantastic sound, it looks great and it's built like a bank vault. For a C-Note, who could ask for more?

If you are looking for an excellent tabletop radio with superb sound quality, you cannot go wrong with the Tivoli Kloss Model One! Being a professional musician (synthesist), I am extremely finicky about sound quality. I am happy to report that this radio will amaze you. It is almost hard to believe that the rich, deep sound you are hearing is coming out of this small, single little speaker. In fact, it sounds so good that I am considering purchasing the Model 2 (stereo) with Subwoofer and CD Player for my living room system. However, the single speaker Model One sounds better than most comparable stereo boom boxes.

I also like the user interface of the Tivoli Model One - no digital displays or push buttons - just solid, nice analog feeling precision knobs in an elegant wood casing. Aesthetics, ergonomics and good engineering all rolled into one. Highly recommended.

This is indeed a very good radio, the best I ever had at this price range. At low volumn, the sound quality is good and well balanced, which I think is what it's intended for, and the reception is also excellent. The one thing I hope that can be better is the material of the control knobs (both volumn and on/off swith), it is made of cheap plastic and has lousy feel to it. Other than that, it is a excellent radio and I highly recommend it.

Hey, my name is Sam, and I'm a 14 year old kid who lives in New York. I agree with the person who said that the past reviews seem written by all the same people, but I'm not complaining. I enjoy this product, but there are a few downsides. 1, an unneccesarily fold out slot for the cd. Instead of a space the size of a cd opening up, the whole damn player opens up. Very annoying, but it doesn't detract at all in the big run. Okay reception, I'm not complaining but I'm not jumping for joy. Great sound, great backlight function, nice, bright and orange. Slim, can fit mostly anywhere. Hmm... wall mounting was pretty easy, so don't let that stop you. Looks nice, blue and fuzzy looking. Buttons are not placed conveniently, but it is no struggle. A handy little remote is one of the biggest plusses, a feature I cannot go without. 30 radio presets, 15 am/15 pm. Only complaint here is that instead of pressing 1 and going back to your 1 station, you have to cycle through 2-15 just to get back to that one station. Quite the hassle. I'd just like to note, I'm a very critical person, so everything I say is a quarter as bad as I say it is. I'm everybodies worst critic for some reason. Nifty little gadget. I recommend it, and it has a digital tuner to boot. For the most part, this thing has convenience all over it. Great alarm clock timer features by the way.

Peace

Sam

It's no Wave, but it's not bad except for the flimsy stand that keeps the player from falling over. It barely does that. And there's the odd need to expose the entire CD player to insert a disc. But the player sounds pretty good, reception is OK and if you hang it securely on a wall until it's time to throw it in a suitcase you'll be fine.

So it looks like a scale! Once you've gotten over that little detail you can start to enjoy all that it has to offer. Digital tuner, CD player (that will play CD-R's), better than average radio reception, an enhanced bass boot that works well, and a nifty remote "to boot." What else could you ask for? Sure, it's not going to fill the room like your home stereo, but you'd be silly to ask it to. Solid sound from the two front mounted speakers. Find myself using the remote a lot, even though I sit less than 2ft. away from the radio since the buttons are on the top and difficult to see.

How many times have you cursed the almost ubiquitous little volume "up" and "down" arrows on most new electronics? They are hard to press and they take forever to adjust. Here's your chance to get a decent under-cabinet clock/radio with a large, simple, functional volume knob located conveniently on the side. That alone is reason to give this unit serious consideration. I actually purchased this for my garage to go under the cabinets above my workbench (I have the Salton "ICEbox" in the kitchen, but that's over 2 grand). Its only weak point is the speaker output is not quite powerful enough - at higher volumes, distortion becomes evident. However, at most normal listening volumes, it sounds fine.

I gave one of these to my wife six months ago, after being less than impressed by reviews of the equivalent GE product. Basically, I wanted something that would pull in her 3 public radio stations and offer me incentive to feed the cats. Trouble is, the darn thing requires installation--which took me 4-5 hours not counting the five months I simply thought about doing it.

