HD Radio Heads Home
By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 1/7/2008
LAS VEGAS — Dealers will find home HD-Radio products at International CES from among the following brands:
Acoustic Research: The Audiovox-owned brand plans to show one and possibly two tabletop HD Radios. One is the iPod-docking tabletop ART7, estimated to ship in the second quarter. The company hopes to incorporate iTunes tagging and enhanced iPhone compatibility, which will enable the docked phone to operate hands free and mute the radio's iPod playback music when a call comes in. Pricing wasn't final at press time, but the company is targeting a suggested retail around $199 to $249.
The brand also hopes to show a prototype of a cherrywood table/clock radio with HD Radio, iPod dock, iTunes tagging and intuitive operation. It's targeted to ship in the third quarter.
The company will also show the new Acoustic Research ART1, an iPod-docking analog table radio targeted for February or March shipment at a suggested retail of $249. This unit features proprietary graphic user interface, "tap anywhere" snooze and mute, and preloaded nature sounds. The brand is also developing a version of the ART1 with FM and Internet radio and iPod dock. A prototype might be displayed at CES.
Coby: The company's first three HD Radios consist of a small component tuner, a tabletop radio, and a portable AC/DC mono radio, all offering HD seek and multicasing but not conditional access.
The component tuner is the HDR-650, a palm-size tube-shaped model with brushed-aluminum chassis and RCA outputs to existing stereo systems. The 1.88-inch by 5.13-inch by3-inch tuner comes with two-line display and remote at a suggested $99 and ships in the first quarter.
The portable HDR-700 mono model features embedded rechargeable battery, SD card slot to play back MP3 files, 3.5mm line-in jack, remote and splash-proof case at a suggested $149. It ships in the first quarter.
The $169-suggested HDR-800 iPod-docking one-piece tabletop radio features alarm, two full-range speakers, 6-watt output, composite-video output to play iPod videos on a TV, and 3.5mm line-on jack to connect other-brand MP3 players. It ships in the second quarter without iTunes tagging.
Audio Design Associates: The $4,999-suggested Suite 8200 multiroom-audio receiver is an eight-source, eight-zone 16x25-watt stereo receiver intended to drive an installed multiroom-audio system. It comes with two tuner slots to accept Sirius, XM, HD Radio and analog AM/FM tuner modules. It replaces a model that had only one tuner slot.
Denon: The company offered HD Radio for the first time in 2007 with the launch of $5,200 and $2,499 A/V receivers and the $699 S-52 one-piece tabletop networked music system. For custom-installed multiroom audio systems, the company here is showing its first component home-audio separates in years, including the industry's first six-zone multiroom-audio tuner. The $999-suggested TU-604CI comes preinstalled with two analog AM/FM tuners, but installers can add optional $300 HD Radio tuner cards, $99 XM cards and $99 analog-AM/FM cards into any of four tuner slots. All six tuners in a fully loaded TU-604CI can be accessed separately in six different zones in a house. The main unit and cards ships in February.
Dice: Dice rolls in with two new tabletop models, both the company's first HD Radio for either the home or car with conditional access. The tentatively named iTR-200, due in the first quarter, is a mono model with optional second speaker to deliver stereo, an iPod dock, iTunes tag button, conditional access, dual alarms and HD-station seek button that seeks out only HD-Radio stations. Pricing was unavailable.
The company also plans to show a conditional-access version of its iTR-100 HD tabletop radio, which lacks iPod dock but offers HD station seek. It, too, is a mono model with optional stereo speaker. The iTR-100 has been available since September at an everyday $149. The price of its replacement, due in the first quarter, wasn't available at press time.
iLive: The first HD Radio from the Digital Products International brand is a table radio with iPod dock, dual alarms and remote at $149. Additional details were unavailable.
LG: The PC12 tabletop HD Radio features iPod dock and vacuum-loading CD player. Additional details were unavailable.
McIntosh: The TM2 tuner module debuts as the high-end component-audio supplier's first HD Radio product, due February at an undetermined price. The company's current analog-AM/FM tuner module is about $600.
The TM2 is designed specifically for the new 2x200-watt MA6600 integrated amp, due February at a price expected to be more than $5,000, and the $11,000 AP-1000 surround-sound processor, due in the first quarter. Future products will also accept the module, the company said.
Sony: The company is expanding its home HD-Radio selection with its first HD component tuner and first iTunes-tagging tabletop HD Radio with embedded iPod dock. The XDR-S10HDiP tabletop radio is due in the summer at around $180 on an everyday basis, and the XDR-F1HD, with alarm-time setting, is due in March at around $100. In 2007, the company launched its first home product, a tabletop HD Radio.
Spectra: The company will expand its selection of iPod-docking tabletop radios and stereo systems to 30 from 18 under the Jensen name licensed from Audiovox. One of the models, the $199-suggested JiMS-525 targeted for second-quarter availability, is a one-piece iPod-docking iTines-tagging tabletop stereo with S-Video output to display iPod videos on a TV. It also features dual alarms and remote and full compatibility with the iPhone, enabling it to mute iPhone music when a call is received.
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Your accusations are untrue. HD FM works. I can pick up fifteen stations here just fine. I can pick up non-HD first adjacents just fine with the right radio.
As for HD AM, though... as described.
Thomas - 2008-30-10 09:53:00 EDT -
Great comments Gen Jack. Yes it's sad to see some former greats like AR and McIntosh jump into the sewer
of IBOC radio. Sad indeed, as it will tarnish their image. IBOC (HD) does not work, jams other stations, with noise and cuts the useful range to less than 1/4 what it was when it was analog. The receivers are expensive and need outside rooftop antennas. You become a DXer whether you want to be or not! To get any reasonable length of time from your battery with a portable, you need a wagon to haul your car battery around and a Yagi 25 feet in the air to receive anything farther away than twenty miles, hey maybe golf carts should come with them, probably wouldn't add much of a percentage to the price either. Your Yagi could double as a beach umbrella at the beach and no more stubbing your toes on rocks in the sand, what a concept! All for the price of 8999.00, cheap indeed for the priviledge of listening to constant drop outs and telephone quality AM, yes indeed!
Robert D Young Jr - 2008-26-1 11:01:00 EST -
They'll find everything except customers. Listeners don't like deliberate interference that wrecks reception, and they really can't stand insincere answers about it. Promoters now speak openly of HD-2 'sponsorship? "Pay Radio", what a concept!
Next: Periodic software upgrades to 'fix' endless HD dropouts. What a perpetual revenue machine! BigRadio stupidly jumped into this noisy toilet, of which listeners had the sense to steer clear.
Gen. Jack D. Ripper, (USAF Ret.)
Purity Of Essence, NV
25 January, 2008
John D., "Jack" Ripper - 2008-25-1 19:22:00 EST -
Wow - the new portable Coby HDR-700 has a useful recharable battery life of 5 hours and an external AM-loop antenna. What does it use for FM - an external dipole antenna? All for only $150 - LOL! Why are all HD radios ugly and expensive?
Greg - 2008-25-1 18:34:00 EST
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