Herculodge

5 Reasons the Boston Acoustics Horizon Solo Will Replace the Recepter

Inexplicably, Target in Torrance, CA, prematurely stocked the brand new $99 Boston Acoustics Horizon Solo, which I purchased and tested against my $149 Boston Acoustics Recepter. A comparison test makes it clear that the new Horizon Solo, which, like the Recepter has 20 presets on a tuning knob, is for many reasons a superior radio to the Recepter and for 50 dollars less. It appears to me that the Horizon Solo will push the Recepter out of the market and effectively replace it. Here are 5 reasons:

One: The tuner on the Recepter for AM/FM is almost perfect but unbelievably the Horizon Solo is even better on AM making even less background noise. FM is also markedly stronger on the Horizon Solo so that I don't even have to elevate the FM wire antenna 99% of the time.

Two: The Horizon Solo with its rubber casing has a more modern look and renders the Recepter a stale looking dinosaur.

Three: The Horizon Solo has a headphone jack whereas the Recepter does not.

Four: The Horizon Solo has a bigger, more powerful, more pleasant sounding speaker.

Five: The Horizon Solo is fifty dollars less retail.

Final Thoughts: I have to assume that the Recepter will go extinct and will be selling at bargain prices as Boston makes room for their new radio champion. Also, the Horizon Solo is a far superior radio in terms of sound and reception to the more expensive Sangean WR-2, Eton Sound 100, and Tivoli Songbook. The Horizon Solo's clear superiority should make the competing radio companies go back and improve their models. If they don't, they are going to lose a huge market share to the highly recommended Horizon Solo.

For two more descriptions of my impressions of the Horizon Solo, CLICK HERE and HERE.

Update: The Horizon Solo is now selling on  Amazon.

Second Update: It appears the Horizon Solo suffers from a small bug: One reader and I  both have experienced that when we're playing our radios,  the time display loses its accuracy by being 5 minutes too slow and once we turn off the radio, the time restores to its accurate point. Even with this small glitch, I stick to my claim that the Horizon Solo is the best clock radio between $100-200. The only competition is the $240-300 Sangean WR-3.

For updates of the Horizon Solo, CLICK HERE.

Below is my Horizon Solo reconfigured in vertical position. I prefer the horizontal because it is less prone to tip over:

Which Tivoli Radios Are Worth Getting--And Which Ones Are Not

I own all of the above Tivoli radios (the Model One and Model Three are for sale for reasons I'll get to so I'll be a former owner of them soon) and having compared them I feel qualified to give each one a judgment. First, all of the radios are extremely attractive and easy to use. Their fit, finish, and overall aesthetic makes them highly coveted radios, which enjoy a high price. But performance between the four Tivoli radios varies and I would like to explain why I recommend two of them while I would like to steer you away from two others.

1. The Tivoli Model One: A beautiful radio in cobalt blue with walnut cabinet. Easy to use. AM sounds great. The speaker is wonderful. Sadly, though, FM is mediocre at best and even when you do lock in on an FM station, you will get signal fade. A $120 radio should get you better FM reception. For this reason my verdict is:  NOT RECOMMENDED. A better alternative: The Boston Acoustics Horizon Solo for $99.

2. The Tivoli Model Three: I bought mine for $65 two months ago when it was retailing for $199. Now it's retailing for $299. What do you get? Essentially a Tivoli Model One with a clock and a slightly bigger, louder speaker. The AM is fine but, like the Model One, the FM is shaky. This may be the most overpriced radio in the market. Verdict: NOT RECOMMENDED. A better alternative: The Boston Acoustics Horizon Solo for $99.

3. Tivoli Songbook: I bought two Songbooks for $159 and its telescopic antenna improves FM. No signal fade. AM is adequate. The 5 presets are welcome. It looks great. The speaker is full and clear. It has the "gotta have it" factor. I noticed on Amazon the price has gone up to $199. If money is no issue with you then my verdict is: RECOMMENDED. Less expensive alternatives: The $115 Kaito 2100 or The $70 Sangean PR-D5.

