Geekfoolery

Is it possible in 2007, this push-button world of the future that we enjoy, to improve upon something as basic as a radio?

As it happens, yes. Tivoli Audio has been making their Model One Table Radio since 2003. What is so special about an AM/FM radio? After all, can’t you walk into pretty much any store that sells anything electronic and buy an AM/FM radio for much less than the $119.95 that a Tivoli Model One will cost you? Yes you can. But those plastic devices, manufactured and sold by the ton in China, will sound like what they are–cheap, just good enough to make you not return it to the gas station you bought it at right away. The Model One, on the other hand, with its real wood cabinet, and large, smooth dials will surprise you with its deep, rich, room-filling sound. The other pleasant surprise on the Model One is an audio-in jack–meaning your Model One can easily take an input from a standard stereo jack from an iPod or other sound input.

The reason this little box sounds so good is its impressive pedigree. It was designed by the late Henry Kloss, whose 30-year history of revolutionary audio designs revolutionized the industry and earned him a place in the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame. Bringing the Model One from Kloss’s design shop to market is Kloss’s long-time colleague and partner at Cambridge Soundworks and Advent, Tom DeVesto.

The beauty of the Model One is that you can have great sounding audio anywhere in your house, not just the AudioVisual Widescreen projection wing that you had built with all the latest HD DVD Blu-Ray 108-inch LCD screens and speakers. It is slightly larger than two Tom Clancy paperback books. You can put on one on the desk, in an bedroom, in the kitchen, in the garage.

If you like the Model One–and you will–Tivoli makes a number of variations on the theme. You can take the Model One and and include a second speaker and CD player and turn the system into a credible replacement for a full-on stereo system. The Model Three includes an alarm clock. Model Satellite includes Sirius Satellite Radio.
There is also a nice line of portables. My first Tivoli was the Portable Audio Laboratory, or PAL. It’s basically the Model One with an onboard rechargable battery and rubberized housing, that makes it perfect for bringing out to the yard. The Songbook takes the PAL and adapts the form factor for easier travel. The iPAL and the iYiYi are portable systems that highlight iPod compatibility, but the fact is any of the Tivoli radios have Aux in jacks and work just fine with any iPod or MP3 player.

Tivoli’s radios remind of an old saying that should be remembered: “The quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.”

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