The new Receptor HD Clock Radio by Boston Acoustics is the latest in a long line of high-quality, compact systems on the market; not to mention that everything Boston Acoustics makes, from car speakers to clock radios, is of the highest quality.
Next on our review list is a nice pair of cherry Boston Acounstics bookshelf speakers.
From Crutchfield.com, here’s the hands-on research:
HD Radio: HD Radio is digital FM and AM broadcasting, allowing you to enjoy your same favorite FM and AM stations with digital sound quality. FM stations offer near CD-quality sound and AM stations sound like today’s analog FM stations. Because the transmission is digital, multi-path distortion (a common problem with analog radio, receiving signal reflections slightly later than the direct signal) is eliminated. Stations broadcasting HD radio can also pass along text information, such as artist name, song title, weather, traffic, etc. Another benefit of FM HD radio is a station’s ability to multicast, broadcast multiple programs (up to seven) using their existing frequency. The display shows multicast stations with the frequency followed by the multicast number, 107.1-1, 107.1-2, 107.1-3, etc.
Tuner: The Boston Acoustics Recepter radio has a highly sensitive AM/FM digital tuner. It can pull in weak FM stations while its high selectivity allows it to separate closely-spaced stations clearly. The tuning knob makes it easy to manually tune to your favorite stations.
Presets: The Recepter radio features 20 station presets for your favorite AM and FM stations, including primary and multicast HD stations. Once you set the preset stations, you can quickly tune only the preset stations with a turn of the tuning knob.
Antenna Inputs: This unit is equipped with a built-in AM antenna. External FM wire and AM loop antennas are also included. The FM antenna input on the back of the radio is a threaded coaxial jack (75Ω) and the AM antenna input has spring terminals. When using the external AM antenna, first disconnect the internal antenna from the spring terminals.
Speakers/Amplifier: The Recepter features wide-range drivers, specifically designed for this radio, with a rear-firing ports to enhance the bass output. These high-performance speakers are coupled with an actively-equalized amplifier that uses Boston BassTrac circuitry for full, satisfying sound, even at low volume. The result is a unit that delivers smooth, natural response and room-filling sound despite its small size. When placed near a wall the bass may be too pronounced, in this case the bass trim function can be used to turn the bass down.
Display: The unit’s large easy-to-read display clearly shows the station frequency, preset number, HD radio text information, clock, and alarm/sleep status. If desired, the display can be dimmed. The display dimensions are 2-1/2″ wide and 1-1/4″ high.
Dual Alarms: The radio features two independent wake-up alarms, each of which can be set to music or tone. When the alarm sounds, the snooze function will silence the alarm for 10 minutes. If you push the snooze button again within 3 seconds, you can add another 5 minutes to the snooze time, up to a maximum of 60 minutes.
Sleep Timer: You can set the unit’s sleep timer to play the radio for a preset amount of time, then turn itself off. The sleep timer can be set for 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, or 60 minutes.
Auxiliary Input: A mini-jack input (1/8″) on the back of the radio allows you to play an external source through the Recepter.
Headphone Output: There is mini-jack (1/8″) headphone output on the back of the radio. When headphones are plugged in the speakers are muted.
Satellite Speaker: The included second speaker completes a two channel stereo system. The satellite speaker is connected to the main radio using the attached 20″ cable which terminates with a male RCA plug. A 10′ RCA extension is also included to offer greater placement flexibility and improve stereo separation.
