 Amazing Clock Radio |
| Review Date: December 24, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Thomas J. Mcguire, Iowa |
| I have owned a Sangean world band radio for over 20 years and have been impressed by its performance and build quality. So, I took a chance on the RCR-3 in my long quest for the perfect clock radio. The RCR-3 is heavy, so it's not going to fly off the nightstand. To my eye, the design is beautiful, with design cues reminiscent of 1930's Machine Age radios. The radio reception is outstanding and the RCR-3 just sounds terrific. I like the progressive alarm feature very much since my hearing isn't what it once was, and I just LOVE the nap feature. In short, Sangean has hit a grand slam homerun with the RCR-3. |
Fix for lack of backup battery / Very impressed
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| Review Date: November 7, 2009 |
| Reviewer: BeachBunny, Florida, USA |
I was torn between the venerable Proton/Sangean RS-330 and the RCR-3. The RS-330 has been the de-facto ultimate clock radio, one of the last great ones from the early 90s when Proton, Nakamichi, and others produced high-end alarm clocks. At the same time, the RS-330 hasn't been updated in nearly 20 years. No CD player, no atomic clock synchronization, uses vacuum fluorescent displays which fade over time and aren't all that energy efficient (~$20/year to run the RS-330 and RS-332). So, I hesitantly bought the RCR-3 with the atomic clock feature being my primary requirement, still wishing I could get all of these features PLUS the great sound & slave clock of the RS-330.
The RCR-3 is quite simply the best alarm clock I've ever had. Totally exceeded all of my expectations. The more you use this clock radio the more you realize just how much thought was put into it. I'm planning on buying two more, one for the other side of the bed and one for my office. Might even get one for the kitchen.
Pros:
4 alarms, programmable by day-of-week. Each alarm has a separate button on the face of the clock and the actual buttons illuminate to signal which alarm(s) are turned on. The alarm button currently going off blinks to indicate such. I also appreciate that the backlighting fades up to 100% when the alarm is going off. To show the level of thought put into the alarm clock, the alarm's beeper will sound instead of the radio if the radio station's signal is low/off-air. Alarm volume (beeper and wake-to-radio) is separate from radio playback (sleep) volume. Programming the alarms is quite simple as well. Push the alarm button, then push SET and just arrow up/down. No finger gymnastics of trying to hold multiple buttons down or having to go all the way around the dial because you missed the time you wanted.
The digital radio tuner is rather good. I'm picking up FM stations from ~80 miles away crystal clear. AM reception is clear, full-range audio, and rejects interference well.
Sound quality is good, great for its size. It's been many years since I've heard a Proton clock radio, but this sounds very close. Bass depth is impressive and balanced, particularly for a radio of this size. It doesn't suffer from the boxy exaggerated mid-bass many small speakers suffer from. I've heard worse sound out of much larger speakers. I work with and own many pieces of professional (Meyer) & audiophile (Bowers & Wilkins) sound equipment yet am still impressed by this little radio. It's not at the same level by any means as the sound is heavily coloured, particularly the midrange, but it's quite enjoyable.
Large analogue clock: I'm terribly near-sighted. Digital clocks usually require that I put on my glasses to read them. The clock is also very quiet when advancing to the next minute. Even the lightest sleeper wouldn't be bothered by it. No second hand ticking either.
Dimmer: Full range dimmer. From bright enough to read by to 0% brightness, only going to 100% momentarily when you push any button. There's even a night-light button on the front of the clock that will turn the backlighting up to 100%.
Energy efficient: Uses less than 1 watt on standby, even with backlighting at 100%. Compare this to my old typical alarm clock which used 8 watts on standby. I know this sounds insignificant, but considering it's using this 24/7, it adds up over time. Figure 1 watt * 24 hrs * 365 days = 8.76kWh/year , 8 watts =70kWh/year. Multiply this by the # of clocks you have plugged into the house and you're starting to talk about decent money.
Thin plug/power cord. I know some people dislike power transformers (wall warts), but I'd much rather thread a small DC power connector through things than try to fit a full-size AC plug through an already-too-crowded wire hole in furniture. It also is safer and easily replaced if it gets pinched between the bedframe & wall, etc.
