Home > Consumer Reviews > Boston Acoustics Recepter Radio - Clock radio

It's a little pricey for a clock radio but it's easy on the eyes, has a good tuner and great sound quality. The build quality is subjectively very high. It has a nice heft and stays put on a bedside table. I find the sound quality as good or better than the Tivoli Pal but... it can sound a little boomy. There's a port in the back that can stuffed with a cotton ball to tame the bass. Regardless, I enjoy drifting off to the BBC more so than with the Tivoli. The added bass gives a little more warmth to voice. The only thing I find irritating about this is that there isn't an input for an external device. An mp3 player or cd player for example. It's a glaring omission for a clock radio at this price point. Bottom line, if you can live with out an input for external devices, you'll likely get many years of use out of this product.

UPDATE, ~05/01/2007: the radio continues to perform flawlessly. Another version of this radio was released by Boston Acoustics that has an aux input so if this is an important feature for you, be sure to buy the right model.

This was billed as a radio with great reception, and this is one item that lives up to its billing. The FM reception is the best I've ever encountered on a table-top radio (and for that matter, for any stereo I've owned).

A word of caution though for those who like music that is heavy on the bass--this is too much of a good thing. I found the bass enhancemnt overpowering on music that was bass-heavy. Although it should affect the disco and rap lovers more than others, it is something to be aware of.

Since I don't fall into either category, all I can say is this radio is a marvel of engineering.

This radio is hands down the best clock radio available in the world.

I love radios and own the Tivoli Model One, the CCradio, and now this one.

The sound quality AND reception on FM are great on this radio, and better than you will get on any Clock Radio. Probably any radio other than the Model One which is equal in reception on FM, and also has great sound.

But I did not expect the not only great reception, but amazing fidelity of the AM on this Boston Acoustics, which is better than it is on the Model One, and just as good as the Ccradio.

The best feature of this radio, is that you can mix AM and FM stations together in the presets, which are not from just 4 or 5 buttons, but in a rotating knob. You can put stations in any order, and have an FM station, than an AM, or any combination in the presets, and not have to change the band to AM and FM like in all other radios when using presets between the two.

Sleep functions, snooze that you can extend snooze periods just by how many times you hit the snooze button to add more snooze time, just a fantastic radio that you will never be sorry you purchased, and realize that the high price was well worth it.

Only a few decades ago, most people did not have stereo systems that sounded as good as this radio. Don't be fooled by it's size, the bass response on this tiny radio is as if it had a subwoofer attached to it.

Usually in a radio, the AM is an after thought and never any good, but the AM tuner in this radio had as much quality in design as the FM part.

Just listening to a voice of an announcer on an FM station will be enough to realize how amazing the sound is on this radio.

I will be buying more of these radios for other rooms of the house.

I still love the Tivoli Audio Model One. I, as many others, can not find a favorite between these two, they are both great in their own ways and I love both of them equally in sound and reception on the FM, but for a bedside radio, then THIS one is the winner hands down.

I took my Ccradio away from the bed, and replaced it with this one.

----------------additional comment:

After reading some other reviews, it seems some people don't appreciate the rich bass it provides. All you need to do, is stick a cotton ball in the bass port HOLE in the back of the unit, and it will eliminate the deep bass for you. But most people will really like it the way it is.

Before settling on the Boston Accoustics Recepter, I bought two Sangean RS-330s and returned them, then bought a Cambridge Soundworks 730 and got frustrated and donated it to a friend. I also checked out the Tivoli M3TPE but thought that its reliance on a $0.99 analog clock mechanism to be ridiculous (difficult to set accurate alarm times).

The Boston Acoustics is a pleasure to use. There's really nothing to it. It's simple and effective and well-designed. It sounds great. It's reliable through power outages. It looks good and is more compact than the Sangean and Cambridge Soundworks radios.

Unlike the Sangean it doesn't buzz and it has yet to break down on me. Unlike the Cambridge it's actually DESIGNED to be a clock radio so it doesn't do dumb things like leave your alarm running all day if you're not around to shut it off.

The preset nob is intuitive, although i do wish it would sort presets by frequency instead of by order of addition. It's a small complaint. I also wish it had an ambient light detector to dim the display at night, but it does have a dimmer switch that works fine for me. If you want features like a CD player or AUX inputs, you may be disappointed.

If you're looking for a quality clock radio that works the way you expect it to, I highly recommend the BA Recepter.

Boston Acoustics loudspeakers have been a part of my audio system for twenty years, but I bought the Recepter because the company claimed its FM reception to be good.

They weren't kidding. No other radio or tuner I've owned beats the Recepter in that regard, and most of them cost more. It's exceptionally good at picking out weak and distant signals from among closer and stronger ones. The radio has connections for specialty aerials, but I've gotten along fine with just the wire antenna that came with it.

The simple controls are nearly perfect. I like having rotary volume and tuning controls, instead of all those tiny push-buttons that populate a lot of electronics. The station presets and clock functions are very easy to use, and the display is informative and easy to read.

None of this would mean much if the Recepter didn't sound good, and it does. The vented cabinet and "BassTrac" circuit make for more bass than I thought was possible from such a small radio. Enough, in fact, that it can be a bit much if the Recepter is placed too close to a corner, or too far back on a bookshelf. Keep it a little distance from a wall or other boundary though, and the boominess goes away.

I'm an FM radio nut, and I tried out a number of other hi-fi clock radios: the Bose Wave, Cambridge SoundWorks 730, and Tivoli's Model Three. I liked all of them, but the Recepter was the best combination of features, sound, and price.