Radio Reviews

Sony never sounds as good as a Grundig, but has lots more goodies in a smaller package. Get the active antenna (Sony AN-LP1)and you'll hear a lot more stations. People new to shortwave listening are usually disappointed when they turn the new radio on and hear nothing but static. Rather than take it back or toss it in the closet, get a better antenna and you'll hear what's out there. The little whips that come on these things just don't add much to the true value of the receiver. A few of the "big boys" (BBC, etc) have stopped beaming directly to the USA but you can still hear their broadcasts to other parts of the world. This radio will satisfy. As with any portable, if you want more stations on shortwave, use a better antenna. I'd also recommend the yearly updated guidebook "Passport to Worldband Radio" (available at Amazon).

If you order this radio, Be advised that the AC adapter is not included, if you read the discription you are lead to believe that the AC adapter is included. 1st impressions with the receiver, it appears to be fairly easy to operate, I immediately began using without referencing the manual, and was finding short wave stations almost immediately, only knock, is it is a bit overpriced.

I have just recently gotten into Shortwave listening, and this radio has been perfect for me. I received a Grundig YB300 for Christmas, but upgraded to this model shortly thereafter. I have been very happy ever since.

The Sony SW7600GR has wonderful reception. I have hooked up an outdoor wire antenna also, which helps greatly with more faint reception. The built in attenuator is very handy for cutting down the signal on strong stations and can be shut off entirely for weeker station reception. I love the 100 station presets too, which is really all one needs for shortwave listening. The sound is ok, but with headphones is superb. I have also hooked the receiver up to my stereo via the line out jack, and this, too, sounds superb.

The dual clocks are handy, and I also use the radio as an alarm clock to wake up to the radio in the morning. When using this feature, the radio automatically goes into sleep mode and will shut off by itself even if you forget to do so. I have had the radio for a month and half so far and the 4 AA batteries are still going strong - very good on battery usage. I also purchased the AC adaptor, but really only use it for FM listening because it adds an internal hum to AM reception, which is the only negative.

Overall, I couldn't be happier with a introductory shortwave/AM/FM radio. It's a great value for the money.

I love listening to my Delpi XM Radio in my car, and also have the boombox for portable listening, but I wanted the ability to connect my radio into my home stereo and play the great XM Radio music through my house.

Along comes the 'Home Adapter Kit'! This item is GREAT! It is sooooo simple to hook up... simply connect the 'left and right' RCA jacks to an open port on your receiver (it even comes with the dual RCA cables), connect the AC power adapter, and plug in the Antenna. Thats it!

I will say, it took about 5 minutes to get the antenna positioned up top of my curio cabinet (next to the stereo) just right to get a full signal, but the signal was able to come in clear, and with the 20 foot cable that is attached to the antenna, I was able to easily hide the cable down the back of the curio cabinet to the floor, and over to the adapter kit on the stereo.

The antenna is only a few inches in size and since it is black in color, it is easy to keep out of site on top of high furniture.

My stereo never gets turned off on the weekends anymore, just pull my receiver out of my car and put it in the house and 'happy listening'!

Mike Heine ('winterstone')

I purchased the SKYFi system for my car a month ago, and have turned right around and gone back to get the home adapter kit. It's sleek, cool, and easy-to-use ... and I can move it from my car to my house with ease. The sound is awesome, reception is great, and I'm happy as can be with the choices on XM Radio. It's almost worth the price of admission just for the "Fred" alternative rock channel, and the other 99 are just an extra-added bonus in my book.

I understand that Delphi will be introducing a boombox-style device that also fits the standard SKYFi receiver unit, so it'll be even more utilitarian.

If you love good music both at home and in the car, then you've got to get this.

I recently rented a Cadillac from Avis and was able to listen to XM at no charge. My wife and I really enjoyed it and decided the home kit option was something we were very interested in as we don't spend long periods of time in our cars.

I was reluctant at first because of worries regarding the antenna not being in a south-facing window. My stereo system is in a built-in entertainment wall and does not allow for the antenna to be pointed at a south facing window. After reading that many others have had success with the antenna in less than ideal areas, I decided I would give it a try. My house is 2 years old, one story brick with a normal pitched roof consisting of plywood decking and dimensional fiberglass shingles. It has 10 foot flat and tray ceilings.

