WR-22BK AM/FM-RDS/Bluetooth/USB Table-Top Digital Tuning Receiver (Black)

With our entertainment center relegated to the basement, we needed something for the living/dining room to play the morning news on the radio and the occasional background music for entertaining (light entertaining -- we're too old and baby-having to throw a big, loud shindig). I've had a Sangean atomic clock radio in the bedroom for a couple years and am very happy with its tuning performance, so I wanted to see what Sangean had in the way of music systems. I was momentarily sidetracked by the Tivoli Model One, which sure is pretty, but some radio geeks on a blog swore up and down that the Tivoli doesn't tune as well nor sound as good as the Sangean (WR-2, essentially the same as the WR-22 minus bluetooth), and I can't stand fighting with an analog tuner to find a station. Plus you have to pay a LOT more to get the Bluetooth Tivoli. So then I considered the Sangean WR-12BT, which offers a very simple, retro, analog tuner appearance somewhat like the Tivoli (I was worried my wife wouldn't like all the blinky button-y LED-y digitality of the WR-22 out on display on the bar), plus stereo sound and Bluetooth, although some people complained about the sound quality. I ended up ordering both and giving them a listen at home. It really comes down to style and your desire for digital features. Both radios sounded very good in a medium living room. The WR-12BT does seem a bit bass-heavy and muddled at first, but turning the bass knob down and treble knob up a bit did the trick. While the WR-12BT's woofer provides pretty good bass, it's better at the low-lows than the low-mids, so songs with funky bass lines sounded kinda thin. The single 3" speaker of the WR-22, on the other hand, provided excellent bass licks in the low-mid range (even after I turned the Loudness setting to Off, b/c frankly it was a bit thick), even though it couldn't reach the same low-lows as the -12BT (y'know, for your techno and hip hop). Switching quickly back and forth between the two on the same stations, the -12BT actually (and strangely) sounded a bit "smaller" than the -22 at comparable volumes, probably because of the better mid-range fidelity of the -22. The stereo sound of the -12BT is nice, but the mono -22 sounds great enough on its own that you don't really miss the stereo, at least not for a casual background radio. I think the -12BT is a good bit louder at max than the -22, but the -22 fills the room amply and I don't think I'll ever be cranking it to max anyway (like I said, we're beyond that). And unless you're a serious audiophile that is looking for your primary music system and are ready to shell out several hundred bucks for some other fancy system, both the -12BT (with tweaking) and the -22 sound great on their own; if you weren't listening to them side-by-side to figure out that one sounds better for jazz/classical or the other sounds better for rock, you would never know what you're missing, you'd just think you got a pretty good shelf system for a very good price. So if you want the handy features of digital tuning, 5 memory presets, a clock (that handily sets itself once you tune to a station broadcasting RDS), and a remote control, go with the WR-22. If you want something that will look cool at your Mad Men party and you don't mind manual tuning with no presets, get the WR-12BT.

Radio arrived in good condition, and was easy to open the box. I have had zero problems with it in the 24 hours I've owned it. Display has three brightness settings, and Setting 1 is great for the bedroom at night. Display will brighten to "max" for a few seconds if a button is pushed however, then return to current setting. Haven't used alarm yet, but apparently it "fades in" (music or buzzer) rather than blasting at full volume right off the bat. A good feature. Sleep function works just fine and I did test that out. Sound quality is just fine, and the treble and bass have adjustments in addition to the radio having a "loudness" setting (either on or off) which, when on, increased both the treble and bass. AM and FM (especially AM) reception are pretty darn good, and beat out a Sony ICF-38 portable radio I have sitting right next to it (though the Sony is not a bad radio either.) Sound quality is much better than the Sony though of course the Sony was never intended to be a "room filling" radio. I have not had the need to plug in the wire antenna that came with the radio, though if your FM reception is lacking it might help with that. Also has option to attach external antenna if purchased. Bluetooth works really well so far, and sound quality is as good as the radio. Plenty of volume while using Bluetooth. Other reviews have stated that the Bluetooth "cuts out" when they walk in between their source and the radio. I have not noticed this but have both iPhone and radio on same table so am not blocking the signal in any way. Radio seems solid, and looks real nice on my desk (I bought the black one.) Fingerprints show up easily, but it's easy enough to just touch the buttons most of the time rather than the body of the radio so it's easy to keep it "clean" looking. The owners manual states that the clock can be set "manually" or by using the broadcast of certain radio stations. Some reviewers have said the time "varies" quite a bit. I think that's because they didn't set the time manually and instead are relying on radio stations to tell the radio what time it is. For what it's worth I also set the time using the radio broadcasts and so far the radio is still right in sync with the time on my iPhone...and I've changed stations plenty of times in 24 hours and had the radio on and off several times. When the unit is off, the display is still lit (at your chosen setting) and will display the time and date. A nice feature, and easy-to-read from across the room if you have the brightness set on either 2 or 3. I have had no issues with the tuning or volume knobs making changes "slowly" as some other reviewers have noted. Seems to be very precise and incremental. This is a neat radio in my opinion, and a decent substitute (and smaller...a good thing) than the Bose Wave Radio that costs about twice as much. Clock Tip: I have read other reviews complaining that the clock loses/gains time constantly. I initially had that problem as well and called Sangean about it. They answered right away and gave me the following solution, which works! 1. With the power (radio) off, press and hold the menu/info button until it beeps. Then release. 2. Rotate the tuning knob until RDS-CT shows (if "Manual" is shows instead then don't press to change to RDS-CT). 3. Press and release the tuning knob. 4. Rotate the tuning knob until it says "Manual" 5. Press and release the tuning knob. 6. Rotate the tuning knob until it says "Time Set" and proceed to set the time as instructed in the manual. The Sangean guy said that the reason the time was not correct is that many of the radio stations broadcasting the RDS-Ct auto-time are broadcasting the incorrect time. Setting the time using the "Manual" setting as above will override this.

It "exploded" 15 seconds after connecting it for the first time and was "dead" thereafter. This was a very bad experience.

No tiene la calidad de bose, pero es competitivo

Dislike was that they delivered it with the original box and not with another protective box and left on my porch so if someone wanted to steal it they could’ve because it showed what was inside . The radio works amazing easy to program very classy look all in black. The Bluetooth connection connects very easy with my I phone . The display has different brightness the sound from the speaker is amazing it’s not a Bose but it also cost a lot less . Comes with the remote so anyone can keep it from a distance,USB to charge you phone is a great feature.I give it two thumbs up👍👍radio stations are precise as the digital system works fine