In our last house in the Los Angeles foothills, we couldn't get decent FM reception at the south end of the dial, which is where we usually listen, because we were at the foot of Mt. Wilson, otherwise known as "Transmitter Mountain," home to most of the TV and radio antennae that serve the LA basin. So, unwilling to devote precious night-stand space to a clock-radio that only got static and white noise, I got myself a stand-alone
Salton Big Ben Retro Alarm Clock from Restoration Hardware. For the past several years, I've enjoyed the simplicity of my clock, which does only two things: keep time and wake me up with a gentle alarm.
But now we're in a new house, and we get great FM reception, so I started looking for a small stand-alone table radio a few months ago. To no avail. All I could find were classic behemoths from the '60s that are much bigger than I want, need, or have room for. All I want to do was to listen to the radio for a few minutes while reading in bed before lights-out, or when I'm sick.
On a hunch, I stuck my head back into Restoration Hardware a few weeks ago, on the off chance that they might have what I'm looking for. After all, they had a retro non-electric alarm clock, so... And lo and behold, they did. It's a
Tivoli Audio Kloss Model One AM/FM Table Radio and it's exactly what I was looking for... with one small exception.
FEATURES •
My
Tivoli Audio Kloss Model One radio is
8" wide, 5" deep, and 4?" tall. •
It comes in
three finishes: walnut, maple, and black. Mine is maple. It's got a wipe-clean finish. (According to the website,
www.TivoliAudio.com, it's also available in silver and a couple of colors, but RH only carries the black and wood versions.) the one pictured here has a dark face, but mine is light, to go with the maple.
•
It has
six elements on the front: a sizeable speaker; an equally sizeable station selector dial; a volume knob; a function mode so you can select between AM, FM, and On/Off; a small green power indicator light; and a small yellow FM reception light that dulls and brightens as you zero in on the signal.
•
It comes with both an
internal antenna and an external plug-in one for areas of weak reception. My reception is good enough with the internal that I don't use the external.
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There's a jack on the back that enables the
Tivoli Audio Kloss Model One to be used as an
outboard speaker for a larger audio system.
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There's also a
headphone jack, and another
output jack for recording. Please see the website quote below for a more detailed description.
•
The
power cord is also a plug-in, at both ends. It's not attached to the radio.
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The radio is
mono only.
•
It carries a
one-year warranty against defects in workmanship.
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It lists at
$119, but I got it for
$70 on sale.
•
Here's what
www.TivoliAudio.com has to say about it:
The furniture-grade, handmade wood cabinet... doubles as an acoustically inert housing. A heavy-magnet, long-throw 3-inch driver is allied with a multi-stage frequency contouring circuit that adjusts the speaker's output over half-octave increments. The result is musically accurate tonal balance and bass response.
Instead of a standard, off-the-shelf integrated circuit, the Model One uses a state of the art, discrete-component FM tuner featuring GaAs MES-FET mixers. Originally developed for cellular telephones, the Model One was the first radio to adopt this technology for better FM reception and increased clarity on closely spaced stations.
...the large analog tuning knob [has a]... geared-down 5:1 tuning ratio permits easy and accurate tuning. The amber tuning indicator lets you know when you've achieved proper tuning. Built-in AM and FM antennas provide satisfying reception, while a rear 75-ohm jack allows connection of an external FM antenna in difficult reception areas. Also provided is a headphone jack, auxiliary input to connect a portable CD player or other device, and a record output for recording, or to use the Model One as a high-quality outboard tuner. Got that?
WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT •
It's the soul of simplicity. All I wanted was a radio - I've already got a clock and I didn't want a CD player or any other bells and whistles. This is about as basic as you can get.
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The controls are all knobs, rather than push-buttons. I've wrestled with many clock-radios that had push-buttons, and invariably had to hold the beast with one hand while pushing the button with the other, so as not to shove it off the table. With my
Tivoli Audio Kloss Model One, I simply reach over and turn the knob. This baby doesn't travel.
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The sound is quite amazing - deep and resonant. Even more amazing considering that it's mono. See below for further comments.
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It's the smallest table radio I've found. My nightstand isn't that big, but this little guy doesn't take up much room - 5" x 8" is a small amount of real estate to give up for good sound. I've had clock-radios that were bigger.
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In keeping with its low-tech character, it looks pretty low-tech, too. It's just a wooden box with a light brushed metal front. I'm not big on cleaning and dusting, but this just takes a swipe with a dusting cloth; no buttons and switches to tiptoe around with soft brushes or anti-static cloths. It's actually attractive, if you can imagine that!
WHAT I'M NOT CRAZY ABOUT •
It's mono, not stereo. I'm not sure why they even bother to make a mono sound system any more; stereo seems to be the obvious mode. But having said that, I must also confess that my
Tivoli Audio Kloss Model One produces an amazing sound - which makes me wonder even more; if a mono can produce such a full, rich tone, imagine what a stereo could do.
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I can't think of a single good reason that the power cord isn't attached to the radio. But it's not; it has a little jack on the opposite end from the plug and you have to plug it into a jack on the back of the radio. So naturally, the first one I brought home didn't have the power cord in the box, and there was no way to get electricity to it. I had to call the store and have them cannibalize another box and send me the cord. This is not a radio that operates on batteries; it's electricity or nothing. Perhaps the designers assumed that it would be more often used as an outboard speaker for a larger system and would draw power from that. Whatever. If you decide to buy one, check the box to be sure the power cord is included.
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The first one I bought had a strange feature; it wouldn't turn off. Even with the volume turned to low, when I turned it off, I still got sound, and it was louder than when I turned it on with the volume at the lowest setting. Weird. I had to unplug it every night. So I returned it for one that works perfectly. That's probably an aberration, but I wanted to mention it, just in case...
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It's not so easy to find. RH only had one or two and I think they are discontinuing it, which is why they were willing to cannibalize it for the power cord. I've never found it any any of the expected places like Circuit City or Best Buy. There are a few on eBay, but not many and not always new. According to the website,
Stereophile magazine lists the Model One as a Recommended Component and declared it has "a richness, a warmth, a generosity of tone, and a clarity that made for enjoyable listening." MSNBC advises, "If you're looking for the best sounding AM/FM table radio ever made, then you should check out Henry Kloss' latest and greatest invention- the Model One." so why is it so hard to find? It's not as though it has a lot of competition; most people want more goodies on their night-stands than this provides. I'm the only person I know who doesn't.
SUMMARY AND VERDICT I've had plenty of clock-radios, the last one a cube model that was so complex that I couldn't change the time or station without referring to the instruction book. As a low-tech, slow-lane, old wave technoboob, all I want to do is listen to the radio. Although the sound it produces is truly amazing for such a small mono radio, I'd prefer it if my
Tivoli Audio Kloss Model One were stereo, and I'm not sure why it isn't. That's why I'm giving it
four stars.
