Customer Reviews

Boston Acoustics Duo-I Plus iPhone/iPod Dock AM/FM Stereo Radio and Clock Functions (Gloss White)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought the Duo-i because I needed something for my bedroom that served three purposes: a radio for general listening, a quality iPod player, and a set of good-sounding, external speakers for my 19" TV.

Positives:

The radio produces surprisingly booming lows for its size, and exceptionally detailed high end. The clarity of the speakers is stunning. The radio can easily fill a room with sound. Besides an iPod dock on the top, the radio offers two auxiliary inputs for flexibility. I use the rear aux RCA inputs for my bedroom TV, and the front aux 1/8" input will come in handy if I ever want to run my other MP3 players through the radio. The automatically-dimming display is a novel touch, too.

The BIIIIIG negative:

The radio has booming lows and very clear high end, but there's not enough in between. Apparently, Boston Acoustics tried too hard to give this radio a big sound, and, in the process, forgot that a radio this size should still have a good midrange presence. The radio seems to lack terribly in the 600Hz-3kHz range. Not only does this "reshape" the music, but it renders the AM radio worthless -- talk shows sound boomy and unintelligible, even with the bass all the way down and the treble all the way up. This wouldn't have been a problem, except Boston Acoustics did not provide a midrange EQ level control, and this radio needs one in the worst way.

In fact, in order to get acceptable sound when running my TV's audio through the Duo-i, I have to leave my TV's cheesy, little, internal speakers turned on. They compensate by providing some of the desired mid frequencies that the Duo-i lacks.

Because the low end is too loud relative to the rest of the frequencies, I experimented by loosely plugging the rear bass ports with my fingers. The bass response suddenly tightened up and became more natural-sounding. So my radio's bass ports are now loosely corked. (I even wrote to Boston Acoustics and suggested they begin shipping their radios with a couple different sets of "port corks" for discerning listeners.)

Summary:

If you typically listen to your stereo with a smiley-faced graphic EQ, you'll love this radio. But, if you prefer a flatter frequency response and/or listen to AM radio, the Duo-i is not the radio for you.

Please note that I am a recording engineer by trade, so I am going to be more critical of audio quality than most.

I recently purchased this product for use with my iPhone 3GS. The sound quality is superb, rivaling that of Bose systems. The alarm clock feature works brilliantly and the remote is the icing on the cake. I really enjoy the touch-sensor 360 Snooze Bar, an intuitive design that keeps you from smacking the dock when you want to snooze. There is even a plug-in slot on the back for a sub woofer upgrade, just in case the bass isn't enough for you. Oh, and did I mention? The display automatically dims according to the lighting in your room, and you can adjust the overall brightness to suit your liking in the dark. Genius! If you want a nice dock for your iPod/iPhone with second-to-none sound quality, the functionality of an alarm clock, and state-of-the-art features, then I strongly recommend this product!

I purchased this item for my wife. I was limited in that it needed to be white, charge and play the iPhone (not just the iPod), have FM radio, remote, and small enough to fit in a book shelf. There aren't too many similar items with all of these attributes with an acceptable to great sound.

We are using it in a 20' x 13' family room. The sound is excellent. It can liven the room without appreciable distortion. The remote covers all corners of the room. Whether we want to play the iPhone music or FM radio, this little guy's got it covered.

My first impression of the Duo-I Plus surprised me -- it's impressively well-built, with a beautiful gloss finish, solid weight, stable rubber feet, and smooth rubberized knobs that don't wiggle (unlike a lot of competitor's clock radios). There is a nice long power cord with no "wall wart" power supply to deal with. It comes with a thin remote control, an FM antenna, a decent manual, and an assortment of iPod/iPhone dock adapters. The overall design is very well laid-out, with a recessed area on top to store the remote (in front of the ipod dock), plus a magnet on the back of the remote which allows you to stick it to the speaker grill. You can even special-order new grills in designer colors to match your decor. Even without the designer grills, it blends in very nicely in a bedroom or kitchen.

