Sangean HDT-1X HD Radio Component Tuner

Sangean has designed an excellent product in the HDT-1X. But its limitations are mainly a factor of the availability of HD Radio. While most stations except for those in very rural areas broadcast HD Radio, the little-known fact is that the power of an HD signal is only 5 per cent of the power of the normal (analog) signal. Without getting too technical, HD Radio "rides along" on the sidebands of analog FM. What this means is that it doesn't carry anywhere near as far as analog FM. I live in Southern New Hampshire and have a large rooftop antenna pointed toward the Boston area (50 miles away). I can get dozens of analog stations, but only FIVE that broadcast HD Radio. Bottom line: This is mainly a tuner for those who live in major metropolitan area. And when it receives HD Radio, it sounds great.

Very pleased. I really like the HD quality sound and the receiver has pulled in some new stations I couldn't get with my old analog receiver.

Sangean Component HD Radio Tuner performed well. We are 40 miles from NYC and Phila and get both areas with the tuner and an attic antena. One station on the HD2 side seem to modulate in strength and lose signal which is anoying it doesn't happen on the standard FM side. Tuner performed as advertised and the HD2 stations are greate bonuses. Especially the All slow jams 24 hours on WDAS from Phila.

My complaints are with HDR's typical (for these days) "advertising horse poop" over substance approach.

It's not CD quality. It's not FM analog quality. (Not by a LONG shot...) It's low bit rate MP3 quality at best. Digital quality is an empty expression that doesn't mean anything. It's like saying, "Electronic quality".

If you want to find out where good sounding FM went go to a thrift store and spend $20.00 Dollars (Ten times that on Ebay-For a reason) on a vintage Pioneer TX-9500 II (or one of it's less sensitive, similar model numbered, late '70's/early '80's siblings.) Even if you have to pay to get it aligned and cleaned (you can do the cleaning part yourself, if you're handy, and you can do basic alignments if you have a service manual and basic electronics training. The manuals are downloadable off the internet)the final result BLOWS AWAY anything that I've heard from this HDR tuner or any other so far.

Audiophiles have sought these analog tuners out for decades (along with some select Kenwoods and Sansuis) and they will bring fidelity out of the airwaves you forgot existed.

I'm passing on HDR until they up the bitrate.....

Very Dissappointing.

I'm mostly a classical music listener. And I don't say that to be snobbish to those who listen to other kinds of music. In fact, I have very diverse tastes in music, and I like to view new equipment purchases with that mindset. However, if you're accustomed to listening to the only classical FM station in town that is always sort of scratchy sounding, you may have wondered why HD radio was only offered for vehicles in the beginning stages of HD. This unit is your answer. Despite any shortcomings, this is a great bargain, and you can't go very much wrong here.

There are a lot of things I really like about his unit. For not too much over $200-ish, you can upgrade your home stereo system to receive HD radio broadcasts. I think that's a pretty decent price for a system makeover. For the classical music listeners, you will be stunned by the CD-quality broadcasts and the silence in-between the quietest passages.

I found many features in this unit to be very helpful, not only to those who are just exploring HD radio, but to those who are a bit nerdy and knowledgeable about audio stuff. During the setup process, the Signal Strength Indicator ("SSI" on the display) was of tremendous help, since antenna placement is often tricky in certain areas. The other sort-of unique thing I've found out about HD radio is the best analog antenna placement does not always equate the best HD antenna placement. (Seattle KING-FM listeners please take note.) So please pay attention to your SSI (signal strength indicator) display during setup. Sudden fade-ins and fade-outs for HD reception may indicate you need to re-arrange the FM dipole 90 degrees or so. Crummy analog reception for analog FM may not always translate to lousy HD reception and vice versa. Experiment with your antenna!

I like a log of things about the front panel display and information. Please keep pressing the "Info" button on the unit or remote to accommodate your desire for information. Even the clock is pretty easy to set up and is practically intuitive. In that case, I almost had to refer to the manual. The instructions seemed to be pretty well written, with the exception of some typos and perhaps some assumed abbreviations.

I have a few very minor complaints about this unit. It seems to have some sort of protection circuitry to protect itself in case of a power outage or a "power bump." If you unplug the unit, you may wish to wait an hour or so before plugging it back in. If you plug the unit back in right away after unplugging it and try to get it to work, you may think it is completely DOA. Some uses may do what I did and end up writing frantic emails to the seller or manufacturer. I've heard of some electronics technicians refer to this as a "crowbar circuit." Note to Sangean: Please spell out this idiosyncrasy in your enclosed (and online) instructions in "plain talk" language. You may save yourself a LOT of service calls. What I do appreciate is a live voice on the other end of the Sangean toll-free number to answer these questions. We certainly don't have a lot of power outages here in Seattle, but this "bug" may cause some people to scratch their heads.

The other very, very minor complaint I have is the tolerances on the optical SPDIF optical socket. I have tried several different brands of SPDIF optical cables on the back panel socket and they didn't seem to "lock in" and stay put without slipping out with much resistance. I appreciate the built-in dust cover on the back panel SPDIF socket, but tighter tolerances of the optical SPDIF socket could have made the look and feel of this unit truly professional in that regard.

Overall, this unit is really a gem and rock solid. If you don't want to spend a bunch of money on a new receiver or preamp/tuner to upgrade your system to HD Radio, this is certainly the way to go. And thanks to Sangean for being on the cutting edge of this technology and for listening to the needs of the consumer. Those of us (especially classical listeners) who had HD radio in our cars when it was first introduced and wished it was in our homes really do appreciate your efforts.