HDR-18

I had an older Boston Acoustics Receptor radio which worked fairly well for an FM radio with good sound and questionable reception even with well rated antennas (I tried a bunch). I also listen to various sports and talk shows on AM and with an excellent AM antenna I received good reception on the BA but the signal would tend to fade at night and require a lot of adjustment. I was very interested in this radio as it appeared it would be an improvement in each of these categories and would provide HD radio which I enjoy in my car. On this radio, even with the internal antenna I was receiving remarkably better reception over the BA Receptor or any of my other AV receivers, radios or tuners. It is as good as the car HD radio which is remarkable. I do have a HDT-20 with a good AV receiver which also gets good reception but nothing like this one. I am using an external AM antenna (Terk Indoor AM Antenna Advantage) and the FM antenna that came with the set but may mess around with another of my antennas to see if I can do any better. The FM stations lock in and without fade. The AM reception is better but I continue to have some fade at night likely due to the nature of that broadcast signal. The mono speaker sounds great and I also have a small set of two Bose speakers I have plugged into the output that I use at times if I want more from the sound. For the most part the mono speaker is fine with me. This radio has checked most all the boxes I needed to serve the multiple purposes I hoped it would work for. I haven’t gotten to the alarm yet but will only use it sparingly. The remote works well and it was easy to program the stations. The one good problem is that I found more HD and FM stations than I have presets. An updated model should have more FM presets but this is not nearly a dealbreaker for me. Display and location of the controls, buttons and inputs / outputs are not an issue for me although the blue power button light at night could be much less strong. I think many other reviewers feel the same on that. They controls / buttons are mostly intuitive and work for me without any particular issues. Looks good, too. This is as good as I could get for the price for an over the air radio. Very satisfied customer. Others might want to explore an internet radio, particularly if you want out of town stations that are out of range.

Sangean is offering a very good quality radio in a market that had seemed to be all but gone in the last couple of years: home table radios combined with HD Radio technology. This one is a winner in my book. Sangean has made its name manufacturing good quality portable radios in South Korea. Once only known as a maker of AM products, it is now developing good portables for FM as well. I am particularly encouraged they have committed to supporting HD Radio which will likely be the future of FM radio as its deployment grows. HD Radio has been a slow deployment technology for a number of reasons, mostly due to a "let the marketplace come up with the money and technology to upgrade radios "attitude that reflected deep political influence by companies that were gunning to take over radio's lucrative advertising market. It was first rolled out in 2004 with preliminary equipment at the radio station level, reaching perhaps 10% of radios stations concentrated in the major markets. Initial rollouts included just the basics of this digital broadcasting technique, although the many obvious advantages that are achieved by conversion are now much more widely available. These include extra channels, known as HD2 or HD3 streams, which allow radio stations to supplement their offerings, higher power levels which improve the full-quieting range of FM radio to about 20% more than analog, greater station metadata capabilities than aging RDS systems, and the latest trick of allowing full color graphics to be broadcast to the radio dial, known as Artists Experience. I am a radio fan and spend many hours every day listening either in my car or my kitchen to both news and music programming. While I am generally able to find HD Radio capable receivers in cars (the majority of cars sold in the US now include HD-capable radios) I have missed the kitchen table radio experience. No, I'm not one of those that wants to be tracked by Amazon, etc, every time I listen to a web stream with terrible audio quality via one of those loss-leading Alexa-type products. No thank you to that. The Sangean HDR-18 does a fine job with providing radio streams (which is what most listeners use in their homes) without the spyware. I am currently using it in the Tampa area to listen to my favorite radio signals, including one that recently lost its main channel license and has been re-created as an HD-2 only format. Reception is excellent with over 40 signals receivable in a multitude of formats using the internal antenna that is included in the case. The radio comes with its own 3 foot telescoping antenna, but I find the reception is better on the internal one. No more snaggly wires taped to the windows! This is a radio that works well without them (kind of like what we all learned to expect from our cell phones). The only quibble I have this radio is that it does NOT come with Artists Experience which is widely deployed down here in Tampa to show off album art or other graphics. My guess is displays capable of doing multi-color graphics are in short supply due to the disruption in China/Asian manufacturing and available supplies of this kind of display were all routed to the automobile industry. Even so, this is a great radio for those who like the free audio programs and want high fidelity sound in a small package for something like a kitchen, home office, or even as part of a den/reading room. It works! And for now this is doing a great job until I can get my hands on something with AE. Keep up the good work Sangean! ML

I like to listen to AM talk radio as i go to sleep, and this radio is great for that. Music sounds fine as well and bass and treble can be adjusted to suit. The radio can be lit up or completely dark, as you prefer, and the gradual increasing alarm beep/snooze has not failed me yet. The digital tuner lets me get exactly where i want to go and keeps me there so the built in AM antenna is pretty good! An FM telescoping antenna is included and seems to work well. Takes a bit to figure out,set and save all the potential settings but once done is a piece of cake to use. The included remote is a welcome gizmo tho !

When I removed the Sangean HDR-18 from product box, I noticed that the radio did not have any label, sticker or mark of any kind that would indicate a third-party safety test certification process had been performed. I searched the user's manual and radio package for any indication of third-party certification i.e. U.L. Underwriters Laboratory without success. I decided to directly contact Sangean America Inc. From their website contact information I tried: 1. Email at [email protected] and received a "Undeliverable" response 2. Used the Sangean toll-free number at 1 888 726-4326 and received a prerecord message that the number I was dialing could not be completed. 3. Phone Sangean America Inc. directly a 1 562 941-9900 and received a prerecorded massage that the number I've dialed is not in service. Having third-party safety test certification on any electrical device is very important. Such certification ensures the user that the electical device meets a certain level safety to prevent electric shock and/or fire. Manufacturers pay thousands of dollars to have a product third-party safety tested certified. Once the electrical product is certified, only then can a manufacturer place the testing laboratory certification symbol on the manufacturer's product. If a consumer uses an uncertified electrical device that causes property damage and/or personal injury, do you think a reputable insurance company would compensate for such damages? Most likely not. For the lack of any electrical certification on this radio and the inability to contact Sangean for inquiries, I do not recommend the Sangean HDR-18 to anyone.

The radio looks good and solid with beautiful wood finish. The sound is clear and easy to tune-in / preset radio stations. Yes I like it

Good sound Good looking It's slightly more than a year since I gifted it to my son living in Toronto. We visited him in June /July for about 40 days and I enjoyed listening to the the HD radio channel Kiss FM daily. Thank you Sangean for making quality products. I bought WR-16 SE in October 2022 for my wife in India. Ordered through Amazon. Com and shipped it. Landed cost was USD 240. Well worth the money spent. The radio is on daily from 6 - 10am. Awesome sound for a small footprint. Padmesh India

Bought as a gift for my father… he is extremely happy with sound and ease of use. Would appreciate other wood finish or colour availability (silver or black) vs the light wood. That was his only complaint!