- Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 6 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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2.5 stars
"Analog reception great - Digital reception poor"
Pros: Good AM/FM reception on analog tuner only. Remote control is nice (aim it away from radio and still works).
Cons: Poor digital reception. The speakers do not sound that great for a table radio.
Summary: I bought this radio on eBay (used) and hooked it up. At first I couldn't pick up any digital broadcasts on AM or FM. I ended moving my FM dipole antenna over the window inside my apartment and was able to pick up one HD station. While listening in HD, the background noise gets quieter (no FM hiss from multipath). Maybe it is my aging ears, but the sound quality from the built-in radio speakers does not result in the improved listening experience in HD that I was expecting.
Sometimes I can pick up one AM HD station briefly. While clearer sounding than analog, digital AM radio sounds like an low bit rate Internet audio stream. I was hearing the AM signal cut in and out from analog to digital while listing to a baseball game.
Since I bought this radio for HD listening, I was somewhat disappointed with the very low number of stations I can pick up in HD (and I am in the New York Metropolitan area where analog stations are crowded all over the dial).
Updated on Jul 22, 2009This radio also has a very large, annoying AC adapter "brick" on the power cord that hums when plugged in. I recommend getting the newer Sony HD table radio with the power supply built in (Sony XDR-S10HDiP, which also has an iPod dock).
Updated on Jul 22, 2009Correction: My previous update was incorrect. I later discovered the Sony XDR-S10HDiP radio also has a external AC adapter (power supply not built into the radio).
