SPARC HD Radio SHD-TR05R Portable Table Top Radio with Built-in FM & HD Radio Tuners

This attractive radio has a lot to recommend and just a few shortcomings:What's hot:- Nice looking: My wife is coveting this radio- Easy to use: It works the same as an old fashion basic car radio.- Easy to tune: Seek up and down or manually tune your station. Push and hold a preset to save it.- FM and HD are integrated: Once you have tuned your station, the radio will switch to HD mode (if available). Once in HD mode, you can adjust again for an alternate HD station at the same frequency (if available). I think some people will find this feature slow and clumsy but I like the ease of use.- Good tuner: I live in a hilly area outside of town. Most affordable radios don't work well at my house. The SPARC SHD-TR05R compared well with my Tecsun PL-880 for FM reception.- Sounds good: The speaker is "good", not great. It sounds better if you plug a 3.5mm patch cable into an amplified speaker (most modern Bluetooth speakers allow a direct wire connection; the SPARC SHD-TR05R does NOT feature Bluetooth.) The sound is far better than Sirius/XM radio.- Nice size: it just a bit thicker than my Tecsun PL-880 and the same size otherwise. It carries nicely in one hand even though it doesn't have a handle or a lanyard.- Informative display: With one glance, you know the radio pre-set, the frequency, if HD, and the song title (RDS-type information if provided in the broadcast). The backlight default is bright and can be adjusted via the menu.- No extras: No AM, No Bluetooth, No clock, No Alarm, etc. (also a negative). No fuss. No confusion.What's not:- Speaker: The sound quality is competitive with today's generation of radios but pales compared to radios from 40 or even 20 years ago.- Headphone: The headphone sound quality can be better than the speaker if you have good set of headphones. Buds / IEMs will pick up a dreadful hiss at low volumes and a whine when the backlight is illuminated. An inline attenuator (Shure makes a good adjustable one for no more than $15) will minimize this complaint.- The antenna is suited for upright use but extends at a clumsy angle if radio is lying down.- The radio features a kickstand but it is very weak. I won't use the kickstand because I believe it will break too easily.- It does not charge the four AA batteries. I have not used the radio with battery long enough to know how the batteries will run. When I use rechargeables, I'll need to take my Eneloop batteries out of the radio, put them in the charger for a few hours and remember to put them back in the radio later.- Proprietary AC adapter: A small low-amp 6V wall-wart is included. I prefer a 5v USB-type power option.- No extras: No AM, No Bluetooth, No clock, No Alarm, etc. (also a positive).

There are very few options for HD radio, even fewer for portable HD radio. If you have a good, strong signal for your preferred stations, you'll likely enjoy this radio. But watch out if you are a frequent user of headphones or earbuds (see below). It would also be nice if this radio also tunes AM/AM HD.The good: 1) This radio is a nice size and easy to set radio presets. 2 & 3) The speaker sounds good, and when radio signals are strong enough, it quickly decodes HD Radio signals, providing better sound and, for some stations, more program options (HD1, HD2 and HD3, for example. 4) Includes an AC adapter.The bad: 1) No switch to shut off HD decoding, which would help when HD reception is marginal. 2) Would also be nice to have a Stereo/Mono switch. 3) No external antenna support. 4) I have been using this in my office with headphones, and now the speaker will no longer plays.Tip for users, if you want to hear the station that you were last listening to when you switch it off, try this. Save the station into a preset. This bug/feature drove me nuts for a while.

Adequate radio that brings in the HD channels I wanted. If you get one, be advised that the teeny-tiny speaker produces sound in line with a teeny-tiny speaker. Connect up to a decent speaker system and you're okay. That said, the thing is what it is, a portable player of the multiverse of FM programming available today. I'm gonna use it in my shop and its lack of concert hall reproduction is not a real drawback.The instructions were crafted by a non-native American whose grasp of the finer aspects of what a potential owner might want to do with this and in what logical order he might want it done is sorely lacking. Intuition and pure luck guided me to be able to tune this baby in. The instructions did not.Side bar: I was amazed at the range of prices one could pay for an HD radio receiver and the large number of sets costing over $1000. This one gets it done. Not a bad machine, at all.

I bought this because part of our local NPR station was going to HD ONLY for part of their programming. There was one show I wanted to listen to that was only going to be on for 1 hour (on the HD only station) but I liked that show so much, I bought this. The plus, with HD you don't have the signal drift. The minus, I never was able to pick up the show I bought this radio for. The signal still has a lot of static, although it doesn't drift. This radio has become my main radio to listen to because I don't have to keep re-tuning it. I live in a rural area, although I'm only about 20 miles from my state capital. Tone is pretty good if you aren't looking for deep bass. Excellent for talk, wish the signal was sharper. I have a lot of analog and digital radios that pull in a signal better, but I appreciate the lack of drift. For cost and performance, this is probably pretty good.

Very nice HD radio that plays fm stations. I tried all the features which worked as expected, the stereo headphone port, and the ten select stations in memory. Runs on household AC and batt. DC without loss of sound quality. It has an antenna for better reception when needed. Able to program the radio quite easily for US band frequencies and time limit on dial so it won't use so much energy. There is nothing about the radio that I don't like and it even has a stand on the back to support the radio so you can see the dial at a a better angle.

Nice radio, does work as described. Nice speaker and has let me tune in stations at work I could not previously get with my old standard radios. I love HD radio, no static or failing signal at sunset or in bad weather. Crystal clear. Make sure to check the availability of HD radio in your area prior to purchasing this radio.One minor complaint. I have plugged this into my Bose system, via 3.5 mm cord, and the volume is very low. In order to use it, I have to max out the volume on this radio and my Bose system. Not sure if an amp would resolve this problem. Not a big deal either way. A minor issue and it would not make me hesitant to buy this radio.