Tivoli Model Satellite Table Radio (Sirius Satellite Radio / AM / FM )

Other products by Tivoli Audio

Product Details

Product Manual [540kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 4.5 x 5.2 inches ; 5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0007R6L8G
• Item model number: MSAT-0331-NA
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,263 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #10 in	Electronics > Home Audio & Theater > Satellite Radio > Plug & Play Satellite Radios
  #19 in	Electronics > Home Audio & Theater > Satellite Radio > Accessories

• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 26, 2006

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Housed in an elegant cherry wood casing, with a touch of contemporary digital and classic analog design features, the Tivoli Audio Model Satellite Sirius/AM/FM table radio further extends the legacy of the late audio designer Henry Kloss. Based on Tivoli's Henry Kloss Model Two AM/FM table radio, the Model Satellite is Tivoli's outstanding foray into satellite radio. If this unit is any indication of the potential of satellite radio, we are now officially true believers.

Programming for Everyone
Sirius offers more than 150 channels, with more than 65 of them offering commercial-free music, and over 40 that broadcast news, sports, and talk shows. This essentially means that the Model Satellite gives you a station for each of your possible moods 24 hours a day.

The large LCD is easy to read and provides clear navigation.

You can't get enough of Elvis? Simply tune into Elvis Radio. For Dead Heads and Phish Heads, there's a station entirely devoted to jams. Mainstream news radio (NPR, CNN, BBC, and FOX) sit alongside World Radio, Gay Radio, and even Pentagon Radio. Whether you're politically right, left, or center, a hip-hop or Broadway aficionado, or a talk radio or sports fanatic, Sirius has you covered. And the Model Satellite--the world's first table radio designed exclusively for home use with Sirius Satellite Radio--couldn't make tuning in any easier or more enjoyable.

Testing the radio with the supplied antennas in every corner and on every floor of a three-story house, we experienced remarkably strong satellite, AM, and FM signals, regardless of the weather or time of day. Tivoli's manual provides instructions on how to aim and fine-tune the satellite antenna to optimize reception--instructions that we were happily able to ignore. And best of all, because satellite radio is essentially commercial-free, when we tuned into the blues, that's what we got--nothing but the blues.

The Tivoli Design
The Model Satellite, designed by Tivoli CEO Tom DeVesto, has a great design that is part retro, part high-tech. Its elegant cherry casing and analog tuner give it a distinctive classical air, while its easy-to-read, blue LED display adds a touch of the satellite age.

Choose to display either the analog or digital clock face.

Tivoli's unique AM/FM rotary dial turns at a slower ratio than most other radios and is designed to pull in even weaker signals, allowing listeners to tune into stations that most desktop radios can't capture. The tuner band selection and volume dials are conveniently located in the center of the unit for easy control, and the champagne-colored buttons for the radio's presets and other functions are easily accessible.

To make room for the LED display, the Model Satellite houses its three-inch driver on top of the unit. While this allows for an easy-to-read placement of the display, the downside is that the sound is directed upward, instead of directly toward the listener. However, Tivoli's outstanding acoustics partially make up for this by offering a robust, clean sound.

Small Size, Great Features
Because it features the input/output options of the Model Two, this modest-looking mono radio can be expanded into a full-blown, compact system. With the simple addition of the Tivoli Model CD Player, the Companion Speaker, and Model Subwoofer, you'll have a powerful system on your hands.

A total of 20 presets (five for each of the radio's four bands) is an essential convenience when you have over 150 channels to keep track of. A remote control allows you to manage most of the radio's functions, although you still have to change the band selection, tune in AM and FM stations, and--most inconveniently--set the volume the old-fashioned way. An alarm clock with sleep mode and an option for a digital or analog clock display rounds out the radio's features.

Pros

• Elegant, yet simple, design features
• Clear, easy-to-read, adjustable LED display
• Outstanding variety of music and news from the Sirius Satellite Network

Cons

• Volume control not included on remote
• Lettering on radio casing difficult to read

Product Description

Tivoli Audio introduces the world’s first satellite table radio designed exclusively for home use with built in SIRIUS Satellite Radio. The new Model Satellite radio is designed by Tivoli Audio CEO, Tom DeVesto, and is based on the popular, award-winning

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

91 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tivoli Satellite Radio feedback, September 4, 2005