The first thing I did after unpacking the Duo-I Plus was to test it out in my living room with the iPod docked. The sound is truly remarkable for such a small stereo. Nice full bass and crisp highs. As some other reviewers have noted, there is not a whole lot of mid-range but the overall sound is still very balanced and natural. When I plugged in the FM antenna wire and tried the radio, I was surprised by the clarity of reception I got. Another nice touch for radio listeners is that the antenna jack can accept a coaxial TV cable for even better reception. There is also a wire clip for an AM antenna, though I don't listen to AM radio. On the front panel, there is an 1/8-inch auxiliary input and an 1/8-inch headphone jack; on the back, there is a stereo RCA second auxiliary input, a stereo RCA subwoofer output, and a single RCA video output. Pretty flexible for a clock radio!

Aside from five small radio station preset buttons and two small buttons for setting the alarms, all the stereo's functions are controlled using three digital rotary knobs; these knobs can also be pressed like a button to make selections. The largest knob in the middle turns the power on or off with a single press and controls the volume. The small mode knob on the left selects the input, as well as other functions: iPod, FM radio 1 (presets 1-5), FM radio 2 (presets 6-10), AM radio, Auxiliary 1 (front input), Auxiliary 2 (rear input), brightness, info, sleep, bass, treble, alarm 1 set, clock set, alarm 2 set; depressing the same mode knob will also cycle through all the available inputs. The small tuning knob on the right tunes the radio, changes mode values (brightness/info/sleep/bass/treble/alarm time/clock time), and skips ipod tracks backward or forward. The ability to skip iPod tracks with the tuning knob is wonderful, since it is often inconvenient to wake an iPod Touch or iPhone when it is docked. The remote control can skip tracks as well.

The small alarm buttons provide a quick way to change alarm settings without having to use the mode knob to select from a lengthy menu; there is a separate button for both alarm 1 and 2 -- a single press sets the respective alarm to alarm mode, music mode, or off; hold the button down and you can change the respective alarm times backward or forward using the rotary controller directly below it. Changing alarm times has never been easier! Unfortunately, you can only wake to whatever music and volume level was last playing. This is a serious oversight on the part of Boston Acoustics' design team. Like many people, I go to bed with relaxing music but like to wake up to something more energetic. This is not possible with the Duo-I Plus. The alarm sound fades in after a few seconds, which is nice. I also love the snooze bar -- just touch anywhere on the metal outer rim of the radio to sleep another ten minutes; hit the snooze bar repeatedly and it adds increments of five minutes to your snooze. I have not experienced any of the bugs with the snooze bar that other reviewers have reported.

The backlit display is probably the weakest part of the design of the Duo-I Plus. I wish Boston Acoustics had chosen a color besides cool-blue. Many reviewers found the display too bright even at the lowest dimmed setting. There is however a fix for this that is not mentioned in the owner's manual. If you unplug the unit and plug it back in while holding down the alarm 2 button, you can adjust the dimming sensitivity using the tuning knob. This allows you to turn the display completely off if you wish. The down side to this is that it makes it difficult to make selections using the mode knob because you can't see what you're controlling. The auto-dimming sensor, while wonderful for sleeping, only makes this problem worse. I still have not found a happy-medium that is dim enough for sleeping yet bright enough to control easily.

The other controls are fairly self-explanatory: info mode chooses what to display when the unit is idle; sleep mode activates a sleep timer in five minute increments up to 90 minutes; bass and treble EQ's the sound, plus or minus 7 steps. It's unfortunate that there is no midrange control since the midrange could really use a boost, but overall the controls are very usable. I have to say that, while I love the concept of the simple three-dial face, in practice it is a bit cumbersome to use. There are simply too many menu items, which makes navigating through them tedious. Setting the alarms, on the other hand, couldn't be any easier.

