Home > Consumer Reviews > Tivoli Audio PALBLU Portable Audio Laboratory (PAL) AM / FM Radio, Electric Blue

I bought this product to play MP3s through my Ipod at work. However, I also use it to listen to the radio. The tuner is great because I am now able to listen to all of the FM stations in my area. With my old radio, I was only able to get one station at work. I also bought a second Tivoli at home for the same purpose and the battery runs for a very long time without recharging. This gives me the ability to take the Tivoli into any room and also allows me to listen to my ipod without the headphones.

This is a great little radio - sound is amazing for the size, and picks up even weak stations with NO static. I am impressed every time I turn it on.

I wanted a small radio that would pick up a weak station we like to listen to - was initially put off by the price and lack of bells and whistles - but performance of this radio blows the socks off all the "fancy" radio/CD combos I looked at.

As advertised, the PAL is the perfect porch radio. For its size and portability, the sound quality is outstanding. Reception is as good or better than any other portable I own, especially Walkman style units. But don't stray too far from the house for very long. I'm very disappointed with the battery performance of my unit. Initially I had a problem getting the battery charged. After several recommendations provided willingly by Tivoli Audio staff, I finally got the battery charged but it has never held a charge for very long. Early on, on a full charge, my PAL would play for the better part of a day (at relatively low volume) but now (the unit is about a year old) I'm lucky if it runs for much more than an hour before that battery calls it quits. I'm hoping a new battery will remedy the situation.

Since moving away from New York City, I've missed hearing the local sport teams on radio. I've tried to pick up the AM stations where I live now (outside of Cleveland) without luck until now. This great looking, great sounding radio has no trouble picking out AM radio station located over 350 miles from where its being transmitted. Local FM stations sound amazing too! Highly recommended if you want to own the best in its class.

The Tivoli is a vast improvement even over Henry Kloss's earlier designs. Its ability to isolate and tune a station cleanly makes the dial as easy to use as digital buttons--just get close and you have your station. This works even on very weak stations, such as FM micro-transmitters used to re-transmit audio from the internet.

Inclusion of a 20-hour battery is brilliant. Plug it in overnight, and you can carry it with you all day and play it as much as you like, never worrying about batteries. Fits in a briefcase, goes outside as well as inside.

The sound is outstanding, better than most powered speakers. In fact, the Tivoli makes a great powered speaker to use with a computer--just plug it into the earphone jack on the laptop or PC. You can plug your earphones into the Tivoli, and listen either to audio from the PC or live radio.

Works internationally, too. I've used these for several months in California and also in London UK, equally good in both locations.