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They live in a rural area with few radio stations but they love classical music. The sound is much better than you would expect from something this small. This is amazing. They have been listening to radio stations through the internet but those little speakers don't do justice to great music. It was easy to hook up and the controls are intuitive. Even my technology challenged parents can do it. They already had internet access but this gives them the world anywhere in their house. Now they can listen to concerts direct from London on the BBC and they will be able to listen to their beloved Yankees with great sound quality.
Speaking of which, Sangean just released a firware update to add some new features (ie, signal strength meter). I loved it from the start. Works well with.m3u playlists (create your own party mix). In addition, there are plenty of commercial free music stations available also (they take a bit of finding but they are out there). Roberts supports the WM201 in the UK while Sangean the WFR20 here in the USA. The Reciva website makes it fairly easy to search for and add stations which you can then access directly on the radio. I did not purchase for the sound quality but was pleasantly surprised that it sounded so rich for such a small box.
I mainly use it to listen to talk radio from around the world. It also works well streaming mp3 files from a PC. I purchased my WFR20 11 months ago. Speaking of my Mom, she liked my radio so much I ordered her one of her own so she can listen to it in bed at night (great way to drift off). You can listen to just about any talk show host even those not in your local market.ie, Ed Schultz, Thom Hartman, Mike Malloy, etc. The WFR20 is the 'close cousin' USA version of the Roberts WM201. My radio gets constant daily use of at least 4 hours a day. I feel it is sort of a hidden treasure only I know about.
It's a solid feeling, well constructed device that has some heft to it. If you search for 'Sangean' on the Reciva community forums you can get more details into the firmware upgrade(s). At first I didn't like the single knob but now think it is quite ingenious. My 76yr old Mother operates the radio without any problems; there was a learning curve but she likes her British talk station LBC, London so much she got the hang of it pretty quick. I hope internet radio catches on here in the USA. If you're on the fence and love radio or want an expanded view of the world get this radio.
(I found a better, larger, smart remote with back-lighted buttons at Amazon for another $20).What's the big deal.I like radio, mostly talk radio and, by extension, shortwave. In less than a minute, the radio offered me a menu of thousands of free radio stations on the LCD screen.I have 6 presets that I can juggle and a folder where I can stash as many station presets as I want.What kind of stations.Anything you can think of, anywhere in the world. It has a remote too, one of those small ones. If you haven't checked out wi-fi radio yet, start here.This is my favorite new gizmo.The Sangean model 20 is a table radio, small but hefty, black. You don't have to understand the technology to use it.4) Once you buy the hardware (some sets at Amazon are cheaper), there are never any fees or taxes or contracts or third-party monitoring of what you listen to.Tell Santa.ps: Definitely consider upgrading the remote. It was literally plug and play.
You don't need wireless internet but you do need a high-speed connection of some kind, like what you get from your local cable company.That's it.
At home, especially at night, I get virtually nothing on the AM band and there's not much in my small local FM universe that appeals to me.
You can follow any sport, any event, any news, from any perspective, at any time.Yes, you can hear Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.
It has only one button and an LCD readout that doubles as an easy-to-read digital clock.
Unlike that weird mood-specific niche programming that you find on Sirius and XM channels, this is real radio, commercial radio, live, warts and all.For example.My presets right now include WMAL (DC), WBAL (Baltimore), WLS (Chicago), WABC (New York), the BBC (there are about a dozen BBC outlets alone to sort through) and Radio Netherlands.There are hundreds, thousands of live, free radio stations from every part of the world and in every language that you can think of.
I looked at adding a big outdoor antenna to my receiver but that was too expensive and too annoying and, best case, I could only hope to "match" the limited reception that I get out in my car.
That's not really much of an upgrade.But, in doing research on antennas, I found out about wi-fi radios.
No, you can't hear Howard Stern (Sirius) and Oprah Winfrey (XM).Best of all:1) There is absolutely no static on any station.2) It uses the same "connection" as your computer but is in no way connected to your computer (unless you want it to connect, like if you wanted to use this box to also play music or pod-casts that are stored on your computer, for example).3) It is Goon-Proof.
You'll be using this radio a lot and big, back-lighted buttons are a real ergonomic upgrade.ps: It's a nice looking box too, much nicer than you might expect from the picture.
I've got a solid DSL connection (up to 1.5Mbps) and never have any problem with cut outs due to buffering once my station has connected, even while I am using my PC for other surfing. Easy to setup once you get the idea of the single knob and how to traverse the menus. Took all off 10 minutes to get onto my secure wifi and be listening to my favorite station out of Chicago. Been using it for a month so far.The box also has the option to upgrade its firmware built into its menus, though I don't know of a reason why I'd need to upgrade it at this point. Solid box for a decent price.
Sangean WFR-20 WiFi Internet Radio & Media PlayerI purchased mine a month ago and have been well pleased. For certain genres and "one of a kind" unique radio stations you won't find OTA with a terrestrial radio from any market, it is a must if music is your thing.
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