I have to say that despite a couple nit-picks, the design team at Boston Acoustics got <almost> everything right. I absolutely love my Duo-I Plus. Unfortunately, I ended up sending it back. Why? The unit I bought was used, probably an older model, and it would play but not charge my 4th generation iPod Touch. I doubt those who buy new units will experience that problem. In any event, if you're looking for the perfect clock radio, you will not be disappointed with the Duo-I Plus.

I have owned this radio, purchased through Amazon, for about one year. It replaced a similar though somewhat less expensive HD radio that, even after replacement, had constant and vexing software problems. The Boston Acoustics Duo has had no such problems. It works fine, and it doesn't seem to mind power disruptions. In other words, it remembers all of my stations and settings even after electric power failures that last 2 or 3 hours (for some reason a frequent occurrence in the Washington, DC, metro area).

This iPod dock / tabletop radio offers remarkably good, crisp, mellow sound for such a small device. In my view, this is the #1 consideration when buying a tabletop radio I will listen to frequently. The BA Duo has good, though not outstanding radio reception and an up-to-date iPod dock. By that I mean that my brand new Verizon iPhone works without any difficulty, as do my older generation iPod Touch and iPod Nano devices. All get charged without problem, and none of the Apple devices complains that the BA Duo radio is not compatible with all the features of the Apple device. In contrast, less than two weeks ago I purchased a Sangean WR-5 iPod dock / tabletop radio. Although my older Apple devices work with the Sangean tabletop radio without problem, my new Verizon iPhone, when inserted in the Sangean iPod dock, gives the following message: "This device is not optimized for the iPhone. You may experience a decrease in cell signal strength." In other words, I may get weaker cellphone reception when my iPhone is inserted in the dock. The iPhone gets charged when inserted in the Sangean iPod dock, and the iPhone / Sangean combination delivers fine musical sound, but I do not know whether or not I'm missing some cell calls. There are no such problems with the Boston Acoustic Duo.

Let me make some comparisons of the BA Duo and the Sangean WR-5 iPod dock / table top radios. The Boston Acoustics Duo undoubtedly delivers better sound and offers a more up-to-date interface with iPod / iPhone devices. The BA duo and Sangean WR-5 offer approximately as good radio reception. The Sangean WR-5 has a smaller footprint and, because its iPod dock is more spacious, I do not need to remove the rubberized protective bumper from my iPhone before inserting onto the dock. (In contrast, the rubberized bumper must be removed from the iPhone before it is inserted onto the dock for the BA Duo.) Both devices accept input from a standard audio jack linking the radio with, say, a portable CD player. The instructional booklet for the Sangean WR-5 was worse written (I assume because its authors were Chinese rather than Americans), but the Sangean's set-up was faster and a bit more intuitive. I find that without wearing glasses it is easier for me to read, say, the time and radio frequency on the face of the BA Duo. That information is less clearly displayed on the face of the Sangean WR-5, and this may be an important consideration if you are using the device as an alarm clock.

The biggest difference between the two iPod dock / tabletop radios is the price. As of this date (late March 2011), the Boston Acoustics Duo costs about $250 on Amazon while the Sangean WR-5 costs $100. Determining whether the better sound and more up-to-date Apple docking of the BA Duo are worth the $150 price difference is obviously a personal matter. I like both devices and give both of them equal ratings (4 stars), but that is because the price differential compensates for the somewhat worse sound and more out-of-date Apple docking interface on the Sangean WR-5. For a number of years now I have noticed that I actually listen to music much more frequently through my tabletop radios than through my far more expensive sound system. The better sounding tabletop radio -- the BA Duo -- is in my kitchen where I listen most often to music. The Sangean WR-5 is in our bedroom where it doubles as a tabletop clock and Apple iPod / iPhone charging device. I suppose other people discovered this fact long before I did: The availability of these iPod dock / tabletop radios means that you never have to worry whether your cell phone or MP3 player has a charge. If you listen to music through these docking stations for about an hour or so a day, your Apple device is substantially charged virtually all the time -- it gets a charge at the same time you are using the device for one of its main functions, namely, to play music. In addition, of course, both the iPhone and iPod Touch devices can be used to listen internet radio, Pandora, podcasts, etc., partly depending on whether you have a WiFi system in your home. This means you worry less about the quality of your local radio stations: The internet offers a huge number of attractive alternatives.

