Customer Reviews

Boston Acoustics Receptor Radio HD

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

OK, I'll have to admit up front that I became interested in this radio because the clock looked really cool. The HD radio seemed like a nice bonus but wasn't my main reason for buying this radio.

So, let me first review the clock. The dot-matrix display allows it to show nicely-rounded digits, but the digits are fairly small. Therefore those of you who wear glasses and plan to use this radio on a nightstand better think again. Even if you can read the clock, the display is VERY bright even at the lowest dimming level ... it casts a blue glow on the opposite wall and I can literally make shadow puppets on the wall. I had to point it away from the bed! Yes, it's that bad. I will probably end up moving it to another room or selling it for that reason alone.

Next, the radio. While the sound quality is fine, it is afterall a tabletop radio and doesn't have the sound quality of a true hi-fi component. I really can't hear much improvement of the HD radio over standard analog broadcasts ... listening to "standard" FM on my home stereo with its larger speakers still sounds much better than listening to HD radio on the Receptor HD. So there really seems to be little point of the HD audio on a tabletop radio other than the potential new features like muticast, etc. My next biggest gripes with the radio are lack of seek or scan buttons, and the kludgy station memory ... you can only add new channels to the end of the list.

So, in summary, this radio excels at nothing and fails miserably as a bedside clock radio. If you are an early adopter who just *has* to be the first on your block to listen to HD radio, go for it. Otherwise, save your money.

I bought this after hearing the regular Boston Receptor clock radio in a store and looking into it on line. The HD version appealed to me because the one station I always wake up to (NPR) is now broadcast in HD in my city. I liked the idea of stereo instead of mono, simple alarm set/snooze function, a remote, and most especially wanted good sound quality (hoping to get even better with the HD, right?). I orderred it from Antonline, an approved amazon vendor, and it came in a few days and I dived into the box.

First impressions: excellent packaging, instructions, and construction. Powerred up: sound is amazingly good for a "clock radio" which is what I am using this for. I am sure you could get comperable sound out of a mini component system, or better out of a real Hi-Fi, but they can't wake you up, and for a clock radio this is truly unreal. I was annoyed that there is no seek function to the digital tuner, but it only took 5 minutes to program my stations into the 20 memory slots. After that you never need to seek anyway. I put my Wake Up station as #1 and #20, so it is a quick spin of the dial in either direction, no sweat. First off, the tiny wire attached as the FM antena out of the box is a joke. That didn't get as good reception as my existing clock radio. I quickly put the T-type antena which was included into use and got excellent reception instantly. My NPR station sounds normal with the slight hiss and pop of FM for about 6 or 7 seconds until the HD indicator comes on and all noise goes away with just crystal clear voices or music to hear.

I did think the bass was too prominent at first. So I read the instructions and adjusted the "bass boost" by pressing the dimmer switch for 4 seconds and the turned the nob to -2. It can go all the way to -6, so I am sure anyone can be made happy.

The diplay does have a range of 3 brightness settings, but I agree that the lowest was still a bit bright if you had your face right next to the radio as you were going to sleep. Solution: turn radio on, then press and hold the clock button for 4 seconds, the display will then show an additional setting mode, turn the tuning knob to Hardware and press, then turn to Brightness Steps and press, then turn to Low and then turn the volume knob to whatever you like as your low setting. I use 8, but the factory set it at 14 and it can go up to over 100. I just found this feature which was not in the instructions by accident, but it is nice. There are about 6 other adjustment that can be modified including a full graphic equalizer for both right and left channels or simple bass and treble if you prefer. Some of the adjustments are really advanced such as cutoff frequencies, digital delay, HD data diplay type, etc. but even if you somehow screwed something up there is a button to hit to Restore Defaults. Very flexible.

Design wise, the unit reminds me of an I-pod in that it is very simple in its controls and display, and truly intuitive to use. It has only two knobs in front and a few buttons on top. Times for alarms are set by twisting a knob, twist fast and it moves very fast, but twist slow and it can easily move one minute at a time (like an I-pod wheel), try that with buttons. I did try playing my Ipod through it and it sounds just as good as when on my Altec Lansing subwoofer assisted surround sound system for my computer. Very nice.

Bonus feature: I always hated getting into bed after the wife was asleep and having to turn the radio on for a split second to check and be sure the station was set and the volume was loud. If you don't check with a typical clock radio then if either the volume or tuning dial got bumbed, you are toast. Now I just press Alarm 1 buttton (or 2) and the digital display shows the radio call letters, the time, and the volume ( 1 to 100 ) which is set. Wow, silent reliable confirmation.

The HD station pickup is excellent for me, and the sound is a big improvement over the regular signal. I typically have it on the HD station 80% of the time and then listen to two or three other local stations which come in fine. Distant station reception is OK but not great. I think you would have to get an outside antenna if you wanted to grab really weak signals. I wouldn't get this unit for trying to listen to distant stations because a scratchy signal will sound just as bad in Hi-Fi as on a piece of junk.

Rating 5 of 5 stars: Excellent build quality, design, function, and above all else sound.

de K0UNX. I know radios.