4. Tivoli PAL: I bought mine 4 years ago for $130 and now the PAL is $200, very pricey indeed. Its analog tuner with telescopic antenna gets me better FM than the Model One and Three. Its AM is strong. Its speaker is rich and full. It automatically recharges the battery. My only complaint is that the rubber case gets dirty and does not clean easily. Verdict: RECOMMENDED. Because this is a unique radio, there really is no outdoor rechargeable radio to recommend as an alternative. If you want to save money for an outdoor radio, just get the aforementioned PR-D5 or even a cheap $45 RCA Super Port/formerly GE Superradio III (Amazon is selling the RCA Super Port for $142 today; this must be a mistake; usually Amazon sells it for about $45) and use batteries.

The $99 Boston Acoustics Horizon Solo Ushers a New Radio Era

The two radios above are actually one radio, the $99 Boston Acoustics Horizon Solo. As a radio enthusiast for the last 5 years or so, I am going to go out on a limb and say that the Horizon Solo represents a huge leap in radio innovation, reception, ergonomics, and sound quality, especially when one considers its affordable price point. Let us go over the features that make it clearly superior to its competition (I am not an employee for Boston Acoustics; I am simply assessing its quality in comparison to dozens upon dozens of radios that I own or that I have tried):

1. The sound is big, crisp, bright, detailed, and talk radio sounds intimate. I own the Boston Acoustics Recepter that retails for $150 and the Horizon Solo sounds even better with its 3.5-inch speaker.
2. The interface is easy to use. You simply press the mode button and scroll through the radio bands, the clock, the bass, the treble, etc.
3. The size and shape leaves a small footprint by the bedside. No radio of this size comes close to generating this quality of sound.
4. Now for the most impressive part: The AM/FM reception is amazing. I'm sick of suffering mediocre FM on my Tivoli Model One and Three, my Sangean WR-2. The Horizon Solo leaves these other radios in the dust and it's the least expensive by far. With the Horizon Solo's wire FM antenna hanging below (I don't even bother to elevate it.), the Horizon Solo is grabbing tough-to-get FM stations like 89.3, 88.9, and 103.1 with ease--as good if not better than my legendary Kaito 1103. The tuner is so good, I may have to sell several of my radios throughout the house and replace them with the Horizon Solo. As soon as word spreads about the Horizon Solo's tuner performance, the competition is going to have to go back to their tech department and start all over again. Consumers aren't going to fork out good dough for subpar reception when they can buy a Horizon Solo.

Final Thoughts: The very capable Boston Acoustics Recepter, which retails for $50 more than the Horizon Solo, should be on its way out soon. It has less features than the Solo; it doesn't even have a headphone jack and sure enough the Solo has one. The Solo gets even better reception than the BAR and it has a replaceable grill so that you can get a variety of colors that suit your taste. Moreover, as you can see from the photos above, you can configure the read-out bezel so that the radio is either vertical or horizontal. My congrats to Boston Acoustics for making a radio that smart people want to buy.

For the story of how I by chance stumbled upon the Horizon Solo, which inexplicably was stocked on a Torrance, Ca,Target shelf a month before its official release date, CLICK HERE. 

Update: I bought a second Horizon Solo because my Tivoli Songbook and Tivoli Model Three were performing miserably. Due to the amount of computer interference I was skeptical about the Horizon Solo's AM/FM sensitivity but it pulls in most stations that the Songbook and Model Three could not and unlike the Model Three there is no signal fade. The performance in my interference-laden office attests to the Horizon Solo's superior tuner.

Below is another new offering: The Boston Acoustics Horizon Duo, which retails for about $150 and is being sold at Electronic Warehouse.