The pluses: It seems very solid and durable, is a no-brainer to operate, and produces relatively high-frequency (if a bit hollow-sounding) fidelity.

Minuses: It's deeper than I'd bargained for. The only under-the-cabinet space that would accommodate it was in a corner. Curiously, Sony's instructions warn against installing it near florescent lighting. (What are you supposed to do--rewire your kitchen?) This may explain why radio reception, while decent, is hardly startling. Only by fiddling with the electrical cord (which does double duty as an antenna) can I get acceptable sound on most of the fringe (40-70 miles out) stations. If only manufacturers would scrap some of the automatic features and station memory banks in favor of more sensitive and selective tuners. And, true, the unit has a "mega-bass" switch with a single setting--but does anyone remember the days when radios came with a handy little knob called a "tone control"?

All in all, a well-made product offering solid performance and value. An excellent gift for the handyman in the family.

This is a great item! No trouble with installation. Great sound from the radio and also the cd player. Very easy to use! The price just can't be beat. I am very happy with this product and would highly recommend it!

I really liked this alarm clock for about 1 week. Great features and nice size for the bedside table.

However......
One night I noticed that it was humming. And it wasn't a low volume hum, it was noticeable. So after a sleepless night (i found it hard to get to sleep with the hum) I returned it.

I got a replacement model and it too had a hum.

So sadly I got my money back and I am searching again for a new model.

My wife is cronically late because she can sleep through ANY alarm...at least until now- heh heh. I bought this for her last year and it works like a charm. I bought it of course for the "ramp up alarm" feature. This baby will wake up anyone and anything. When the alarm sounds, it gets louder and LOUDER until it is turned off or the snooze is hit. It can get surprisingly loud, I can't imagine anyone sleeping through it.

This clock also has the obligatory battery backup, a must-have feature in the podunk town we live in where electricity reliability is questionable at best.

There is also a built-in radio which sounds adequate, but frankly we rarely use it. The wake-up alarm can also be set to a radio station to wake you up to soothing music instead of the blasting crescendo alarm!

I recommend this clock/radio for the price, but I agree with all the negative comments. The buttons are confusing, so I need to keep the instruction sheet by the bed for review. The mono speaker in the rear does not have good sound for a radio, but for an alarm clock it's fine. Nice big numbers show the time, and the red is just right. Has every feature I could ask for, and some I'll never bother with.

There are some downsides to this alarm clock. The time display is much brighter than most clock radios, even on its dim setting. Now this feature, coupled with the large numerals, could be a plus for someone with seriously impaired vision, or someone who needs a clock radio (say) ten feet away. But some light side sleepers who don't want a strong night light one foot away from their faces may find this bright clock display annoying. I think it needed an even dimmer setting than it has. The included weather radio receiver is a nice idea, but this one doesn't pull in either of two NOAA weather radio transmitters located 20 miles away from us. Note that there is no weather warning feature to automatically turn the weather radio on in an emergency, and the alarm clock, which controls the AM/FM radio or a buzzer, can't turn it on, either. Also, I prefer the time and alarm clock setting options I've seen on other clock radios which require holding two buttons at once. Others will prefer the one-fingered and two-step operation of this one, which also minimizes the number of buttons on the case. First you use a jog/shuttle switch to designate whether you're setting the time, alarm one, or alarm two, and then you press fast forward and slow reverse buttons, first overshooting the time setting you want on fast forward and then coming back to it in slow reverse. Users who are visually impaired may have difficulty locating and correctly setting the alarm to radio or buzz wake-up options. They may also find it hard to manually turn the radio on and off, until the feel is memorized, as the buttons that do these things are small and identical in size and shape, labeled in tiny print, and stacked closely together on the left side of the clock. The arrangement is awkward and not user-friendly. (There is another way to turn the radio on and off, using sleep buttons that are easy to find on the top of the case.) On the plus side, the monophonic radio has better sound quality than many at this price, and it is a very good value, overall. It has a stylish shape with a small footprint, and displays the time higher than low, flat boxes. It may be a good choice for people who want an inexpensive clock radio with large numerals, brightly illuminated. Others may prefer another clock radio.