After hooking up the cables to my surround sound receiver and placing the antenna on the top of the stack of stereo components, I pointed the antenna generally to the south and toward the ceiling at about 45 degrees. I plugged the SkyFi in and immediately was getting two bars on the signal strength indicator. I do not have terrestrial repeaters in my area, so I am relying solely on the satellite. After a few quick adjustments I was getting 3 bars or it bounced between 3 and 2 bars.

I was very happy to have it work, and it is not even close to sitting in a south-facing window. After getting a strong signal and hearing the sample channels loud and clear, I activated the subscription online. I timed it and it took 12 minutes before the tuner updated and began receiving all channels. I was pretty impressed it activated that quickly.

I picked XM over Sirius because I had a chance to hear it in the Avis rental car and I trust Delphi equipment. Overall, I am very happy with the SkyFi, the home kit, and the XM service.

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.

I bought 2 of these units, with 4 more backordered. This has been a great unit for staying in contact while shopping, hiking, driving, etc. The kids love it, and the belt attachment makes it easy to hook on a handbag strap, belt, etc.
The difficulty I have with it is with the VOX mode. You have to make a sound before it activates. If you don't, you lose the first few words before it kicks in.
I have the nicad, rechargeable unit. I like it because it saves on battery purchases.
All in all, I would recommend this unit.

I love these little radios. We tested them in the car (one stayed in a wooded park while the other drove around town). Estimated 3 miles before we hit even the smallest amount of static. The only thing I would recommend is a handsfree headset so you can ride bikes, etc without having to hold anything. I read the other reviews before buying mine and they had a great influence. All are true except the pesky annoyance everyone talks about with the "push to talk" button. I personally can't find anything wrong with it. I just hold it differently. The microphone where you talk into is NOT located directly below the button, but off to the side, almost on the edge of the radio. The only weight of these little buggers is from the three AA. Basically, put three AA batteries in your hand and that is a simulation of what these radios feel like. I can't wait to try them skiing and hiking. We have played like kids on them for over a week now and haven't gotten tired of them. I would buy them all over again if I had to. Definately worth buying- don't look any where else (believe me I looked and looked)

When I first bought these at [local store], there were [money], and it included a [money] mail in rebate! I didn't mail in the rebate, because I wanted to test them out, first. The next Friday, my Law Enforcement group had an event that required radios. I just bought these, so I bring them along, not expecting any one to bring enough for the whole group. Well, someone did, and when he saw my radio, he was shocked. First of all, he said that mines' was "top of the line", and it was expensive. I just told him that I bought it from a shopping center, Secondly, his 4 radios costed more than what it would cost me less if I bought mines' in bulk. So, he just continually commented on my radio, and he got so jealous that he was about to exchange his radios for mine, but to bad for him, the radio I bought just went out of stock. So, I still have the T289 till this day, making it 5 months today, since I bought them. The only problem is that my light doesn't work, and that is getting annoying. But, overall, I love this radio, and I am willing to sell my other pair of radios to get this. :)

I bought 2 of these units, with 4 more backordered. This has been a great unit for staying in contact while shopping, hiking, driving, etc. The kids love it, and the belt attachment makes it easy to hook on a handbag strap, belt, etc.
The difficulty I have with it is with the VOX mode. You have to make a sound before it activates. If you don't, you lose the first few words before it kicks in.
I have the nicad, rechargeable unit. I like it because it saves on battery purchases.
All in all, I would recommend this unit.

I love these little radios. We tested them in the car (one stayed in a wooded park while the other drove around town). Estimated 3 miles before we hit even the smallest amount of static. The only thing I would recommend is a handsfree headset so you can ride bikes, etc without having to hold anything. I read the other reviews before buying mine and they had a great influence. All are true except the pesky annoyance everyone talks about with the "push to talk" button. I personally can't find anything wrong with it. I just hold it differently. The microphone where you talk into is NOT located directly below the button, but off to the side, almost on the edge of the radio. The only weight of these little buggers is from the three AA. Basically, put three AA batteries in your hand and that is a simulation of what these radios feel like. I can't wait to try them skiing and hiking. We have played like kids on them for over a week now and haven't gotten tired of them. I would buy them all over again if I had to. Definately worth buying- don't look any where else (believe me I looked and looked)