A New Player in the Clock Radio Wars: The Boston Acoustics Horizon Solo

This afternoon my wife and I were doing our monthly visit to Target to buy cleaners and toiletries when I told her I wanted to visit the electronics section. I'm a lost soul, helplessly in search for a radio chimera, an AM/FM-grabbing Uber Alles. God knows every time I go there an outrageous sale is going on a Tivoli radio or some new gizmo I've never seen before is sitting on the shelf. Such was the case today as I espied a mysterious man in his sixties in a dark blue suit. With furrowed brow, he was fiddling with a strange looking radio. The man was absorbed in his tinkering; at the same time, he seemed to live in some serene, ethereal world far away from the throng of Target shoppers. He was twisting the digital tuner read-out dial/clock bezel so that the radio could be used in both a horizontal or vertical position. My curiosity piqued, I inched my way toward the gentleman and lo and behold I was in the presence of the $99 Boston Acoustics Horizon Solo.  The sound, produced from a 3.5-inch speaker, is great, like the Boston Acoustics Recepter we use in the kitchen, and the tuner grabbed 89.3 KPCC, a problematic FM station in Torrance. Mind you, this was in a high-interference store. I told the man the radio was amazing but that sadly I'd have to pass on it since I had so many radios at home. Calmly, he told me I had better get one. The man appeared to have supernatural powers, like the Mephistophelean tailor and coat peddler who persuades Akaky to save all his money to buy an overcoat from Gogol's masterpiece "The Overcoat." Like the lugubrious Akaky intoxicated by the prospect of a magical overcoat, I was tipsy at the thought of getting the Horizon Solo, so much to my wife's consternation I bought the radio and figured if it worked well at home, I'd sell my current clock radio, a very good albeit compromised FM-performing Sangean WR-2. I was eager to get the Horizon home and test its AM/FM. I was not disappointed: The AM is excellent. The FM, even with the 24-inch wire external antenna (not the telescopic that I prefer) receives all my favorite FM stations and more. Honestly, the FM tuner is on steroids: It's grabbing 103.1 and 89.3 better than my legendary Kaito 1103 and the Horizon Solo relies on a wire antenna. The sound is crystal clear. It has 20 presets. It has an easy-to-use interface for memories, bass, treble, clock, and alarm. You can position the radio vertically or horizontally. It doesn't leave a big footprint next to your bed. An improvement over the more expensive Boston Acoustics Recepter, the Horizon Solo, unlike the forlorn Recepter, has a stereo headphone jack. Honestly, I think the Horizon will eat away at Recepter sales and effectively replace it. Considering its amazing FM, I think we can crown the affordable $99 Horizon Solo the current king in the clock radio wars. As for my Sangean WR-2, I just put it up for sale. The tuner is so exceptional, grabbing all my AM and FM stations with such power and clarity, I'm tempted to sell several radios I use in my house and replace them with the Horizon Solo. This radio represents a huge leap in radio technology and innovation.  For those who want to fork out $50 more, Boston Acoustics has a stereo version, the  Horizon Duo.

The Best Small and Mid-Sized Radio for Those Who Will Not Compromise on Reception

I really tried hard to like both my Tivoli Model One and my  Tivoli Model Three, (great speaker sound) but both radios offer a serious compromise in FM reception. To remedy the Model One's, I keep a Kaito 1103  sitting atop it so that I can 89.3 KPCC while I'm working out in the yoga room at home. As for the Model Three, I use it at work and must use an unsightly C.Crane Reflect FM Antenna to improve FM. For my bedside clock radio I use and love my Sangean WR-2, but I must say the WR-2, like the Tivoli's mentioned above, suffers compromised FM reception and to remedy the WR-2's weakness, I keep a reliable and sadly no-longer-made Grundig G4000  ontop of the WR-2 in order to tune in to the aforementioned KPCC.

Update: Eventually, I sold both my Model One, my Model Three, and my Sangean WR-2 and replaced them with the Boston Acoustics Horizon Solo, which I review HERE.

What about radio lovers who don't want to having radios sitting on top of radios? What two radios, both a small portable and a mid-size, would constitute the best radios for those who refuse to compromise on reception? Looking at all the strengths and weaknesses of 30 or so radios, my verdict is this:

The Best Small Portable: Eton E5 or its clone the Grundig G5.  The Eton, in gray, and the Grundig, in black, are improved updates of my Kaito 1103 in that they offer far superior interface and easier, more logical ergonomics. For an excellent E5 review, see RadioIntel.

