It will break my heart to send it back...
Pros:
Nice modern looks; GREAT sound with down firing subwoofer and bass level control.
Cons:
Display could be more informative; Severe lack of alarm features.
The Bottom Line:
If you can live with one alarm and waking to radio or CD, you won't find a better sounding clock radio for the price. Especially as a refurb, great value
|
|
Overall Rating:
|
 |
|
Author's Review
I have been looking for a good sounding alarm clock but am not willing to shell out $400 for the Bose or Soundworks models. I found the SRL50 while poking around on line and took a chance. I have only had it two days now, but within five minutes I knew what I loved and hated about it; and there is very little chance of these changing. I should say that I bought a refurb unit from overstock.com and paid $100. If I had shelled out the full retail price of $200, this unit would definately have to go back. Out of the box, it looks great, and once you turn it on the subtle blue lights on a few of the control surfaces look even better.
Here's the good news, it sounds better than it looks! There is a separate 3" down firing subwoofer with it's own level control and it actually puts out clear bass, not mud like many mid range clock radio units do. The 2 front firing stereo speakers have a very pleasant and balanced tone with clear. Nothing else I have listened to near the SRL 50's price range comes even close. I can't say enough how great this thing sounds for a single box unit of its size and price.
As I mentioned in the beginning, I was shopping for a good sounding alarm clock. Here is where Teac left plenty to be desired. Like the Bose, and a few other table radio models, they included only the most basic of alarm features. They failed to include a wake to tone function. You are also limited to a 5 minute snooze function. As well, if you use the sleep function, you are limited to having to use the same function and volume for the alarm. This is getting a bit nit picky, but while listening to a CD or the radio for that matter), the display shows either the track number or the station frequence. As this is a clock radio, it would be great to have a more comprehensive display the the single line they included.
I am having a hard time finding exactly what I am looking for. Most models in the $100 range seem to have more alarm functions than you can shake a stick at, but sound awful with harsh highs and muddy bass tones. In the Teac SRL 50, I found exactly the sound quality but am very disappointed in the alarm functionality. I am not sure if I will be keeping this great sounding radio, as I'm concerned about having to wake up to the radio or cd at the same volume I use to lull me to sleep. So close and yet so far...