In sum: the Boston Acoustics Duo radio is a wonderful tabletop radio / docking device. The only reason I withhold a fifth star is that I anticipate the arrival someday of a similar device that is (a) a bit cheaper and (b) a bit easier to set up and use. Until that day comes, this is an excellent investment. If you're strapped for cash, the Sangean WR-5 is also a first-rate product.

I selected this model based on several reviews and specific requirements: good sound, works with iPhone, and able to export a video signal to a monitor. It has met all the requirements and I am very pleased. I did have an initial defective unit (hummed when I attached the iPhone), but it was replaced and works fine now.

Easy to setup and the controls are very intuitive. Good remote. This sits in a shop and is mostly used to hear iPhone music and sound for movies.

Good quality unit.

Looking for an alternative to the Bose Sounddock and found this. Good price and good sound. Some reviewers complain about too much bass, but in our space this isn't a problem. It's the opposite of tinny, in fact, and I'd way rather have a little extra bass than tinniness, which I like much less. We bought the white model because it was even less expensive, and I'm no home decor expert, but it does sort of remind me of a kitchen appliance, so we've relocated it away from the warm wood and closer to the sheetrock wall. Lots of sound and it fills the main room of our small condo apartment.

Main complaints are these: (1) the Boston Acoustics control system takes some getting used to, for example, turning a dial and peering closely at the screen to track which function the highlighting is bracketing so you can adjust it; and (2) the iPod Nano (older more squarish model) doesn't quite clear the top of the unit so you can't use the touch wheel very well, and the BA remote doesn't include a way to switch among playlists. All you can do is page ahead or back to the next or previous individual selection. But we like to choose a long playlist or album and just let it play, so it doesn't bother us. If you want to be constantly browsing among your music files, you might find this irritating.

Also good FM reception. No buyer's remorse here.

This is a good sounding small radio that will work well in a smaller area such as the cabin of a small boat. The sound is great but this radio was not designed to fill a room full of furniture and or people. Empty room, bathrooms, and on a table in a small study are what this unit can do well. The remote is straight forward and the interface when switching from radio to MP# player is good., The MP3 plug comes with the right plastic insert for most kinds of players. The two alarms are easy to set and use. The sound from the two speakers is good and the radio reception is as good as I've seen in a boom-box or table-top radio. Unless you find this on sale, be prepared to pay 220-250 dollars and keep in mind that this is not a newly released item. There may well be something coming out that is better. I hope this radio last a long time.

I purchased this hoping to get a Bose SoundWave replacement at half the cost. For that it does the trick. However, the display is too bright for me. There are ways to adjust the brightness down but even at the lowest level, it bothered me at night unless I turned it away from my eyes (which means, of course, that i coundn't see the time in the morning unless I turned it back. This obviously is too much work on a daily basis so I sent the unit back. I will say the sound quality is excellent and I was impressed by that. It's also a large unit so be mindful of that. If you want big sound in a room this is a good buy. But if you are planning to use also as an alarm clock and have light sensitivity, I would pass.

I didn't buy from Amazon (Crutchfield), but since I received it and set it up, I've been blown away. The unit looks and functions just fine, great for that matter, but the sound is utterly amazing. I charge anyone to find a better quality/sounding unit for $250. Additionally, you're getting a product backed by a fantastic company, Boston Acoustics. I will more than likely by a couple more units for various rooms in our home due to its functionality. I love that it supports an iPod and can be used an external speakers for a TV. Run, don't walk, and get yourself the BA duo-i Plus!