I want a decent radio for the kitchen, but I also want a speaker in the bathroom, and one I can stick out the window for listening in the garden.
What I have currently: a Philips HTS-3115. The radio isn't too impressive, but it does just about work. The scan speed on FM is unbelievably slow - it seems to take about a second per 50kHz step, which is difficult to believe until you've seen it in "action". It really is quicker just to press up repeatedly rather than let it scan, but unfortunately there's about a 1.5s delay once it's settled on a frequency before you get any audio. The radio isn't all that sensitive, even on the outside antenna it seems to flip back and forth between stereo and mono more than I'd like. It's got RDS and AM, but all I've ever heard on AM is noise. And the showstopper - no matter which "surround" mode you choose, it only outputs radio on the front and centre speakers. If you stick your ear right up to the rears, you can just about hear the audio, but it's down in amongst the hiss so I assume this is just crosstalk and not actually deliberate. And finally, the volume control is a bit "notchy"; the gap between the different volume levels is a bit more than I'm happy with.
So I'm looking for another 1-box home theatre style system, which has a good radio, and will output stereo sound on the rear channels as well as the front. This kind of stuff is difficult to discover from product descriptions from the usual web retailers, so I'm asking for help.
Who has an all-in-one 5.1 box and can offer an opinion on the radio? I'm not expecting any miracles here; I understand my requirements might be somewhat beyond what the consumer electronics biz is interested in supplying to, but I can't be the only person who wants radio in several rooms, and is a tight git.
If anyone can suggest a model to look at, here are my minimum requirements. Anything in addition is a bonus:
- AM
- FM with RDS
- 4 speakers
- About £100
- All the radio functionality usable without being plugged into a TV
Nice to have:
- Aux in
- When you turn it on, it goes back to what it was doing [ie the radio] when you turned it off
- Plenty of buttons on the front so I don't have to use the remote. The remote will inevitably be MIA.
- Clock on the screen in standby
Do not want:
- Anything that forgets all its settings after loss of mains power
What I have currently: a Philips HTS-3115. The radio isn't too impressive, but it does just about work. The scan speed on FM is unbelievably slow - it seems to take about a second per 50kHz step, which is difficult to believe until you've seen it in "action". It really is quicker just to press up repeatedly rather than let it scan, but unfortunately there's about a 1.5s delay once it's settled on a frequency before you get any audio. The radio isn't all that sensitive, even on the outside antenna it seems to flip back and forth between stereo and mono more than I'd like. It's got RDS and AM, but all I've ever heard on AM is noise. And the showstopper - no matter which "surround" mode you choose, it only outputs radio on the front and centre speakers. If you stick your ear right up to the rears, you can just about hear the audio, but it's down in amongst the hiss so I assume this is just crosstalk and not actually deliberate. And finally, the volume control is a bit "notchy"; the gap between the different volume levels is a bit more than I'm happy with.
So I'm looking for another 1-box home theatre style system, which has a good radio, and will output stereo sound on the rear channels as well as the front. This kind of stuff is difficult to discover from product descriptions from the usual web retailers, so I'm asking for help.
Who has an all-in-one 5.1 box and can offer an opinion on the radio? I'm not expecting any miracles here; I understand my requirements might be somewhat beyond what the consumer electronics biz is interested in supplying to, but I can't be the only person who wants radio in several rooms, and is a tight git.
If anyone can suggest a model to look at, here are my minimum requirements. Anything in addition is a bonus:
- AM
- FM with RDS
- 4 speakers
- About £100
- All the radio functionality usable without being plugged into a TV
Nice to have:
- Aux in
- When you turn it on, it goes back to what it was doing [ie the radio] when you turned it off
- Plenty of buttons on the front so I don't have to use the remote. The remote will inevitably be MIA.
- Clock on the screen in standby
Do not want:
- Anything that forgets all its settings after loss of mains power
