Tivoli Audio Model 1
The Tivoli Audio Model 1 is a fantastic table radio, I received mine as a Christmas present a few years back and I couldn’t be more happy with it. The audio is really very good for a radio of this size, I’d say compared to a bose wave radio it’s head and shoulders better. The tuner is also fantastic the knob allows for very fine tuning of stations and even simply using its built in antenna I can pull in pretty much any station I want to without too much trouble. Tuning is assisted by a small yellow LED that glows brighter as you get the signal dialed-in well.
Appearance-wise I think the radio is very classy looking, it fits in well with most decor and doesn’t scream “electronic thing” like the bose other radios in it’s class do. No argument from the wife about this thing sitting out and being visible, in the living room which gets it a big thumbs up.
It is a mono radio (doesn’t have right and left channels) for basic listening this is more than adequate especially when the speakers are within a few inches of each other as they would be in most table-top radios. Tivoli does make a model 2 which is stereo and uses a remote speaker that looks every bit as classy as the model 1 (basically the model 2 is just a model 1 with a remote speaker to achieve stereo). I’ll probably try to pick up a model two shortly for the living room and steal the model 1 for my office.
If I had to pick a weakness I’d say it’s that the aux input (where I like to plug in my ipods) isn’t on any kind of switch, it simply becomes active when something is plugged into it. This means that you can’t leave your ipod cord plugged into the thing and just use the switches to go between the radio and the ipod. It’s sort of annoying to have to unplug the cord from the back of the radio when I am done listening to my ipod and want to hear the radio. That said, this annoyance is relatively minor and in general I couldn’t be more pleased.
UPDATE! Thanks to Matt Uhrich I have learned that the newer Tivoli Model 1’s DO have an aux selection on their main switch. Mine is a couple years old so it must be a semi-recent addition. The one gripe I have about mine, is no more!
Hooray!