When I first bought these at [local store], there were [money], and it included a [money] mail in rebate! I didn't mail in the rebate, because I wanted to test them out, first. The next Friday, my Law Enforcement group had an event that required radios. I just bought these, so I bring them along, not expecting any one to bring enough for the whole group. Well, someone did, and when he saw my radio, he was shocked. First of all, he said that mines' was "top of the line", and it was expensive. I just told him that I bought it from a shopping center, Secondly, his 4 radios costed more than what it would cost me less if I bought mines' in bulk. So, he just continually commented on my radio, and he got so jealous that he was about to exchange his radios for mine, but to bad for him, the radio I bought just went out of stock. So, I still have the T289 till this day, making it 5 months today, since I bought them. The only problem is that my light doesn't work, and that is getting annoying. But, overall, I love this radio, and I am willing to sell my other pair of radios to get this. :)

I bought 2 of these units, with 4 more backordered. This has been a great unit for staying in contact while shopping, hiking, driving, etc. The kids love it, and the belt attachment makes it easy to hook on a handbag strap, belt, etc.
The difficulty I have with it is with the VOX mode. You have to make a sound before it activates. If you don't, you lose the first few words before it kicks in.
I have the nicad, rechargeable unit. I like it because it saves on battery purchases.
All in all, I would recommend this unit.

I love these little radios. We tested them in the car (one stayed in a wooded park while the other drove around town). Estimated 3 miles before we hit even the smallest amount of static. The only thing I would recommend is a handsfree headset so you can ride bikes, etc without having to hold anything. I read the other reviews before buying mine and they had a great influence. All are true except the pesky annoyance everyone talks about with the "push to talk" button. I personally can't find anything wrong with it. I just hold it differently. The microphone where you talk into is NOT located directly below the button, but off to the side, almost on the edge of the radio. The only weight of these little buggers is from the three AA. Basically, put three AA batteries in your hand and that is a simulation of what these radios feel like. I can't wait to try them skiing and hiking. We have played like kids on them for over a week now and haven't gotten tired of them. I would buy them all over again if I had to. Definately worth buying- don't look any where else (believe me I looked and looked)

When I first bought these at [local store], there were [money], and it included a [money] mail in rebate! I didn't mail in the rebate, because I wanted to test them out, first. The next Friday, my Law Enforcement group had an event that required radios. I just bought these, so I bring them along, not expecting any one to bring enough for the whole group. Well, someone did, and when he saw my radio, he was shocked. First of all, he said that mines' was "top of the line", and it was expensive. I just told him that I bought it from a shopping center, Secondly, his 4 radios costed more than what it would cost me less if I bought mines' in bulk. So, he just continually commented on my radio, and he got so jealous that he was about to exchange his radios for mine, but to bad for him, the radio I bought just went out of stock. So, I still have the T289 till this day, making it 5 months today, since I bought them. The only problem is that my light doesn't work, and that is getting annoying. But, overall, I love this radio, and I am willing to sell my other pair of radios to get this. :)

I bought 2 of these units, with 4 more backordered. This has been a great unit for staying in contact while shopping, hiking, driving, etc. The kids love it, and the belt attachment makes it easy to hook on a handbag strap, belt, etc.
The difficulty I have with it is with the VOX mode. You have to make a sound before it activates. If you don't, you lose the first few words before it kicks in.
I have the nicad, rechargeable unit. I like it because it saves on battery purchases.
All in all, I would recommend this unit.

I love these little radios. We tested them in the car (one stayed in a wooded park while the other drove around town). Estimated 3 miles before we hit even the smallest amount of static. The only thing I would recommend is a handsfree headset so you can ride bikes, etc without having to hold anything. I read the other reviews before buying mine and they had a great influence. All are true except the pesky annoyance everyone talks about with the "push to talk" button. I personally can't find anything wrong with it. I just hold it differently. The microphone where you talk into is NOT located directly below the button, but off to the side, almost on the edge of the radio. The only weight of these little buggers is from the three AA. Basically, put three AA batteries in your hand and that is a simulation of what these radios feel like. I can't wait to try them skiing and hiking. We have played like kids on them for over a week now and haven't gotten tired of them. I would buy them all over again if I had to. Definately worth buying- don't look any where else (believe me I looked and looked)

When I first bought these at [local store], there were [money], and it included a [money] mail in rebate! I didn't mail in the rebate, because I wanted to test them out, first. The next Friday, my Law Enforcement group had an event that required radios. I just bought these, so I bring them along, not expecting any one to bring enough for the whole group. Well, someone did, and when he saw my radio, he was shocked. First of all, he said that mines' was "top of the line", and it was expensive. I just told him that I bought it from a shopping center, Secondly, his 4 radios costed more than what it would cost me less if I bought mines' in bulk. So, he just continually commented on my radio, and he got so jealous that he was about to exchange his radios for mine, but to bad for him, the radio I bought just went out of stock. So, I still have the T289 till this day, making it 5 months today, since I bought them. The only problem is that my light doesn't work, and that is getting annoying. But, overall, I love this radio, and I am willing to sell my other pair of radios to get this. :)