I purchased the Recepter Radio HD a year ago, used it for a weekend and returned it immediately. Even in the Denver market, with lots of very strong HD signals, this radio had trouble finding them. I'd be listening to a strong station, and the radio would lose lock, go silent, and rebuffer before coming back to life. This was one of the few HD radios available when I bought it. I have since purchased a Sangean HDR-1 and love it. Read my review under the Sangean HDR-1.

Sad...VERY SAD considering the original monaural non-HD Receptor Radio at HALF the cost is a BEST OF CLASS! I purchased the "original" several years ago, and since have given two as gifts plus recommended that product to over a dozen. In EVERY case, the user satisfaction was overwhelmingly positive. Audio quality (for its size) is stunning; FM reception is outstanding; AM reception and sound quality is well above the norm; and the radio is simply gorgeous. Boston Acoustics is a fine company with a tradition of innovative, well built, high performance audio at an excellent price point.

So BA returns with "Son of Receptor"--its new entry into the flawed world of terrestrial digital over-the-air AM/FM broadcasting. Not since STEREO on the "Anciently-Modulated" AM band back in the 80s, has there been a technology accepted by the broad consumer public with so little enthusiasm. One has to wonder WHY a company as well-settled as BA would even bother; since the technical deficiencies of this system were so apparent, and corresponding user dissatisfaction so easy to predict! Basically, you can double the price of the original product (which--thank goodness--is still available), and for it--get an additional channel of audio plus HD radio capability on the AM and FM bands.

Several other reviewers here have noted the sub-standard reception and poor value-added by the costly digital broadcast capability--I fully concur. Note also, that most of the positive reviews of this radio are BY BROADCASTERS driven to promote this technology! Fortunately, the outstanding audio amplification and speaker performance is retained in the Receptor HD unit--with dual-channel (stereo) capacity. The addition of a line-level input provides a perfect interface and solution for playing a portable MP3 player at room-filling volume thru high quality speakers. The Receptor HD retains all the fine features found in its predecessor. Here, my accolades come to a screeching halt!

Uninterested in purchasing this unit myself (and I'm a radio and technology addict), I had the opportunity to divert one destined for return by an unsatisfied buyer and give it a test drive. I first ascertained that the unit was NOT defective--just "lackluster". I noticed NO significant improvement in a station's audio quality in the HD mode on FM--in fact some sounded "shallow" when compared to their analog counterpart. AM quality, on the scant few stations that could be received in digital, was substantially higher in fidelity and lower in noise--but those digital signals were very "fragile" (often dropping back to analog). Overall, AM and FM reception on the more costly Receptor HD Radio is unimpressive at best, and well below that of its half-priced analog papa.

Further consider that the IBOC FM digital transmission coverage is about HALF that of the corresponding analog service area (even less on AM), so there goes that "sterling-silver sound" you paid so dearly for in this product. As for the multi-channel service on digital FM--its listenable area is even smaller still; and many of these "secret signals" are but low-bitrate streams offering sub-analog quality. Most annoying about this unit is it's lack of provision for a "locked" mode selection back to the more reliable analog service WHEN (not IF) the digital reception falters. How could the seemingly identical offspring of such an exceptional radio go flat in the more costly upgrade? The simple answer I suspect lies in the IBOC system itself.

Fact is...IBOC causes more reception problems than it mitigates, so how'd this ever get hatched? Politics and corporate gain. Interestingly, some of the partners in iBiquity (which exclusively licenses the IBOC digital technology to both stations and the consumer electronics industry) are the same corporate characters that bring you less variety and more commercials on current terrestrial radio. The IBOC standard is unique to the U.S. alone. Canada, Europe, the Pacific Rim--even Mexico use a superior system for digital radio transmission.

In a morose way, the purchase of this radio contributes to several forms of delinquency. Any large-scale advance in the popularity and propagation of the IBOC digital system is destined to dramatically increase interference on both AM and FM bands which already are deeply degraded by such. Furthermore, it also rewards the corporate broadcast players who literally "wrote their own rules" setting a digital standard--then profited from them while you pay double for a radio with lower performance than its analog equivalent.

Here is yet another example of the "DIGITAL is NOT necessarily BETTER" reality. I can't attest to the cost IBOC digital adds to this radio--I only know that its performance DOES NOT justify its price. I'll save the $$$.$$ and install satellite radio... Or buy a bigger hard drive for *Tunes and the CDs I purchase here at Amazon!

IBOC UPDATE 9/15/06: A friend in Cincinnati purchased a complete car audio upgrade including a VERY POPULAR, moderately-priced radio/CD head-end with SAT and IBOC HD-Radio capacity from a LEADING manufacturer. The unit accommodated both SAT services which required only a MODESTLY-priced adapter kit; but "HD Radio" mandated the purchase of an $250 IBOC "tuner"--MORE than the head-end itself cost! [That city offers an abundance of HD AM and FM stations since some broadcasters there are partnered in the "IBOC experiment".] This capacity was added a week later after the retailer "special-ordered" the appropriate IBOC add-on. This addition diminished the tuner's good performance to abysmal. By day's end, he returned the high-priced HD Radio adaptor! Now YOU be a smart consumer, and draw your own conclusions!

