SangeanHDR-19 HD Radio/AM/FM-RDS/Bluetooth/AUX Premium Wooden Cabinet Radio

Great little radio, tons of value from a radio that’s just a bit smaller than a composition notebook. A lot of sound and it doesn’t take up a lot of space. (Picture for scale)I like this radio so much, I’m getting a second one for my mom for her birthday. It has all the functions of her old CD-radio, but the sound quality is so much better because the hybrid-digital eliminates static on the stations she listens to.The good:- phenomenal sound quality. At least as good as a Bose or JBL speaker.- Sangean is a legit business that has been around since before I was born, so the product is solid and well-made.- simple to use. Any functions on the radio are controlled by turning the “tuning” knob left to right and pushing down on the “tuning” knob to select / confirm options. The knob “clicks” like a button if you push down on it.- it has a sleep function so you can have it on as you’re going to sleep or leaving the house and it will turn off after up-to 60 minutes. (To use the sleep function, you have to hold down the power button for about 3 seconds)- it has a little “signal” icon in the top right corner that shows how strong your radio signal is, so it makes it easier to pick up on weaker stations.- it has forty (40!) memory presets: 20 for AM, 20 for FM. That’s more than enough for the number of stations I can or want to listen to.- it comes with a little remote control and it even has batteries included.The mediocre:- the instruction manual is non-existent. It comes with a QR code to scan which takes you to the virtual manual. I couldn’t be bothered with that so I figured it out on my own. It was pretty simple to figure out after messing around with it, but I think I’m going to be learning about this thing’s functions for a few more days.- you have to hit the “menu/info” button to scroll through the station info on any radio station that has digital data. The default display is always going to be call-sign. If you want to see the station name or song info, it doesn’t scroll through those automatically, so you have to push the button if you want to see more info.The neutral:- it’s A/C powered only, so if you’re looking for a portable or emergency radio, this isn’t it.- the four modes including Aux-cable is a bit outdated, but at least it has Bluetooth functionality. If you want to connect an old CD or cassette player to it, you could do that, so that’s pretty neat I guess. Anything that has a headphone jack is fair game to connect to this radio as long as you have an aux cable.If you’re looking for a standard AM/FM radio with great sound quality that can double as a Bluetooth speaker, this is it. You should get this one.

I've been researching compact home audio systems for several years. I have one old huge 8-speaker Technics component stereo and a smaller Pioneer component stereo - 500+ watts each - and I never use them because they are just too much. For years I had planned to hard-wire speakers throughout the house using one of these beasts but, again, it's just too much. I wanted something much smaller that sounded disproportionately good. I considered going the obvious route with a small army of Sonos speakers. Personally, I've never really found their sound to justify the immense cost. Being a fan of JBL, I was excited when they released the [new] Authentics series. They look and sound good but seem a bit cheaply made. While they are Wi-Fi and meant to compete with the Sonos, I'm constantly annoyed by JBL not getting any of their products to work together. If I were to do a wireless household audio system, I would want a decent sound bar included in the setup but JBL refuses to make any of their speaker series connect to each other and they're constantly changing the type of wireless technology while also not making any of it backwards compatible with older products.Then I finally decided to ditch the entire idea of an expansive interconnected household system. Our house is only 1,200 square feet on a single floor, so there really isn't a need for speakers in every single room. We have a collection of JBL Bluetooth speakers we use a lot with our mobile devices but I now wanted a tabletop radio with Bluetooth instead of always using the battery-powered JBL's (which are getting old and the batteries aren't lasting as long as they used to).I've also had a Sangean WR-15WL radio centrally located in our dining room for the past 10 years. It was connected to my girlfriend's turntable and we would occasionally use it to listen to OTA live FM radio. We actually really like to listen to live radio but don't often do so in the house as the WR-15WL reception and sound quality is decent but not awesome and radio tuning can be cumbersome. Still, the WR-15WL let me experience the high quality of a Sangean radio. So my new plan was to replace the Sangean WR-15WL in our dining room with something that has better sound, volume and features.My first consideration for a new radio was a Sangean WR-12BT or a WR-16 but I figured these would have the same standard radio tuner. Then the new Sangean HDR-19 was released. I didn't jump on it right away due to the price, but when I came across it on a really good sale, I ordered one right away. Unboxing it I wondered if I was going to keep it. Turning it on and giving it a quick trial, I wondered again if I was going to keep it.Well, that was a week ago and I've used it pretty much every day. The little Sangean HDR-19 turned out to be exactly what I was looking for: a compact, high-quality tabletop radio with clear and accurate radio tuning, an auxiliary input, Bluetooth and a good match of speakers and amplifier with some tone control (3-band digital EQ). To me, it sounds really good with a broad range of fairly crisp highs and mids and enough bass to fill out the whole sound. Despite suffering a bit at the top third of its capable volume, the radio definitely punches above its weight class. The controls are minimal and easy to navigate but the radio does require some minor setup (like time, date, emergency alert system and region selection for radio reception - hint: USA is region "B" which is not the default). Everything about the HDR-19 feels premium with smooth, LED-lit knobs and firm buttons. The LCD screen can be a bit cluttered but it does a good job of displaying information.I have no regrets at all in buying this radio. If you are looking for a small but very good sounding radio (FM & AM) with added features like Bluetooth and an auxiliary line-in (3.5mm stereo) definitely consider the HDR-19. If by any chance the radio is in stock locally, don't hesitate to go and try it out. You'll be able to tell right away that Sangean makes quality products. I strongly recommend this Sangean HDR-19 tabletop radio.