Just received my Christmas present to myself– a Sangean WR-11. It’s similar in concept to the Tivoli Model One. This unit has great sound; not quite as boomy as the the Tivoli, which might be good if you like to listen to NPR. Also, the sensitivity on AM is immeasurably better! From the low end to the top of the x band, it picked up weaker stations with ease. I am surprised at how good it is.
I haven’t fully explored the FM capabilities yet. I suspect it will be relatively ho-hum in terms of sensitivity and selectivity– probably not as good as the Tivoli. Still, it probably will be adequate for most listeners.
I’ll add some more details later.
More on the WR-11
First a few physical details. The unit does come in a wooden case that feels quite substantial. There are relatively few controls, so you won’t have to pore over the user guide to figure out how to use it. The front panel contains the front-firing speaker, volume control, OFF-FM-AM switch, and a large tuning knob. There is no tone control. The tuning is very smooth and is geared way down, which is good for tuning in weak stations. I have not noticed any backlash at all. The dial calibration is “old school” all the way, and is only approximate. One disadvantage of this type of tuning system: you cannot zip across the dial from the high to the low end. It takes awhile to get there.
On the back, we have an F connector for the FM input, accompanied by an input switch that lets you choose that input or the “built-in” antenna, which I assume means the line cord. There are also mini-jacks for AUX IN, REC OUT, and headphones. I assume that if you plug something into the AUX IN, it automatically cuts out the radio since there’s no separate switch like the latest Tivoli units have. I tried the headphone jack and it does drive both channels of a stereo headset, but only in mono. In addition to the various audio in’s and out’s, there is a 12V DC input connector that would allow you to power the radio from a vehicular power supply or batteries. Or, you could use it with an external power converter if you wanted to. The WR-11’s power supply is built in, however, so all you need to do is plug the line cord into the receptacle on the back. Lest I forget, there are screw terminals for an external AM antenna and ground, which I didn’t try. I think you would only want to use those if you lived in a distant corner of Montana, because the tuner is quite sensitive.
Performance-wise, I am fairly impressed. On FM, the tuner gave a good account of itself when hooked up to my 13 element rooftop antenna; I could receive the weak Uni station I use as a test signal better than with the Tivoli Model One. It locked in solidly, and there was no adjacent channel interference in the background. The smooth tuning dial made station selection easy. As I mentioned earlier, the sensitivity on AM is way better than the Model One; there’s just no comparison. In addition, the IF selectivity appears better as well. One caveat though– this sensitivity comes at the expense of a few tweets and whistles, and strong local stations (including my own Part 15) can tend to overload the tuner causing spurious responses and bleed. Since I will be using my unit primarily in weak to moderate signal areas, I’m fine with having more sensitivity in exchange for a few more overload issues, but this is something to be aware of if you live near a bunch of strong stations. There’s no external switch to reduce the sensitivity.
In closing, I should mention that there’s a bass port on the back of the unit. If you don’t like the bass response, you could probably insert a piece of acoustic foam in the back to cut down on the bass response a bit. In my opinion, the bass is fine as it is and definitely not overblown. One other observation; the WR-11 does not get hot during operation. After several hours, all I could feel was a very slight increase in temperature near the back of the set. Almost imperceptible. One other thing that is very important; the tuning does not drift on either AM or FM. By contrast, the Tivoli Model One has noticeable drift on FM, even on strong local stations. There may be a small amount of AFC being applied here, but not enought to hinder tuning in weak stations that are surrounded by strong ones.
Let me know if you’ve got any questions about anything I didn’t cover.