The Best Mid-Sized Radio: Kaito 2100. The 2100 is like having the familiar Eton/Grundig S350 but better because it is digital with presets. For an excellent review of the 2100 clone, the Redsun, see RadioIntel.

So there you have it. If you're new to radios and can only buy two, you can't go better than the Eton E5 and the Kaito 2100. If you only want one radio and don't need a compact one, the superior AM on the 2100 over the E5 make it the best radio you can buy, especially in its $99-120 price range. A better version of the 2100, the Redsun 3100,will have direct entry, more memories, etc., but it may not be available for two more years or so. And many of us will want an American vendor with a warranty and will have to wait another year for the radio to be rebadged by another company like Kaito or C.Crane or Eton. And there is no guarantee that that will even happen. So for now get the Kaito 2100. 

3 Beautiful, Haunting Pop Songs About Addiction

Number One: "Pills" by The Perishers

Number Two: "Lover's Spit" by Broken Social Scene

Number Three: "Bridge" by Page France (sorry, couldn't find "Bridge" link)

The $42 Sony ICF M-1000 Falls Short on FM Performance

Originally selling for $130-150 and now selling on Amazon for $42-45, the Sony ICF-M1000 is delivering a lot of radio for the money and I imagine is selling briskly. For less than half the cost of a Tivoli Model One (which I also own), the Sony offers equal performance in  AM/FM reception. I much prefer the Tivoli's sound, much brighter and crisper with greater separation in my subjective opinion. However, the Sony has more features, digital tuner read-out (even though it's an analog tuner) and a clock. It's also a bit larger than the Tivoli and only comes in high-gloss black. Both radios deliver bigger than average sound and are great on AM. But the Sony, like the Tivoli, gives me problems with hard-to-get FM stations, such as 89.3 KPCC. If you can find a Tivoli Model One for about $75, get it over the Sony. If you are fastidious about getting the best FM reception possible and want a large-speaker radio, there is a better radio than the Sony and the Tivoli--and that is the Kaito 2100, a re-badged Redsun, which costs between $99-120.

If You're Choosing Between the Boston Acoustics Recepter and the Tivoli Model One

If you're choosing between the Boston Acoustics Recepter (retails for $150 but is commonly on sale on Internet for $95 or so) and the Tivoli Model One (retails for $119 and can be purchased commonly for $75-85), you need to know that while both are high-end radios, they have huge differences. I own both and will say that because the Tivoli Model One could not with its stock piggy tail wire antenna get me some Los Angeles stations: 89.3, 88.9, 97.1, and 103.1 The Model One's AM reception was perfectly fine though sometimes on both AM and FM you will get a little signal fade. This is too bad because I really wanted to fall in love with the Model One. It remains popular with radio lovers. Its appeal is its pleasant full, rich speaker, its retro design, and its simple analog tuning.

The Recepter is a different beast altogether. It is digital, it has a clock, an alarm, and presets. Its speaker is rich and full also but most people prefer the Tivoli's. What makes me recommend the Recepter over the Tivoli is its superior reception. I play mine in the kitchen. I simply elevate the wire piggy tail antenna by hooking it to a cupboard knob and receive all the stations my Model One does not get. The Recepter's AM is great. There is no signal fade. If you don't have any special reception needs (but don't we all?), and love the style of the Tivoli, it will probably satisfy. But most of us want the best reception possible so I say that if you can find a Recepter for under $100 and you don't need a headphone jack (the Recepter doesn't provide one making it useless for a bedside radio if your partner doesn't want to hear your all-night talk or music), you should choose the Recepter. If you don't need digital, preset or alarm features, you might want to look at the attractively priced Sony ICF-M1000, which costs about $45 with $13 shipping. For a brief review of the Sony, CLICK HERE. 

