HDpulse¿ Hd Radio® Table Top Stereo Receiver

by AGT

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9 x 7.3 inches ; 5.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 6 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000SBRQ12
• Item model number: HDT200BK
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #111,398 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 31, 2007

Product Description

AGT HDT200BK HD Pulse? Radio

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost Perfect, January 29, 2009

By 

I. Inc (Sunny California!) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: HDpulse¿ Hd Radio® Table Top Stereo Receiver (Electronics)

This is the same radio as the Visteon. Mine, purchased elsewhere says "Visteon" on the front, but the user manual refers to AGT.

For the price, this is an excellent way to explore HD Radio. The unit makes an ideal audio device in a small bedroom, office or den. I would purchase this unit again.

Please note: HD Radio does not meen High Definition. It means Hybrid Digital. The sound isn't really CD Quality, but it does sound better than Sirius.

First the Good:
The FM reception is very good. Locks into HD stations right away. I primarily got this to listen to WDET-HD2, and that has worked out well. AM Reception is alright, but rarely would AM Digital stay tuned in.

Reception Note: Most AM stations don't do HD at night, probably because of excess interference from the ionosphere reflecting distant stations on the same channel.

The sound quality of the built-in speaker is good. It is rich and full, the kind of sound one expects from a table radio. Way better than most portable iPod speakers, not as good as a real stereo. I replaced a Bose Wave Radio, and honestly, it sounds about as good.

UPDATE: After a couple years of playing this, apparently, too loud, the internal speaker does not sound that good.

There is Bass and Treble control, something Henry Kloss refuses to include on his radios. (Doesn't he know that all sources don't sound the same? Sometimes you just need to adjust.)

There are TWO alarms. Each one can have it's own time and be set to Weekends/Weekdays/Everyday as needed. So I have one alarm for weekdays and the other for weekends-I love that. Hint-if you work an odd week like Tuesday through Saturday, just set the date ahead or behind to make the radios weekday's match your own.)

Clock setting has the date. This is displayed in large letters when the unit is off. It's kind of nice to know the date and the time at a glance.

The time remains set during brief power failures. I can unplug the radio, take it to work, plug it back in and not lose time, alarm settings or presets. Oddly enough, the Bass/Treble settings are reset to flat. I have not measured how long it takes to forget the time, but it seems to stay for at least a couple of hours.

There are TWO Aux inputs. One is mixed, so it is live all the time. This would be ideal for monitoring computer sound. The other is switched using the source control (FM/AM/Aux) and is ideal for an iPod with a dock. Hint-to use the Mixing input as a solo source, just switch to AUX, and don't play the device plugged into AUX.)

There is a line-out connector. I feed the output to a bigger stereo to take advantage of HD Radio through big speakers.

There is a remote-it is tiny! It does allow you to perform all functions.

This item has performed flawlessly for nearly a year. I have dropped it, moved it, turned it up way too loud. It still works great.

Blue LED backlighting. The display can be read quite easily, and there is both a brightness and contrast adjustment.

The Bad:
What the %#@ is with everything having to be menu-driven these days?! I'm so tired of menus. Try to find a new car stereo without a menu, it's impossible. There is plenty of room on the unit for buttons, give me some!

You have to set the alarms with a menu. You click Menu, then use the tuning knob to scroll to Alarm, then choose Alarm 1 or Alarm 2, then choose ON/OFF, then set the time. AAAAHHHHHHHH! This is fine unless your really tired and just want to turn the alarm off now. If you rarely adjust your alarms, this really isn't a big deal. But if you constantly change you alarm settings, this may be a deal breaker for you.

Yes, you have to use the menu just to turn on or off the alarm. It's overly complicated with no reward.

Secondly, since there is a menu, why didn't they let you choose the source and volume of the alarm? I mean, once you have annoyed me with a menu, give some powerful options.

So, when either alarm goes off, it simply turns the unit on to the last selected source at the last selected volume. Guess what happens if the last thing you listened to was your iPod-it assumes an AUX source may be silent, so it makes a really obnoxious beeping noise. I don't expect it to start my iPod, but why not default to the FM 1 preset instead.

The tuning knob feels kind of cheap. I don't think it will ever break, there is just too much play. I also wish the knob had clicking-steps, because it's too easy to turn past the desired value/setting.

External power brick. I guess these power bricks make products better by eliminating some interference and heat inside the unit, but I hate them. The brick is not a wall-wart, it is like a laptop power supply, and plugs into a normal outlet or power strip without hogging extra outlets.

Feature Recap:
AM and FM HD Tuner, with multicast support.
Aux Input (selectable)
Mix Input (always live)
5 Presets for FM, 5 Presets for AM
Bass/Treble Controls (Menu, dedicated EQ button on front panel)
Line Output
IR Remote Control
Date and Time, Stay set during short power outages.
FM Dipole wire antenna included-and must be used.
AM loop antenna included, and must be used.

Summary:
If you're tech savvy, and can remember your away around menus, add a star to my review (five stars). If you're my mother who can't use a DVD menu, take away a star (three stars).

As I said before, I would buy this radio again if I needed another similar product.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Product, Buy if interested, July 14, 2009

By 

Thomas C. Brown "Big Tommy Cutlets" (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: HDpulse¿ Hd Radio® Table Top Stereo Receiver (Electronics)

I live in NYC, and have perfect reception on every single FM channel. The AM reception is not so great with the included AM antenna, but that isn't a problem for me because all of the most popular NYC AM channels have an FM HD version. This is basically a HD radio tuner that has a clock and alarm. You can add stereo speakers, and a sub woofer if you want. Also has a mix in feature, that allows you sing karaoke with radio if you so choose. Since it has standard AM/FM antenna ports, you can connect it to an outside antenna for even better reception. I just strung the FM Dipole antenna along the top of my window(inside of my house), and as I mentioned before I get max reception(6 bars) at all times for all HD FM stations. I highly recommend this product, but be careful, once you start buying HD radio, you will wind up replacing every non HD radio you own.
The display is customizable, you can have 12hr or 24hr time(try to find that on any other clock radio), and the screen brightness and contrast can be change with ease. Overall this radio is great and only lost 1 star due to poor AM reception.

5.0 out of 5 stars I Love My HD Pulse, October 19, 2009

By 

J. Schneider (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: HDpulse¿ Hd Radio® Table Top Stereo Receiver (Electronics)

I love everything about this radio - the appearance, ease of use, sound quality. I also like radios that have KNOBS - not six layers of buttons and menus for everything you want to do. The big knob is the station selector, and the small knob at top center is the volume. When the radio is off, the screen displays an analog clock face, which easy to read at night.
The best thing about this radio is the sound quality - HD Radio is amazing. I love the sound of AM on this radio - just like an FM station. And I am enjoying the new "extra" channels that I am finding. There is a commercial-free all-jazz station in my town that I really like.
I have only two negative comments - the power button is small and hard to find, and when the radio is on it shows the station call letters in big letters, and the time in small letters in the corner of the display - When I am waking up in the morning, I already know what station I'm listening to, but I need to read the time through blurry eyes. However, these are minor points and I am overall very pleased with my purchase.