Cue Radio Model R1 - Black

It looks and sounds good, has good FM reception, is assembled in America, and is relatively small. However, the station tuning wanders continuously. For example, if I set it at 101.9, within a minute or two it will jump to 102.1 or 101.7, producing silence or static, and requiring me to attend to it constantly, whether its warmed up or cold. I sent the first one back because of this, but the replacement is doing the same thing so will be going back also.

This table radio is beautiful, has a really nice FM tuner, excellent sound. Its very well made. I really like that the clock light can not only dimmed at night, but turned off, since I use it next to my bed. The one downside is that setting the alarm is a few menu levels down. They should really optimize that on the next rev of the software.

I bought this table top radio to have a good sounding amplifier, so to speak, for our Apple iPhone and iPod Touch while, at the same time, providing a charging base. It easily rivals the sound of my Bose radio. An added benefit has been having great sounding Internet radio as I use it to play Pandora and Tunein. I feel like I am getting more for my money than if I had bought one of the competitive brands. Also, what I like are the straight-forward, easy-to-learn-and-use controls. I don't have to consult a manual to remember. A nice feature is the ability to display songs, playlists, and what is playing from the Apple products on the radio screen. My FM and AM stations come through very clearly, and the radio holds the signal well. It is easy to set up and access presets.I did have what I thought was a "glitch" after I first started to use the radio. I contacted tech support and was very impressed. The person who called back was very responsive, very friendly and knowledgeable, and spent all the time I needed. Of course, he resolved the problem by walking me through some steps. I say this from the perspective of a retired computer guy. The support is akin to the kind we used to get from computer companies before it was outsourced to other countries and like what you get today from Apple Care. Also, I am one who holds the stance that everything has got to work correctly and well or the product is going back, especially when spending this kind of money.I am tempted to purchase the satellite speaker for this radio. However, even without it, I have a super sound.

Sound quality is fair. Biggest disappointment is no battery backup. Overall, way too much money for what you get.

The good is that the cue acoustics radio has a first rate sound quality. Within the limitations of a small form factor, it is hard to imagine a better sounding table radio (particularly if you buy the stereo speaker that goes with this unit). In fact I have to turn the volume way down at night because it can put out an impressive amount of clean sound. FM and AM reception are very clear. The controls are intuitive and easy to use.But I can only give the unit 4 stars. The blue lights for the ipod controls are too bright for something you will probably put next to your bed. The led lights on the computer interface dim when the lights are turned on (this is a feature you have to set up) but they do not dim enough. The volume of the alarm clock is set at exactly the same volume as you use to listen to the radio. It does not go up progressively nor can you set it independently. It is a bit clunky setting up the alarm since you have to go through some nested menus. It would be better if you could set independent alarms for each day of the week.I used a logitech boombox as my alarm clock for over a year before buying the cue acoustics radio. Hands down the cue is a better sounding unit which is why I replaced the boombox. That said, the interface for alarms and the dimming features on the boombox are clearly better than the cue. The engineers ought to buy a boombox and see how a well designed computer/alarm clock is supposed to work.

Not your high-school clock radio.This tabletop "clock radio" is a must-have for NPR junkies with small apartments! I listen to the radio all the time, and my stereo has good speakers but I can only set up two sets, which covers half the 600-square-foot apartment. I like to have NPR available in all rooms, so I typically use a clock radio as my alarm clock. After years of using a crappy-sounding old-school clock radio, I couldn't resist splurging on the Cue Aucoustics model r1 radio ("the Cue Radio"). It's a gorgeous, sleek little thing with whopping sound. It's small enough to fit on my tiny nightstand and looks nice enough to even be in the living room. I find myself listening to it even when I'm in other rooms, actually, because the sound is good enough and loud enough that if I'm in the middle of something I forget to switch to my real stereo. I used to hate the red glaring numbers showing the time on my old radio; the Cue has a soothing blue display that you can set to dim at night (one of my favorite features). The reception is better than any other radio I've used--I can get a bunch of stations I've never received well, and the signal status bar that comes up automatically while you're tuning is a nice confirmation of how well the station iscoming in. Setup is easy (the instruction booklet looks nice and was laid out such that I actually read it)--I could give this to my parents, for instance, and they would be able to readily suss out all the features. Best yet, it doubles as an iPod dock and also can be used as a receiver for my other mp3 players or my Pandora playlists(the Cue speakers are way better than my laptop's), and its small size makes it easy to flip around, plug in an auxiliary cable, and enjoy the great sound--which you can control with the tiny remote that comes with it. Maybe future models could have wireless capability--but I'm pretty happy that's all I am left wanting with this snazzy little clock radio!