A Renewed Appreciation for my Kaito 1103

I've had my Kaito 1103 for 3 or 4 years now and while I've often disdained its woeful ergonomics (no volume turning knob; you have to press volume numbers followed by volume button, completely ridiculous) and its lack of musical fidelity, I have to say that FM reception struggles with my recently-acquired Tivoli Model One have renewed my appreciation for the Kaito. The Tivoli has a wonderful speaker and looks great. Its AM is fine. On FM is has no problem with 88.3, 89.9, and 91.5. But its FM is weak on 88.9, 89.3, 97.1, and 103.1--even when I attach a C.Crane Reflect Antenna. In contrast, my little 1103 gets all of the aforementioned FM stations with boldness and clarity. Who wants to screw around with antennas, attachments, and constantly move the antenna this way and that way when your trusty 1103 pulls in all the FM stations with ease? I may buy the upgraded clone of the 1103, the Eton E5, attach a cable between the E5 and the Model One and use the E5's tuner and the Model One's speaker. That's a far better scenario than festooning my office with the giant, eyesore of the Reflect Antenna.

Sangean WR-3 Enters Clock Radio Competition with an FM Telescopic Antenna

It's hard to find a high-end clock radio with a telescopic FM antenna and a remote control but here it is, the Sangean WR-3.  My current bed side clock radio the Sangean WR-2 does not have an FM antenna and in bad weather it sometimes needs one. But now the Sangean WR-3 enters the market, retailing for $299 and currently selling for $268 on Amazon. I'm tempted to replace my WR-2 with it, but it seems too high. It's even pricier than the new Internet radio, the Sangean WFR-20 WiFi Internet Radio, which goes for $250. In spite of the WiFi's positive reviews, I don't trust the technology and don't want to hear music rebuffering every now and then. Back to the WR-3: If the price went down to $200 or so, I might fork out the money and replace my WR-2. The other thing is I don't need or want a CD player on my clock radio. I prefer simplicity. If only Sangean would put a telescopic antenna on the WR-2. I think I'll hook up the C. Crane FM Reflect Antenna (should arrive in a week or so) to the WR-2 and see if it significantly improves the WR-2's FM reception. If the antenna isn't too big and cumbersome for my bedside, I'll keep it there, but to be honest I don't imagine I'll want to see some crazy antenna sticking over my bedside. The jungle gym effect isn't exactly the bedroom aesthetic I'm looking for.

Update: A great sounding radio with an incredible tuner has been released, The $99 Boston Acoustics Horizon Solo. For my enthusiastic review of this high-performance radio, CLICK HERE.

It's hard to find a high-end clock radio with a telescopic FM antenna and a remote control but here it is, the Sangean WR-3.  My current bed side clock radio the Sangean WR-2 does not have an FM antenna and in bad weather it sometimes needs one. But now the Sangean WR-3 enters the market, retailing for $299 and currently selling for $268 on Amazon. I'm tempted to replace my WR-2 with it, but it seems too high. It's even pricier than the new Internet radio, the Sangean WFR-20 WiFi Internet Radio, which goes for $250. In spite of the WiFi's positive reviews, I don't trust the technology and don't want to hear music rebuffering every now and then. Back to the WR-3: If the price went down to $200 or so, I might fork out the money and replace my WR-2. The other thing is I don't need or want a CD player on my clock radio. I prefer simplicity. If only Sangean would put a telescopic antenna on the WR-2. I think I'll hook up the C. Crane FM Reflect Antenna (should arrive in a week or so) to the WR-2 and see if it significantly improves the WR-2's FM reception. If the antenna isn't too big and cumbersome for my bedside, I'll keep it there, but to be honest I don't imagine I'll want to see some crazy antenna sticking over my bedside. The jungle gym effect isn't exactly the bedroom aesthetic I'm looking for.

Update: A great sounding radio with an incredible tuner has been released, The $99 Boston Acoustics Horizon Solo. For my enthusiastic review of this high-performance radio, CLICK HERE.