About three months ago I was at Target looking at radios (God knows I don't need another one) when I was shocked to see that the Tivoli Model Three was on sale for $50. This had to be a mistake since the radio retails for $200. I wanted to buy the last one Target had but it was the display model and the manager would not sell it. I gave him my name and called every day for their next shipment but it never came. During this time I saw the Tivoli Model Three selling for about $75 on Amazon from secondary vendors as "new in box." My guess is that people were buying them at all the Targets and then selling them on Amazon. I found one for $66. I already own a Tivoli Songbook (digital with presets) and a Tivoli PAL (analog like the Model Three) so I was curious about the Model Three's performance. First, the good news. The speaker is fantastic, even better than my beloved Boston Acoustics Recepter. The problem was that the Model Three wasn't locking in on stations, both AM and FM, very well. When the amber tuning light glowed at its brightest, the sound was good, but if I moved away from the radio for a while and returned to it, the amber light would often fade and the signal would have faded with it. I tried to remedy the problem by taking off the stock wire antenna and replacing it with a $15 Terk FM antenna. Initially I thought that the Terk had cured the radio of signal fade, but about a week or two later my esteem for the Terk lowered as I noticed fading again. A reader of my blog suggested a $29 C.Crane Reflect FM Antenna, but customer reviews were mixed and I didn't want this unsightly wire to deal with. Isn't a good radio in part about aesthetics?
For the next month I rarely played the Model Three because of signal fade. Then I decided to replace my Grundig S350 in my college office because its long antenna was intrusive, poking out the eyes of my officemates and students. Curiously, in my office the Model Three works better without the Terk as it seems to like the stock wire antenna draped over my tower fan. I still get some signal fade but this is expected in my high-interference office with all its computers and with the thick concrete walls.
Back to the Model Three's pricing: I think for $200 it should be digital with presets. Also, the vendors on Amazon are selling it for about $150, which tells me the Target bargains are long gone.
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