I really like this radio. The sound quality for such small speakers is supberb--they have a depth and prescence that is surprising for such a small radio. Beware, however, that the "pigtail" antenna that comes with the radio is nearly useless. Most of these units now come with an additional "T" dipole antenna in the box. In most urban areas the folded dipole "T" antenna will give you better reception. But to truly enjoy everything that this radio has to offer you will need to mount an outside FM antenna--particularly if you live in a rural area. I went with a Winegard omnidirectional FM antenna on a five foot mast mounted at the peak of my roof. I can receive FM stations more than 100 miles away and several HD stations. Even the analog-only broadcasts come in clear as a bell. For a radio this expensive it is really worth shelling out the extra bucks for a rooftop antenna (antenna, mast, mouting brackets and 50' coaxial cable came to around $90).

The sound on this radio is amazing especially at lower volumes. My local public radio station broadcasts in HD and the classical music sounds amazing. You can hear every note in detail. You would think that you were in the studio with the orchestra.

However, this unit would not make a good bedside radio or tabletop radio. This may be why it has received so many bad reviews.

SOUND-The radio emphasizes certain bass and treble notes so that it sounds dynamic at medium and high volumes. Therefore, it will sound distorted at low volumes. This is the trade-off of having the dynamic sound.

BRIGHTNESS-The display is too bright for a dark room even on the lowest setting IMO.

RECEPTION-The radio includes a T-style dipole antenna. The best reception is achieved by extending this antenna which is unsightly and not practical for a bedside radio.

It is also worth noting that some HD radio stations broadcast in low power. This is not the receiver's fault but you may have a hard time receiving them unless you are near the transmitter. Also, some stations have a 10 second delay when the analog signal switches to HD. This is an inherent property of digital signals. This can be very annoying if you are listening to a station where the HD signals fades in and drops out frequently. However, some stations fix this by delaying their analog broadcast by 10 seconds to "match" the digital broadcast and make it seamless. Again, this is not the fault of the radio but it is worth nothing that some stations have this problem. Apparently there is a hidden menu that will allow you to force analog and resolve this issue but I have never had to use it.

I initially purchased this radio as a bedside radio which didn't work out because of the above mentioned problems. Instead, this radio plays the role as part of my home theater center replacing my Sony tuner and surround speakers. I use the input jack on the radio to pipe in the sound of my HDTV. Again, the sound is very dynamic and realistic. When friends come over, they are amazed by such deep and detailed sound from such a small radio.

The bottom line is that this is a great radio but decide what you will use it for first.

As a previous owner of the non-hd receptor, this new HD version simply sucks. It picks up very FEW stations, the receiver is much less sensitive then the non-hd model. I took it back to tweeter, and went back to my old receptor which picked up everythign!

This is the first tabletop radio on the market that makes use of a new DIGITAL broadcasting system, developed by Ibiquity Digital. For more info on this system visit Ibiqitys' website.
In a nutshell, local FM and AM stations can now broadcast a digital signal along with their analog signal. The digital transmission "fixes" a couple of long-standing reception problems, i.e. "multipath" distortion on FM and "static" and noise on AM. In addition, AM can be broadcast in stereo using this system. Additional information such as song title/artist etc. and Secondary channels may also be transmitted. In the Portland area, for example, there are 12 FM stations and 1 AM station already transmitting in HD digital, and 4 of the FMs transmit a (for now, commercial free) secondary channel. See the Ibiquity website to obtain a list of stations transmitting in digital in your area.
The Boston Acoustics receiver does a fine job of decoding these new signals, including the secondary channels. When a station is selected, the normal analog signal is first heard for a few seconds, while the digital "buffer" is filled. When the radio switches over to digital, the improvement in reception is many times quite dramatic.
For my taste, the BA receptor produces too much bass, but this CAN be turned down somewhat. Plugging the ports on the back of the speakers will further reduce the bass.
AM reception is not as good as it could be, but an external antenna can improve this. If the AM reception were better, I would upgrade to 4.5 stars rating.

Well, it's cool to be able to hear some of the digital stations not available on an analog radio. But the FM sound quality of this radio is no better--and sometimes not as good--as the little analog Bose radio, which is about the same price and same size. And the Boston Acoustics remote doesn't work if it's held a little above and about 15 feet away from the radio. A minor point, but the Bose remote works great at that angle and distance.

What a wonderful radio. HD radio is incredible and this receiveris almost perfect but...
1)The plugs in the back are so recessed that they are difficult to use.
2)The clock/station display cannot be dimmed enough for a bed side radio.
3)If the AM or FM signal is weak or variable the radio 'hunts' for the digital signal and turns it on and off every two seconds with very annoying drastic changes in sound quality. There is (stupidly) no way of locking the radio to just the analog signal so the radio is virtually useless unless you can receive a strong signal. This is a serious design error.