Sangean America WR-3 Digital AM/FM/CD/SD/USB MP3 Table Top Radio (Black)
by Sangean America, Inc.
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Our Price: $227.98
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Category: CE
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: Sangean America, Inc.Model: WR-3
Color: Black
Product features:
- Radio Data System with radio text, program type, station name, and automatic clock time (where available)
- Compact disc drive supports MP3/WMA playback on CD-ROM/CD-R/CD-RW formats
- Dynamic bass compensation for high-quality rich bass
- Full-function IR remote control
- Alarm and sleep timer
- CD MP3 Playback
- Menu System
- SD Card/USB MP3 Playback
- Search and Manual Tuning
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sangean America WR-3 Digital AM/FM/CD/SD/USB MP3 Table Top Radio (Black)
Customer Review: Outstanding Sound Quality & Well Made
Summary: 5 Stars
My wife and I recently decided to rearrange our living room. Part of the problem was a large entertainment center full of audio components and flanked by two large floor speakers that dominated a complete wall. This made it tough to arrange things how we wanted. The solution was to lose the entertainment center, upgrade to a wall-mounted flat screen television and replace the stack of component audio gear with something simple, self-contained and compact. I had originally planned to replace this "mission control" audio gear with a Bose Wave radio, having marveled at the nice sound from one owned by a friend some years ago. Upon researching the available choices among the competition, I discovered the Sangean WR-3. I suspect Sangean is virtually unknown to most folks. Sangean has long manufactured portable shortwave radios with which I'm well familiar. I also purchased a Sangean WFT-1 wifi internet radio last year and was very impressed with the quality of this product. This afternoon, I received my new WR-3 from Amazon and quickly unpacked and set it up for a test run. This product is quick and intuitive to setup and didn't require any help from the owner's manual. I was completely astounded by the "presence" of sound from this relatively small box. The only similar product I had to compare it to is a friend's Bose Wave radio. Both have fine sounding full audio, but the Sangean has a "3D" switch on the rear panel that when enabled, made a profound difference in stereo separation. It's uncanny how the sound of this product emulates that of a much larger system with much larger speakers. The Sangean WR-3 has separate bass & treble controls which are lacking on my friend's Wave radio. Bass response is strong but not "boomy" and obnoxious. The WR-3 is quite loud at full volume too and has a complete lack of distortion. So, are there competing products that sound better? There may well be, but the WR-3 must certainly rank among the best. I can't imagine anyone being disappointed in the way it sounds. Indeed I suspect most users will be just as astounded as I.
The other thing that struck me is the obvious look and feel of a quality product. It's quite an attractive piece with it's highly polished black plastic case and fabric-covered speakers. The display is bright and automatically dims itself after a short time after the last button is pressed. Still, the blue illuminated ring around the volume control and the display backlight remain on even when the radio is off. "Off" therefore may be more accurately described as "standby". For those intending to use the WR-3 as an alarm clock/radio, the constant display illumination may be an issue. Another quirk is that the RDS function of FM reception must be manually enabled by a button press on the remote before it displays artist/song, etc. The included telescopic FM whip antenna works well in my suburban home and I found the tuner to be quite sensitive and selective. AM reception sounds great as well. This model is one of the few that features a real internal ferrite loop antenna for the AM (MW) band. The ferrite MW antenna design performs far better than the plastic-frame wire loop external antenna supplied with nearly all competitor's radios. In fact, the provided antennas became one of the key features that prompted my choice of the WR-3 over the competition. The downside of a built-in ferrite AM antenna is that they are quite directional and may require that the entire radio be rotated for best reception of weaker AM stations depending on the direction from which the signal arrives relative to the radio. For me, this was only a problem with very weak AM stations located well beyond a reasonable listening distance. It's simply much cleaner to have the antennas built into the case than to have unsightly external antennas and their connecting wires. The telescopic FM antenna provided with the WR-3 may be extended just enough to offer good reception in metro areas and may be rotated to hide it if desired. Fully extended, the telescopic whip enabled good reception of normally weak stations well beyond their intended listening area. The FM telescopic antenna provided simply screws onto the 75-ohm type-F connector on the back panel, so a much more substantial external antenna may be used for rural area users in tough reception areas. The tuner itself is most certainly well designed and capable of good performance of weak signals with a suitable antenna. CD performance is excellent with a motorized disc transport mechanism that operates just like an automobile CD player. The WR-3 features an auxiliary audio input jack mounted where it belongs - on the rear panel. I connected the auxiliary input to my Sangean WFT-1 wifi internet radio with excellent performance. The combined package is still compact and quite an entertainment package! The 1/8" (3.5mm) auxiliary jack may be driven by audio from a myriad of sources such as a multi-CD changer, portable audio player, etc. A press of a button on the included remote control selects the auxiliary input and the volume is adjusted normally with the large front-panel volume control or by the remote. Incidentally, nearly all functions and features of the WR-3 are controlled by the remote control. The radio itself has controls only for power on/off, volume and CD eject. This may be an issue with some users but appears most of the competing models are designed similarly. The thin-profile remote control included with the WR-3 is comprehensive with all control buttons intuitively layed out.
Overall, the WR-3 is a well-made, visually attractive product that features outstanding sound. It's a great option for those like me who prefer a simple self-contained audio system that compares favorably with the average component system yet doesn't take over the room. There are some very nice competing products from the likes of Bose, Polk Audio, Cambridge Soundworks, Tivoli, Yamaha, etc - but the Sangean WR-3 compares very favorably yet is among the lowest priced. It includes some design elements of the best competing models - the provided antennas being one most noteworthy. It will be interesting to see if Sangean offers a future version that integrates wifi internet radio reception with AM/FM & CD audio into a single unit. In my opinion, the WR-3 leads the pack where value is a fundamental criterion.
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Description of Sangean America WR-3 Digital AM/FM/CD/SD/USB MP3 Table Top Radio (Black)
FM/AM HiFi RadioThe Sangean WR3 is the table-top stereo radio that many have been waiting for. Its features start with the ability to play MP3 and Windows Media Audio (WMA) formats from a slot load CD, but takes it further by offering SD/MMC and USB flash connections that provide flexibility that no other table-top offers. For those who enjoy radio, it provides the AM/FM reception and sensitivity that Sangean is famous for, 20 memory presets, and RDS text service that displays artist, song title, and other text information provided by your favorite FM stations. It has a large blue backlight LCD with white text that provides a full menu of options and settings. In addition to all this, stunning high-fidelity sound is produced by two 3-inch polypropylene speakers and dual front facing bass ports--all powered by a 3-watt by 3-watt amplifier. Featuring the Sangean AcoustaCase and 3-D audio projection technology, the speakers produce an unmatched level of surround performance and bass response in a table-radio. This unit also features an auxiliary input that allows a connection to your iPod, DVD player, or other audio source.
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