Product Description Boston Acoustics Horizon Solo is the first compact AM/FM Radio to offer you placement flexibility, thanks to an innovative rotation control dial that allows you to place the radio vertically or horizontally. Place Solo sideways on a shelf or desk. Stand it up on a kitchen counter or bedside table. Wherever and however you use it, the sound is large, deep and satisfying. Solo also features Boston Acoustics's innovative Snooze bar, a touch-sensitive outer rim that you can't miss, even when you're half asleep. Solo has been designed to look great and engineered to sound even better. A precision tuner locks in even distant radio stations. An advanced full-range driver with Boston's BassTrac audio processing provides rich, clean bass at all listening levels. Your ears will hear all the bass and none of the distortion. Stereo headphone jack on the front for your convenience High contrast LCD display automatically adjusts to ambient light 20 AM/FM station presets Dual independent alarm clock with sleep timer 360-Degree Snooze Bar (touch-sensitive outer rim) Time and settings are saved (no battery required) Dimensions - Height 5.25 x Width 8.25 x Depth 6.25 (134x210x159mm)
High quality soundNovember 27, 2008 I agree with critics of this radio who say the alarm function is too complicated.
That said, I am very impressed by the sound, which is much better than average. Also, though I'm no expert, my sense is that the tuner is in the range of good to very good when it comes to picking up weak stations. (I live in a rural area.)
Scott Atkinson Watertown NY
Best tabletop radio for the money!!November 26, 2008 I purchased the Boston Acoustics Solo after much effort to find the best tabletop radio for the money. If you're looking for a high end am/fm radio with great reception and excellent sound, and for less than $100, this is the one. I also happen to love the design, but that's of course subjective and others may not. But be warned. This unit is known to have bugs. For me it was with the clock accuracy. Others have had issues with the alarm as well. The general consensus among those of us that can only settle for the best, is to keep returning it to the store for an exchange and don't stop until you get one that's not flawed. Internet shopping makes that task not so fun, but I had no problems getting an exchange through electronics expo. My second unit is free of any problems and has made it worth the extra effort to go through the usual exchange hassle. Otherwise I would have had to settle for an inferior product which I had purchased during my comparisons. I also bought for comparison: a Cambridge Soundworks 820HD, and an Accurian HD radio from Radio Shack. My original quest was for the best HD tabletop radio, but after much research and experience with those products, I decided that HD radio is not worth pursuing and in fact is pretty much already dead. My requirements in a radio are sound quality and reception. Hd radio is fine if all you care about is some extra programming, but those extra channels are so badly compressed, I can't stand to listen to them, so what good are they. And if you want to listen to fm analog only (which the 820HD can do), the sound is muffled because the speakers we're designed to sound the best in HD. The Boston sounded much clearer and open than any of the others I compared to. Plus has great reception with just the supplied "piggy tail." Hooked up to a dipole antenna and the right placement, this thing pulls in distant stations very clear. I had it temporarily connected to rabbit ears (the best antenna for the money) in the attic and the sound was excellent. Also, the auxiliary port on the back, as well as the headphone jack on the front both worked very well. I bought this for my wife to bring to work and since she works in a large building, it was important that it pulls in signals among all of the interference. It does pretty well there considering where it's at. A couple of channels don't come in clear, but it does better than the Accurian did. I also researched reviews on Sangean radios, other Cambridge products, even overpriced Bose radios, but none are quite as good as the Boston Solo. If you don't mind spending more, get the Boston Duo for stereo sound. It was just too bulky for me. The solo can be rotated upright which I tend to like best. It takes up less space, especially if it's to be used on a bedside table. But beware, as good as it may be as an alarm clock, the light is just too bright, even at its lowest level. Basically, anything with an lcd backlight design is going to light up the room compared to the typical red on black displays. That's the only downfall I can see as an alarm clock, otherwise the alarm features are great, especially the 360 degree snooze which works great. I gave it 4 stars because of the bugs and being too bright as an alarm clock. I was hoping to buy another one of these for my bedside but it's just too bright. Otherwise it's a great radio with the best sound and reception for the price.
LOW Tech FeaturesNovember 22, 2008 Has very good sound BUT, The radio alarms can only be set to the last station that was listened to. That means that although there are two separate alarms they will both be set to the same station. Also means that you cannot set the radio alarms to wake you up on an AM station tomorrow morning, for instance, if the last station you listened today was an FM station. For the price of this radio, you would expect it to have some reasonable memory features. I have a cheap-o Sony clock radio that I can set to two different wakeup stations and then go and listen to any other station that I want to without affecting my alarm settings. I grant you that the sound quality is not as good, but at least the tuner and memory features are current tech.
Boston Accoustics SOLO ReviewNovember 18, 2008 Radio has a nice deep bass sound. The two alarms are nice and I really like how the face turns so you can have the radio horizontal or vertical. Listening to an external device is superb. Love the touch screen face and the light sensitive display. Only complaint is the weak antenna that needs to be draped around the room.
Excellent clock radio if you have the proper firmwareNovember 14, 2008 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I already own a Tivoli Ipal which I greatly enjoy, but didn't like Tivoli's offering for clock radios. So I bought the Solo.
Pros:
.Unmatched sound and overall quality at this price. .Gradually increasing alarm. .Two alarm settings .Numeric sound level control, especially useful to set the exact volume you like for waking up. .Dial tuning through preset stations, the best way to quickly scroll through your favourite stations. .AM/PM or 24hr format.
Cons: As reported by others:
.If you change any setting (station, volume), the radio alarm will not automatically shut off as you would expect after an hour. .Menus a bit difficult to make out depending on lighting conditions or your eyesight.
Comments regarding other reviews:
I did have the problem whereby the clock would lose time when in radio alarm mode. Also, some flickering of the display because of excessive sensitivity of the light sensor.
These turned out to be a firmware problem. You need to return the unit to have it updated. I was told that firmware versions 3.0 and over correct the problem. To find out which one is installed, press the Alarm 1 button while plugging the unit. I was able to check this in the store before buying a second unit for the office.
Would have given it 5 stars but better quality control should have picked up these problems. And since they know about the problem, how come some defective units are still in the stores? At least here in Canada.
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