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(More customer reviews)I was looking for a replacement for the GE/RCA/Thompson (et al?) SuperRadio when I stumbled across this one. It is manufactured by Kaito, just like Grundig, Eton, Sangean, (yes) Kaito, and others. If it seems there is only one manufacturer of AM/FM/SW radios, well, you're pretty close.
In my case, my mother's favorite FM station was changed to music she hated and the original 40's/50's/60's station moved to AM. For this use, the TECSUN is EXCELLENT, because as mentioned in other reviews, the 3" speaker is bright and clear -- even on AM/music. Tone control helps a bit, too. You get about a watt output from the amplifier.
I was able to receive 5kW AM stations nearly 60 miles away during the day and 50kW stations over 150 miles away (daytime also. WSB-AM Atlanta to Columbia, SC). The receiver performed well even in noisy environments. The DSP seems to help with the noise.
BUT FM was truly remarkable! I was receiving on the rod antenna stations 60 miles away, stations that I normally receive only on the high-end FM stereo tuners with the chimney mounted antenna and 23dB preamplifier. If you knew where I live, you'd be even more impressed, as the typical surrounding hilltops (in every direction) are over 100 ft, and in the direction of the station it's 235 feet above the roof!
Pluses:
- Cool signal meter, numeric in both dB above 1 microvolt and dB signal to noise ratio. This helps with aiming the antennas both AM and FM. The AM seems to favor front and back of the radio.
- Well constructed as it survives shipping from China with minimum packing materials.
- Back lighted LCD display is large and clear.
- 10 push buttons for favorite stations (5 AM & 5 FM).
- Great audio.
- Dual wake-up alarms and (single) sleep function.
- Digital Signal Processor (DSP) helps greatly with noise.
- Low power consumption means long battery life.
- Large, clear button labels.
- Reset function
- External FM antenna input with F connector (cable TV type)
- Well located controls (tone, tuning, volume, headphone, etc.)
- Headphone is stereo mode on FM.
- Line in/out for IPOD amplification or recording from AM/FM.
- Ambient temperature display in C or F.
- AC power brick (wall wart) supplied.
Minuses:
- A bit daunting to learn at first. Most push buttons are multi-function.
- Manual is not American English, e.g. they say "hold down long time" for "press button 3 seconds." Manual is a bit brief (8 pages).
- No "real" timer function, i.e. when to turn on and off automatically. I suppose you could use a lamp timer. I wanted to turn on radio at sunup and off at sunset, as this is when the AM station is on-air.
- No provision for actuating a recording device.
- No external antenna terminals for AM (not that you need them).
- Display's back lighting does not stay on except for 5 seconds while you operate clock and tuning controls.
OVERALL: For the money, I have not been able to find a better replacement for the SuperRadio. You have a 30 day eval period, so why not try one?
I'm puzzled by previous reviews. I haven't experienced any of the serious problems they mention. For instance, I did have a power brick (wall wart) of 6v/1a. Actually, it's unregulated, so when you plug-in the voltage drops from 9 to 6.
I will admit that the human-machine interface is a bit more complex than I'd like it to be, but that was overcome with use.
I suppose you could use this radio as an alarm clock, but I never thought of it that way, because the form-factor is upright and subject to tip-over during alarm offing within slumber. Further, as previously mentioned, the display is not readable in the dark as the backlighting turns off after 3-5 seconds.
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Tecsun CR-1100 DSP AM/FM Stereo Radio (English Manual)Made by the same manufacturer that makes Grundig and Eton radios, the TECSUN CR-1100 is an AM/FM radio with DSP (digital signal processing) technology. The CR-1100 features a 3-inch, magnetically-shielded, Hi-Fi speaker, which delivers superior sound & produces surprising clarity and fullness at different volume settings. The radio size is 10 1/4" X 6" X 2 1/2". The 4 D size batteries last forever to run the radio. It can be powered by AC adaptor, it comes with a F connector for extended FM antenna. The antenna is not included.Powered by an optional AC adapter (not included) or 4 D-size batteries (not included) , the CR-1100's digital PLL tuner can pull in clear AM/FM stations with excellent sensitivity and selectivity. Its AM ranges from 520 to 1710 KHz, FM1 from 87 - 108 MHz and FM2 from 65 - 108 MHZ.You can tune into a station using the following four different method and there are manual, auto-scan, direct memory-access and ATS. The CR-1100 has a multi-functional back-lit display that can show you frequency, noise level, electric field intensity, S/N ratio, temperature, clock and battery strength. The alarm wakes you with your choice of a chime or one of your preset radio stations, and features a five minute snooze button, if you can't yet face the day. Of course you can also connect your favorite MP3 player and use its alarm to wake you with via the radio's speaker. If you like falling asleep to music you can easily set the sleep timer in increments of 15 to 90 minutes.Along with a 3.5 millimeter jack for headphones, there is also an mini-jack input for a CD or MP3 player.The sound quality, high sensitivity and selectivity, last forever battery, table size all make this radio a dream radio for home and office .
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