Tivoli AudioModel One AM/FM Table Radio in Black/Silver (M1BBS)

IT COMES WITH AN EXCELLENT FM ANTENNA WHICH MY 10 YEAR OLD ONE DID NOT HAVE. GREAT ADDITION. COULDN'T BELIEVE THE SPEAKER IS IMPROVED, TOO. I'M LISTENING TO JAZZ RIGHT NOW AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THE BAND IS IN THE ROOM WITH ME. IT ALSO BLOCKS OUT THOSE MISERABLE EMF WAVE SWHICH THE OLDER RADIO DOESN'T DO AS WELL. SURE HOPE THE TARIFF WAR DOESN'T HURT YOUR BUSINESS. A-MEN!

I am a professional musician, recording engineer and lifetime radio enthusiast. It seems odd these days to be raving about a table radio, but this little guy is simply wonderful. Lots of fun. The sound quality is superb - glorious mono! - and it can thoroughly fill a small room. The Kloss tuner is a classic and one of the best, still. There is nothing not to like about it, and it has a great retro-modern look as well.Some comments and caveats:If your hearing isn't what it used to be, or you already have and like the sound of one of the Bose offerings, you will not like this. The Tivoli's treble is rounded and natural, not crispy and hyped like the Bose. The Tivoli produces a good deal of bass, which gives the sound a lot of body. It's diminutive size belies the volume it can produce, but some may not like the bass, which I find to be likewise natural. This radio produces less low end than the similar Sangean, which I think is too bassy. There is no tone control.The tuner is one of the best ever. Being all analog, it can tune channels which might be getting swamped by adjacent frequencies. Tuning requires a bit of technique, which I think is part of the enjoyment. If you live in or near a city, the built-in antenna might be all you need, but if you are in a "fringe" area I highly recommend an outdoor FM antenna and good coax. (I use the Fanfare "college band" antenna. The Winegard Omni is very good as well.) That's when this thing comes alive. I can tune close to fifty stations where I am in a fringe area of New York State with this set-up. Band-scanning is very entertaining. <g> Even if you are not in a fringe area, today's homes are typically full of transmitters, from wi-fi to cordless phones and many others. These can swamp radio frequencies. If you can put up an outdoor antenna,you might want to.My older home has aluminum siding which makes AM reception impossible, but I have found late at night that a tunable external loop - a Tecsun AN200, bought on Amazon - allows me to receive nearly inaudible stations clearly. I have listened to Louisville, KY from my location. You just place this inexpensive device adjacent to the radio and tune it as you would the radio. If you are in a city, there should be plenty of reception with the internal antenna if you want AM.There is an auxiliary input for your iPod, etc. It uses a mini stereo cable.Apparently the tuner can get crackly with age, which is easily fixed by "exercising" the tuner, back and forth. This is common with analog controls. I suspect many people lock in one station and never adjust the tuner, which could be part of the problem. Also, if it is used in a kitchen, airborne grease will eventually build up on the contacts. Adjusting the controls regularly will help keep it clean.If you've had any desire for a little old-school radio, there is nothing better.

Changed review from 3 to 4 stars:Nov 2018 update: I returned original unit about a year ago and been using a Sangean SW11 ever since. But, while the Sangean is a good radio, the vocals are not very clear, so I bought another Tivoli Model One and it does not seem to have the drift and sticky tuner knob the first unit had. I gave the Tivoli another chance because it went on sale and was about same price as Sangean. For any music with vocals the sound of the Tivoli is superior for my ears.Edited after one day of use. Changing from 4 star to 3 stars, I am observing an issue with the tuning knob that is probably going to cause me to return the unit. See Pros #4 and Cons #4 for details.I now own both a Tivoli Pal BT (about a week) and this Model One (for one day). My initial impressions are that it lives up to my expectations and the fine reviews it gets. I listen primarily to one station on FM (WFRS) Smithtown aka Family Radio and 710 (WOR) New York City. I am located in Suffolk County (on Long Island).Pros: 1. FM is great (lyrics in music are quite differentiated from the music). Even better than the PAL. Plenty of sound for my apartment.2. Internal FM antenna OK, but the wire is better with a steadier signal.3. Solidly built all over. Quality parts.4. Smooth Controls. (See Cons below)5. Super simple to use. No bells and whistles to confuse.6. I would describe the sound as crisp and fairly full FM for such a small speaker.7. Looks great on my book shelf.Cons:1. AM is not useful for me (whereas the PAL is OK). But I think that is primarily because I keep the Model One in the same spot, while I canmove the PAL around. I will get a small external AM antenna that I can move around to see if that helps.2. Even though the FM wire antenna works for me, I think radios in this price class should come with a nicer dipole wire antenna.3. Not cheap for an AM/FM radio, although this beige model at $111 is not too exorbitant. $150 is too much.4. After using for a day, I am seeing stiffness in the tuning knob above station 100 on FM, knob remains smooth but gets uncomfortably stifffor the rest of the dial. Is it a lubrication issue or mechanical? I tried turning the knob briskly back and forth across the dial many times andstiffness remains. I do not have this issue at all on the PAL BT, which is smooth with same stiffness across the dial.

This Model One is a very fine radio, capable of pulling-in marginal stations. The sound quality is crisp and clear and, when using headphones, exhibits fine stereo separation. It is important to note that the speaker is monophonic -- if you want stereo, you need to use headphones and connect to a stereo source.It comes with a telescoping antenna and a manual that's worth reading and keeping (and its in a variety of languages.) For example, I connected a stereo CD player just by following directions. There was neither trickery nor needing to go off and get some exatic connectors.Ahhh... Radio the way it should be...

I have had one of these radios for years that I use in the main bathroom every morning. Gotta get the weather and news first thing. I like the whiteness and small size. Good quality tone and the new antenna (now a telescoping metal one -- the original one had a black droopy wire that I had to tape to the mirror) is a vast improvement in tone quality and esthetics! This radio replaces a tiny, and tinny, one that I had for years since it was about as big as a softball. Although this radio is larger, it is so far better in tone that I don't mind the extra bulk on the vanity in the guest bathroom. Worth every penny!