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

I wanted a kitchen radio(the alarm function was not important)with great sound that I could hear throughout my fairly large apartment and this radio is just delighting me no end. I considered and looked at the Bose and higher-end Boston Acoustic radios and feel that Consumer Reports is spot on rating this their 'best buy' table-top radio. I was wary of warnings about the bass muffling spoken voice(since I mostly listen to NPR)but I'm not having a problem with that at all.

This is a great clock radio, small footprint but BIG sound. Very easy setup and the external antenna connector lets my rooftop antenna pull in some great stations over 75 miles away. You will not be disappointed, it's worth the extra cash. The bass out of the single speaker beats the Bose FM/CD tabletop players hands down.

First the the deep base in this radio for music is pretty good. But when you tune into a talkshow, this radio's deep base makes the voice unnatural or sometimes even muffled.I want to hear the clear real sound of human's voice.
Secondly I compared this radio's reception ability with Sony ICF36, I can't tell the difference on AM and FM.

So think it over before you spend $150 on that. I think it may worth half of that price.

I read many of the comments on Amazon about this radio before purchasing it and to the most part I am right in line with the pro's and con's of those reviews.
Pro's
- Great sound for the money. This isn't a BOSE Wave but what you get soundwise for the money is a great deal. I listen to mostly Rock, Pop & NPR and this radio fills my Master Suite with quality sound.
- Very intuitive usability. This just has the right buttons, knobs and display to make using all the functions very easy.
- Stylish and the right size. This clock radio looks good on my bedside dresser. It has the look and feel of quality.
- Great FM reception. It pulls in the stations very well.
Con's
- I wish I could have the clock displaying when the radio is playing. I can push a button and see the clock - but it defaults to showing the station numbers.
- You can only adjust volume - no tone control. It'd be great to adjust the Bass/Treble. There are times that Bass is a little strong.

Ths unit is expensive for a clock radio. But, I am happy I bought it. On the front, there is a volume knob, "presets" knob, AM/FM button and on/off button. All of the other adjustments are on the top. Some of the seldom-used adjustments are hidden under a small hatch. This is so you won't press them accidentally, I guess. There is NO tone control. The preset stations are controlled by a single, round knob on the front. As you turn the knob left or right, it jumps to the next preset station. This is much easier than trying to press tiny buttons to change stations. As you are changing stations, the screen will reveal the radio station dial number or "call" number for about 5 seconds, then the screen changes back to clock format. You adjust the sleep timer by pressing a large button on the top. Each time you press the button, the snooze time goes from 60 min, 50 , 40...all the way down to 10 min. This is very convenient because if you want to have the radio on for just a short time, press the snooze button and you have the peace of mind that the radio will turn off after a while. If you hold the button down, the time goes from 60 minutes down to 1 minute, in one minute increments. This unit actually had too much boomey bass for my tastes, especially when the volume was turned up a bit. So I stuffed a piece of paper towel into the port on the back which helped. It has a jack for an external FM antenna and for an external AM antenna. My unit has no other jacks. The supplied antennas work quite well. Yes, this clock radio is expensive. But the sound, quality & features of this unit will make you happy. It doesn't look like a cheap toy. It has a distinguished look and sounds great. If you shop around, you can get it for around $115.00