The negatives?
Lack of a backup battery. See my solution below. Sure, it has that backup capacitor AND it does show the time on the digital screen while the power is out, BUT the alarm won't sound if the power's out when the alarm is supposed to start.
No line out. I've not hooked this radio up to my bedroom's Bowers & Wilkins stereo yet, but I would prefer to do so via line out rather than headphone jack.
No HD tuner / CD player. Okay, there's a line-in for this, but I wanted just one piece of equipment on the nightstand. MP3 playback via SD card would be awesome.
No remote control. Why a remote control for a clock radio? Because the sound quality on this clock radio is better than many mini stereos!
No Stereo/slave unit. Not that it's entirely needed with atomic clocks that can sync themselves, I'd love to have the master/slave clock setup that the RS-330 had, if just for the stereo sound alone. I might just buy a 2nd one for the other side of the bed. All that I'd be missing over the RS-330/332 setup would be stereo audio.
As others have mentioned, the manual is lacking in detail. Where detail is provided it over-complicates what is really a well thought-out, logical to operate clock radio.
A few useful bits missing from the manual:
When you first power up the radio:
1) The analog clock will advance until it reaches 12:00 and the radio will scan through the stations and automatically set pre-sets the strongest ones.
2) The digital clock will show a flashing -:- and the antenna symbol.
3) The upper right corner of the screen will show L:0, representing signal strength of the time signal. Signal scale is 0 (weak) to 9 (strong).
This clock uses WWVB for time, located in Fort Collins, Colorado, on long-wave radio frequencies. For those unfamiliar with shortwave radio, it's basically AM radio that bounces off the earth's atmosphere and the ground. As you can imagine, reception of this signal is highly variable.
Don't worry if your radio shows a signal strength of 0, especially during the day. Most locations will get the best signal between 1-4am. Keep in mind this clock uses the atomic clock signal to sync its clock so it doesn't need to see it all the time. Once a day is more than enough.
4) Once the clock is receiving WWVB, the seconds display on the screen will start to tick, verifying that it is indeed seeing a signal. After a few minutes of this the clock will set itself and you're good to go. Keep in mind that under IDEAL conditions it would take the clock 3 minutes to acquire a signal. It took my clock about 15 minutes for its first sync.
Mislabeled controls department:
Light button: Should be Night Light. Turns backlighting up to 100% until pressed again when it'll return to the level you've set with the dimmer dial underneath the radio.
Tone control: Should be Loudness control. It's a bass and treble boost/cut control, similar to some car stereos and some smaller home stereos. Both bass & treble are boosted / cut at the same time with this dial.
**Back-up battery fix:**
Since I live in Florida, complete with an electrical grid only a 3rd world country could be proud of, Sangean's capacitor trick isn't going to cut it with our extended outages. Here's how I fixed this problem. I bought:
1) Ademco AD12612 alarm system 16VAC -> 12vDC power supply/charger board. (~$10-$20)
2) generic 16VAC/40VA transformer for the AD12612 (~$5-$10)
3) generic 12v 4amp-hour alarm battery (~$5-$15)
4) A spare DC power cord since I didn't want to hack apart the Sangean's power supply.
5) Some spare wire to connect the transformer to the AD12612.
So I connected all of this together, sticking the battery and Ademco board underneath the bed. Even an electrical novice can't really screw this up. The Ademco board is well-labeled (AC in, DC out, color coded battery leads). For reference, the clock is expecting 12vDC, positive tip, negative shield.
By my estimates, the clock will run for about 4 days with the backlighting on 100% 24/7. Much longer with the backlighting dimmed or off. If I bump it up to a 7AH battery that'll be 7 days, maybe 10-14 days with the backlighting dimmed. This beats out any off-the-shelf battery backup (APC et al) since everything stays in the DC domain. Those off-the-shelf UPSs won't last more than a few hours with no load connected. With the alarm system power supply there's no DC(battery)->AC(inverter)->DC(12vDC transformer) conversion and no DC->AC inverter loss. Dead silent when running too.
