First Impressions of the Sangean CL-100 Emergency/AM/FM Radio Are Very Positive

Looking for a compact clock radio that would take up far less space than my trusty Sangean WR-2, I bought this Sangean CL-100 about 2 or 3 months ago on Amazon for $62 and free shipping. It was on back order all these months and finally arrived today.

I haven't tested it much or even consulted the manual but so far here are my impressions:

Reception:

Very good on FM, including the weak KPCC 89.3 with the telescopic antenna. No overload.

AM is very clear with no birdies or background noise.

Speaker Sound:

Unlike my bass-heavy Sangean K-200 and muddy Sangean PR-D5, the CL-100 sounds crisp and surprisingly NOT-tinny for a tiny speaker. 

Interface:

So far the interface looks high quality, is easy to use, and intuitive. We'll see how reliable it is over time.

Build Quality:

This little fighter of a radio seems to have better build quality than I expected from a modern radio. Again, we'll have to put it to the test of time, but thus far my impressions are very positive. I hope I have a winner on my hand but past experiences have compelled me to be cautious about singing rhapsodies to any new radio. We'll have to wait and see. 

Comments

[Doug T.]

Hey, great that you are enjoying it. I have to disagree with the quality of the speaker -- I don't really think that this sort of speaker compares with larger units. But the audio through headphones is just great, showing that the electronics are solid.

Have you experimented much with the programming of the unit?

[Doug H.]

I've been looking at the Amazon reviews, trying to get a feel for how people like this radio. One thing confuses me - does the siren activate for all watches/warnings the user has programmed, or can you set it for voice only? I've been looking for a replacement for my 10-year old Oregon Scientific WR196T, which functions well as an alert radio but is a real pain to set up and program.

[Jeffrey McMahon]

I didn't set up alert and hope to never hear one.