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Very contemporary design and great sound. I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to audio and I needed a decent radio for my office since my blankety-blank IT manager won't let us stream music anymore. This little Sony am/fm is a winner. Sony seems to always manufacture a great product for the best price. Such a concept.
All I wanted was a good quality radio to get my favorite FM station (classical music) while reading in bed. Too bad. The only way to get the station was to move the Sony to the middle of the bedroom AND rotate it to the perfect angle; couple of degrees off and the signal was lost.
I received this model in the afternoon and immediately tuned it to my station: Nothing. It would have been just what I was looking for: a simple, good quality radio. I thought getting new technology would improve on my 30+ years old Panasonic night reception of an admitedly weak station.
I contacted Dependable Resource (bought there via Amazon) and they deserve 5 stars for the total refund including shipping both ways. In day time. The old radio was receiving just fine.
Next door station NPR was coming in perfectly.
It's not going to wow anybody. After reading a ton of reviews, I decided to go with the ICF-M1000 instead of spending north of a hundred bucks on a Tivoli or similar. loud enough you don't mind everyone in the room hearing it) it does sound better, but it's still nothing amazing. Nothing about it feels cheap or chintzy at all, and the knobs mimic the "slow tuning" type of response of its analog competitors, despite the ICF-M1000's tuner being digital.
Ho hum.Priced at fifty dollars, the ICF-M1000 is fine. The finish is much nicer looking than I expected. Has a substantial weight to it that also lends an impression of real quality.The sound, well, is unremarkable, IMHO. I wanted a decent radio with a Aux input for my office. But don't expect too much. At higher volumes (i.e.
I admit I have never heard the Tivoli Model One in person, but if I spent over a hundred bucks for a radio, its sound had better be more memorable than this one. The 'listening experience' of this radio is just adequate; it doesn't 'fill the room with music' or 'sound much bigger than it is' or meet any of those other cliche's we always hear about audio equipment.
Considering the price Sony tried to sell this unit at when it was brand new, you can't help but see it a huge underachiever. The ICF-M1000 is not a total dud by any means, but my expectations were higher.It looks great and has a great quality "feel" to it.
I don't regret buying it. At lower 'background' volumes (as I play it, again, in an office) much of the dynamic range disappears.
I find myself constantly fiddling with the Tone setting to find a tone that makes whatever I'm listening to more audible. It looks nice and I play podcasts from my iPod through the Aux input.
There is a reason it's now sold for one-third the MSRP.
The sound quality is very good for its size, even better than my ancient Advent 400 but of course not equal to a stereo system. At well under $100 (I paid closer to $50 at Amazon), this mono radio is a bargain. It gets static free FM reception with its built-in antennae (my favorite station is 75 miles away). It lacks any presets, but the tuning knobs works fine. I thought this slick black radio was so good that I bought another.
I keep the radio in my office, which is in a building with thick walls, overlooking Lake Michigan. I listen only to one station, a classical music one, so the absence of pre-set buttons is not much of a problem. But it still would be a welcome improvement in the unit. The clarity of sound is superb, and I'm glad I purchased it.
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