As a side benefit, this will be a nice hurricane/emergency setup down the road. The backlighting on the clock is bright enough to read by and certainly more than enough light for emergencies. 7+ day runtime is just icing on the cake. Want more functionality out of this setup? Hook a car cell phone charger up to the 12v output on the power supply. |
A great purchase, I bought another one for my husband's side of the bed...
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| Review Date: June 3, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Carter's Mom, Washington, DC |
I purchased this based on the other positive reviews, so I won't reiterate everything that's already been said. Here are my favorite features:
1. The atomic clock -- now I actually do know that the time is correct
2.The backlight can be adjusted with a dial to create precisely as much light as you need to read the clock or be turned off completely.
3. There are four different alarm settings, two with beeping and two with radio alarms. I use the radio alarms and hubby uses the beeping (now I can sleep through his since the sound is different than mine). I set one for my weekday wakeup time and one for my weekends. I never have to reset it.
4. You can choose the days of the week for each alarm setting
5. The alarm buttons are on the FRONT of the unit -- my cats cannot turn the alarms on or off during the night. The power button is also on the front.
6. All of the buttons on the top function as "snooze" buttons when the alarm rings -- so you can just reach out and slam the top of the unit without having to locate that one button...
7. The unit has a special nap function. You can set it for anywhere from 10 minutes to two hours. I take many naps and often set an alarm to make sure I am awake at a specific time. Now, I don't need reset my morning alarm for midday and then remember to reset it again afterwards. If you like to nap -- this is an extremely useful feature.
Cons:
1. The instruction manual is a little lacking.
2. When first setting the clock, it may take about 24 hours for it to connect with the Atomic clock. This is frustrating if you are not sure whether the unit works or not (since the operating manual doesn't mention this at all).
3. Would be great if you could hook two units up (one on each side of the bed) to create stereo sound. |
really is the ultimate clock radio
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| Review Date: February 22, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Ross Tolstedt, |
I recently purchased this clock radio. I read all the reviews from varius web sites. From what I read, people were indicating that this was the ultimate best clock radio. I tend to agree. Awesome am/fm reception. Dimable lights, many presets, everything easly to customize.
Not much to improve upon on this radio. Maybee a batery back up? Also for someone that has not used the radio before, it is kind of confusing on how to use until you read the owners manual. It really different from most other clock radios. |
Brilliant Gem of a Radio
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| Review Date: September 18, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Paul Claxton, RIverside CA |
Most highly recommended! This is the last alarm clock you'll ever need to buy.
Pros:
The radio is sensitive - much better reception than the radio it replaces. The sound is loud and clear, the tone control helps. The AM and FM channels are easy to set - the tuning button allows for up and down and you just push one of the top located buttons until the channel is memorized. There's both a nap button which allows you to nap a bit before the alarm goes off. There's an auxiliary jack on the back to plug an iPod in but there is no charging provision. There is a headphone jack for private listening. It automatically scans the AM and FM bands and sets the channels to the strongest stations in your area. You can override them simply.
The clocks are easy to read. The LCD display up on top and the big and clear analog down below. They're locked together so that setting one sets both. The clock sets itself either manually or automatically picking up the WWV signal from Colorado. One button changes daylight savings time on and off.
The alarm uses the Human Waking System which gently rises in volume on both the buzzer or radio. There are four separate alarms that you can use. I work a 9/80 schedule so one is set for five days a week and another is set for four days a week. The alarm light glows to tell you which is in affect. The snooze button is large and located on top. When the alarm goes off the clock comes to full brightness and the analog face glows a nice orange. Otherwise the display's brightness can be adjusted with a knob on the bottom. When the alarm goes off the brightness is enough to act as a nightlight to maneuver around the room - a nice touch. There's two buzzer alarms and two radio alarms - you can set the alarm to go off with any memorized radio station. If the radio station's signal isn't strong enough the clock will sound the buzzer.
The build is solid. It doesn't feel cheap at all. The buttons are easy to use.
Cons:
To silence the alarm you can tap the large top mounted snooze button but to shut it off you have to tap the small power button on the face. I suppose this makes sure a sleeper who might drift off back to sleep is fully awake to find that small button. There is no battery back-up for the clock.
Overall this is a fine clock radio with a modern design and features. |
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US $105.71
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