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.

Comments

[Ed Birnbaum]

I agree with all the positive comments, BUT...I exchanged the first one I bought at Circuit City in Portland because the snooze feature didn't work. You should be able to get 5 (or maybe 10) minutes silence when it turns on at the preset time by touching the rim. Didn't happen. Now, with my second, it only works very occasionally. I'm reluctant to go back to Circuit City without getting some response from BA first, but I have haven't gotten any answer to my Email sent to Tech Supp after 2 wks. I just left a voice message. Anyone had any experience with their tech support or service dept?

[Jeff McMahon]

Ed,

Another Ed, Ed Strnad, told me he CALLED Boston Acoustics and they arranged a mail exchange over the phone. That might be the best way to go. Jeff

[Harry]

Hi Jeff,

I discovered this radio last night while cruising through Target.

I turned it on to see if it would work and was instantly amazed at the sound quality. I've been searching for a right size, right sounding desktop radio for a long time. I was reluctant to purchase the radio until I read more about it.

After reading some of the feedback about the bugs, I may take one to the customer service counter and have the sales staff open it for inspection for testing prior to leaving the store. That way, if it is a buggy unit, I can save myself some trouble by swapping it on the spot for a fully funtional unit.

Harry
Casper, WY

[Harry]

Ok, I bought this radio last night. I found one bug, but I still love the radio. The volume control did lock up at 17 while increasing the volume. I reset the power and it cleared the problem.

My take on this is that there is probably a CPU in there that was not programmed for a fast user. I have seen this problem in computerized X-Ray front panel controls. Sometimes, the fix is a new firmware install. A faster fix is to get the user to slow down a tad. Pushing buttons, or turning knobs a little slower can reduce errors. X-Ray techs get so fast at operating the controls, they actually trip up the equipment. I will slow down how fast I turn the knobs and see if the problem goes away.

As for the audio, I'm pleased. It will be a great companion at my work desk.

As for the tuner, it pulls in the weak stations my other radios have a hard time locking onto.

This radio is a keeper.

Harry
Casper, WY

[jeffrey McMahon]

I agree with your points. The 17 volume lock is common and after I contacted BA, they gave me instructions for disabling the "hotel courtesy" volume limit. I posted those instructions on my website.

[Andy]

I recently received my second Horizon Duo-i with build in iPod dock. The first was returned because the system would inexplicably turn off after a couple minutes of playing in iPod mode. The replacement was good until I experienced the issue with the volume getting stuck at an upper limit. Once it got stuck at 14 and another time at 10. The volume level flashed and then beeped, as if I was setting a preset on the tuner. Unplugging the unit overnight did not fix the issue. I've emailed BA tech support to see if there is a solution. I agree with others that the radio sounds absolutely fantastic.

[Jeff]

Quick question for those with this radio... Does the Alarm mode recall the volume for wake up. That is, I like to go to sleep using Sleep functions with the volume low but then wake to the radio with the volume higher. I'm having a heck of a time finding a radio that allows a different volume setting for the Alart mode.

[herculodge]

While I've never used my Solo's alarm function, I'm surprised that the Solo and other clock radios don't have the feature you describe. I'm sorry I don't know the answer to your question. Maybe someone will.