This is an attractive radio, with wood cabinet and huge monoaural speaker that produces great sound. How great is the sound? Let me point out that the speaker is richer and fuller than my Boston Acoustics Radio, my Eton Sound 100, my Tivoli Songbook, my Tivoli PAL, and my Sangean WR-2. The aforementioned radios are all of premium quality and have nice speakers but not as nice as the Tivoli Three's. It also has the treasured Tivoli nameplate. But $200 for an analog radio? No presets? You've got to be kidding. So I was resigned to not getting the Tivoli Model Three until I found a new one being sold by a vendor on Amazon for $66. I've had the radio for about a month now and while the speaker is incredible, the tuner is a nightmare because of signal fade on FM and AM. When I'm locked into the station's "sweet spot," the sound is fine but there is no stability here. The only remedy is to stay close to the radio and let your body work as an antenna since the piggy tail wire antenna in the back is mostly worthless. Another solution would be to hook up a Kaito 1103 (featured below as it sits atop my Sangean WR-2)with a ten-dollar cable to the Tivoli and simply use the Tivoli's speaker while using the Kaito's tuner. One reader suggested that I remedy the signal fade by hooking up a dipole antenna. I might try that. Update: 10-17-07: I replaced the provided wire antenna with a 15-dollar Terk FM antenna and the FM drift is now gone. So I'm happily using my Tivoli Three in the living room. Its speaker trumps all the other radios in the house. But to make this radio worth $200, it should be digital with presets and have a telescopic antenna. A telescopic antenna need not be too long. My Eton Sound 100's telescopic antenna is a mere 30 inches, and the FM reception is fantastic.
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I have the model 3 and am very pleased with the FM reception - no drift for me. Did you try using a dipole antenna on it?
Posted by: Michael | October 19, 2007 at 11:38 AM
I bought a Terk antenna with minimal results. But I will look into the dipole antenna since this great-sounding radio deserves a second chance. Thanks for the suggestion. Herculodge.
Posted by: Jeff McMahon | October 19, 2007 at 11:50 AM
I've got the FM Reflect antenna hooked up to it, but I think a regular dipole should be fine. I use the Terk AM Advantage for AM and that makes a significant improvement, but it still isn't a great AM unit.
Posted by: Michael | October 19, 2007 at 12:19 PM
I just posted a Terk AM/FM + on the Tivoli and while the antenna is mediocre it has remedied the signal fade. The Terk was unused for 3 years. I just found a use for it. Thanks.
Posted by: Jeff McMahon | October 19, 2007 at 01:18 PM
How well does that Terk help the AM?
Posted by: Michael | October 20, 2007 at 05:19 PM
I haven't noticed any difference in AM except that my Tivoli no longer drifts.
Posted by: Jeff McMahon | October 20, 2007 at 05:58 PM