By	Sam Love (NJ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I love Sirius in my car for its niche channels like jazz, Folk Town and Bluegrass so I bought the Tivoli table model. On the positive side the sound is GREAT -- right up there with Bose, but the design leaves some things to be desired. 1. It won't work without external antennas for AM, FM or Sirius. 2. It does not have an internal power supply. 3. To get stereo or CD you have to buy additional boxes. 4. You really do have to have a clear view of the sky where the satelite is located. Trees and buildings block the signal. 5. You might as well order the third party signal booster and antenna extension because it only comes with a 30 foot cable to the antenna which will probably not get it to your roof. 6. There is not an easy way to feed additional stereo equipment to take advantage of a home sound system. 7. There is no way to cut off the big blue info screen which is really BIG and Blue. When installed this thing has as many wires and connections as a lobbyist in Washington. But if you can put up with the clunky design it is wonderful.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best of the Satellite-Compatible Radios, April 23, 2007

By	Paul Boswell "Paul" (Palm Springs, CA) - See all my reviews

I have no doubt that one reason for the slow adoption of Satellite Radio by consumers is the lousy hardware. I mean, what are they thinking? The collection of products for both Sirius and XM looks like the over-designed, comic book props in Star Wars movies. They're totally dysfunctional. Nothing as elegant as an iPod, with the possible exception of Pioneer's portable radios for XM. Even the car radio's are clunky.

The Tivoli Model Satellite is the one exception to the ugly, under-performing Satellite Radio rule. The sound is about as good as it gets. Indeed, almost too good since it really points up the excessive compression used by both satellite and commercial FM broadcasters. You won't notice this difference until you play an uncompressed CD or MP3 file from your iPod through the AUX port on the Tivoli. Wow! What an amazing sound out of such small speakers. And I don't even have the subwoofer speaker accessory.

The Sirius section works great. It's easy to program. It's got a great "Memo" feature to capture the name and artist of 20 songs you'd like to look up later.

I did invest in a serious outdoor Sirius Antenna prior to the arrival of the Tivoli, so it was just a matter of plugging it in. The FM and AM sections worked fine without any external antennas. It's impressive that they include a serious external AM antenna - something I haven't seen packaged with table radios since the 1970s, and then only expensive "audiophile" models.

As noted by others, the Satellite and AM/FM functions aren't at all integrated. This is basically the Tivoli Model 1 with a Satellite function tacked on as an afterthought.

The huge, bright, multi-line display is awesome at providing all of the information you want at a glance, with a minimal amount of annoying left-to-right scrolling. While the display does automatically adjust to ambient light (a feature that can be turned off and on) it may be too bright for the bedside table for some people.

The Tivoli Model Satellite is to radio what a beautiful 52" flat panel plasma display is to HDTV. It's the best audio you can get for satellite, possibly short of a console deck connected to studio monitors. But, again, given the various compression artifacts on Satellite radio (and the compression is often horrible on talk-only channels) this may be about as good as you dare get.

Unless you have space limitations, it's kind of a waste to spend so much money on a radio only to have mono sound, so plan on buying the (right channel) speaker for stereo.

I have no problem that they didn't include a CD player. An integrated mechanical device would only shorten the useful life of the unit. As just a radio it should last 10-20 years if you're trying to justify the high price tag.

Will Sirius be around in 10-20 years? I don't know. We also hear talk of HD radio coming to AM/FM (but then we've heard about HDTV for 20 years too and it's still not here).

At this price point, it would have been nice if there's been a time-shift feature, sort of a digital VCR (DVR) feature to record shows you want to hear later.

The remote is pretty awful for such an expensive radio, it's just a cheap "membrane" type remote. Inexplicably I got a real remote with my Kenwood Sirius car radio (what good a remote does in the car is beyond me).

Let's hope with the merger of the two satellite services they make more of an effort to create better looking, more functional hardware AND clean up their sound quality. I'd rather they have half as many channels with better sound and produce better programs that are re-run several times a day.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great Sirius satellite radio, May 21, 2005

By	MikeJM (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

I was initially quite skeptical about satellite radio. Then, I saw the Tivoli in an advertisement and decided to take a chance. I was very pleasantly surprised with the radio and the Sirius satellite service. I've brought the radio to my office and can enjoy commercial free music throughout the work day. The sound from this small, mono radio is remarkably clear and powerful. This includes both high and low range sounds. The remote control is compact and easy to use; actually, I prefer the remote, since the buttons on the radio are small. You can store 20 of your favorite satellite stations for easy access. Even FM stations sound great, but I rarely listen since the satellite stations are much better. The Sirius lineup is excellent, and it truly is commercial free music. (News and Talk stations have brief commercial breaks.) Overall, I definitely recommend the Tivoli satellite radio (and Sirius satellite radio).