I bought this clock because I was tired of fumbling with my alarm clock buttons and squinting to see what time it was. This clock is great in that now I can see the time and can easily locate the snooze button without searching for my glasses.
REALLY load alarm! Kind of jolts me awake... which can be a rather bad start to the day, but beats sleeping through the alarm (which I've done with my old one).
Gets great reception, too.
Only negatives (as far as I am concerned) is that it has an analog (rather than digital) tuner, and it doesn't have a day-of-the-week function like my old alarm did (so I could set the alarm to only go off Mon-Fri.
I think it's a GREAT value for the price!

I love the features, and it's easy to use, plus the numbers are nice and big. However, even though there are 2 brightness settings, the low one isn't low enough! Still a good clock, but I have to cover it at night.

Looks great, seems solid for the money. The radio tunes well, but sounds TERRIBLE. The speaker is in the back which makes the tinny sound is even harder to hear. The alarm is annoying, when it goes off it has an initial very loud beep then "normalizes" into the normal alarm clock beeping. I nearly have a heart attack each time it goes off! Since I like listening to the radio while falling a sleep, and in the mornings, this clock radio DOES NOT CUT THE MUSTARD. I don't have a known hearing problem. My OLD G.E. clock radio sounds so much better....

HI I B0UGHT THAT AND IT IS AMAZING GREAT RADIO IT IS EASY TO READ AND IT SURELY WAKES ME UP IN THE MORNING WHEN I HAVE TO GO TO WORK SO IF U HAVE KIDS IT IS PERFECT

This is the most cutomer frendly clock radio, with Big green LED big snooze button with Casio logo. Also it is most affordable clock radio with this price.

This radio has a good digital clock readout, but it is not a digital radio. Once you get a station the sound is very good, and controls for the clock are right up front, but I always have to check the side for the proper on/off setting. Those side buttons are small, and you have to turn it from side to side to be sure you have it right. Also, plastic casing seems insubstantial.

It won't replace your stereo, but it is so much better than a simple clock radio. It has better reception and much better sound than a simple clock radio. The hour and minute setting buttons are separate (i.e. very easy to set the time/alarm). The alarm is pretty loud, but isn't music so much nicer an option anyway? No digital display though and probably not something you want to drop on the floor too often (just a hunch - I may be wrong). Size: 6 x 7 x 7 inches. Very happy with my purchase.

This clock is a dream compared to the EEEEE EEEEE EEEEE noise that used to wake me up. I pop in a wake-me-up CD and my day is a-rolling. It larger than the average alarm clock, but smaller than the average CD player. This product has the best of both worlds.

Its exactly what I was looking for. However, 1-2 weeks shipping is a ridiculous amount of time to wait to get this item. In todays market it should not take any longer than 1-2 days.

This product is a great alarm/radio. I've been using it for about 4 months now. The display is bright, large, and clear which makes it easy to read from a distance (no viewing angle issues). The controls are intuitive and the battery backup has worked. The two alarm settings are convenient. I use it mainly to wake up to a CD in the morning. It is excellent especially for the price. We looked at many other models in many price ranges and they usually weren't as functional or were really large in size and intrusive or had horrible displays. The sound quality doesn't compare to more expensive stereos but it is very acceptable for waking up to music and for listening to the radio.

....I'm constantly amazed at the people who leave mediocre or poor ratings for products, due to extraneous criteria. This 5-star rating is entered with the purpose of helping to balance out the 3-star rating, which stated that this item was "just what I was looking for" but downgraded it due to shipping-time issues. Truly amazing! Don't these anal apertures realize that these ratings are important, and potential buyers actually use them when deciding whether to purchase or not? Don't they understand that the "star" values refer only to the product quality, and not whether the UPS driver left the box out in the rain!!!??? I guess not.