I bought 2 of these units, with 4 more backordered. This has been a great unit for staying in contact while shopping, hiking, driving, etc. The kids love it, and the belt attachment makes it easy to hook on a handbag strap, belt, etc.
The difficulty I have with it is with the VOX mode. You have to make a sound before it activates. If you don't, you lose the first few words before it kicks in.
I have the nicad, rechargeable unit. I like it because it saves on battery purchases.
All in all, I would recommend this unit.

I love these little radios. We tested them in the car (one stayed in a wooded park while the other drove around town). Estimated 3 miles before we hit even the smallest amount of static. The only thing I would recommend is a handsfree headset so you can ride bikes, etc without having to hold anything. I read the other reviews before buying mine and they had a great influence. All are true except the pesky annoyance everyone talks about with the "push to talk" button. I personally can't find anything wrong with it. I just hold it differently. The microphone where you talk into is NOT located directly below the button, but off to the side, almost on the edge of the radio. The only weight of these little buggers is from the three AA. Basically, put three AA batteries in your hand and that is a simulation of what these radios feel like. I can't wait to try them skiing and hiking. We have played like kids on them for over a week now and haven't gotten tired of them. I would buy them all over again if I had to. Definately worth buying- don't look any where else (believe me I looked and looked)

When I first bought these at [local store], there were [money], and it included a [money] mail in rebate! I didn't mail in the rebate, because I wanted to test them out, first. The next Friday, my Law Enforcement group had an event that required radios. I just bought these, so I bring them along, not expecting any one to bring enough for the whole group. Well, someone did, and when he saw my radio, he was shocked. First of all, he said that mines' was "top of the line", and it was expensive. I just told him that I bought it from a shopping center, Secondly, his 4 radios costed more than what it would cost me less if I bought mines' in bulk. So, he just continually commented on my radio, and he got so jealous that he was about to exchange his radios for mine, but to bad for him, the radio I bought just went out of stock. So, I still have the T289 till this day, making it 5 months today, since I bought them. The only problem is that my light doesn't work, and that is getting annoying. But, overall, I love this radio, and I am willing to sell my other pair of radios to get this. :)

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.

This radio is a very good weather radio to use. It's "Statement", "Watch", and "Warning" lights are very useful when trying to find out how important the alert is. The clock is a nice thing to have and it will automatically interupt any of the other functions to bring you severe weather. It has a very nice range; I received a weather transmitter from over 75 miles away on it. I like the control that changes the siren volume as it doesn't have to be too loud. The programming is a little difficult, but after you get the hang of it, it isn't that complicated. A very good radio to own for the price. It is also up to date. Per next year, all weather radios are required to have the text display, and this one does. Just a word of warning: The alert siren WILL wake you up; it can be very loud even with the volume turned down.

So far this radio is great. Has all the features needed for emergency notification. Programming was very easy, but keep the manual handy. The back-lit lcd screen is nice and stays on all the time when used with the AC adapter. The weather signal is strong and clear. The 9 volt battery back up lasts about 3 days when the AC is off, so you will need plenty batteries if you are using it without the AC power. So far I have not had an emergency signal come across, so I can not give a review on this. In any case it is a nice unit for the price with many options, i,e external antenna plug, remote speaker or other warning device, earphone, etc. You can also adjust the volume for the alert signal unlike other models. Only draw back; No test feature to check the alarm and warning lights.

I highly recommend this receiver. I recently bought this to replace a weather radio that didn't have S.A.M.E. technology. With S.A.M.E. you put in the code for your area and get alerts for that area only. Wonderful! With the old radio, I was always getting alerts for the neighboring counties. Now, I just get what applies to me. I didn't buy models with AM/FM since in a real emergency I will be listening to the weather radio and my battery powered AM/FM radio at the same time. Reception is clear. The manual is well written. This unit does what it is supposed to do in emergencies ---- it comes on and alerts you. The alert tone is clear and unmistakable. The type of alert is displayed in the LCD display. I like this display since it faces you when the unit is on a shelf or counter top. Not so on some other models. One touch operation to hear the weather at any time. The 74-200 also has battery backup. I learned how important this feature is when I was in a typhoon on Guam.