Sangean HDR-19 HD Radio/AM/FM-RDS/Bluetooth/AUX Premium Wooden Cabinet Radio

I've had this for almost a week now, enough time to test it a bit and form some opinions. First off this is a very handsome radio, build quality is first rate which I would expect at this price. It's heavier than I was expecting. The speaker is large and can get pretty loud without distorting. The knobs and controls give it a quality feel and the wood cabinet is not only nice to look at but gives the sound a warm quality. To test AM reception I consulted the Radio Locator website and printed off a list of AM stations which I should be able to receive in my area according to them. I grabbed my Eton Elite Executive, Tecsun AN-100 small loop antenna and a C.Crane Twin Coil antenna and set up to see what I could receive in the mid to late afternoon. Radio Locator gave me a list of 15 AM stations that I should be able to hear at my location. Two of those stations turned out to be off-the-air; local stations that weren't present at all. Of the remaining 13 stations the Eton could easily capture all of them and deliver listenable signals. The HDR-19 couldn't hear about 5 of those but when I added the AN-100 or Twin-Coil antenna all of them came in well enough. I had slightly better results using the AN-100 on the HDR-19 and preferred it over the C.Crane Twin Coil. The AN-100 fits well on top of the HDR-19 and looks good there. The Eton didn't need any help, it delivered a great signal all by itself. It found about 8 or 9 extra stations not on the Radio Locator list. The Sangean could barely hear half of those with the AN-100 but not very well. In general AM reception of non-local stations was very noisy, lots of RF noise, typical for this area. The Eton with selectable bandwidths handled the noise better. Night time AM reception was challenging because it's hard to turn the radio, but when I tested it I was able to pick up the major stations out of New York City which is nearly 900 miles away, plus WBZ in Boston and Zoomer out of Toronto and many others in between. (I'm in Florida) I had to use the AN-100 to get these but still this was good performance for a table radio. FM was a different story, it pulled in lots of stations very clearly. I'm between two NPR stations, one about 45 miles south of me which includes an HD station that I like and one about 75 miles to the north which has 3 HD stations. I can usually get one or the other but the HD stations to the north are a hard catch and the one to the south should be out of range too. The HDR-19 is bringing in at least one these stations almost every day, more often than I would expect. There was one magical day when they all came in strong and crystal clear. I'm really happy with this because I like to listen to classical music and the HD stations are the only source I have, except for the internet of course. This is a great FM radio and probably the best HD Radio that I have used. Bluetooth works flawlessly and sounds great! I have positioned this radio next to my recliner and stream TV sound to it. It sounds wonderful. I can understand everything being said which is otherwise a problem for me. I've had this radio for nearly a week and the only real problem I'm having is turning it off! Not only is there no listener fatigue but I actually miss it when I do turn it off. This is a great sounding radio. I usually ignore the equalizer presets and go with the normal program. A couple of minor complaints: 1) There is no provision for attaching an external FM antenna. It would be nice to have that option. There are terminals for an external AM antenna. I hope someone will test that out. 2) The button labels are hard to read in a darkened room. A light behind those would be great. This radio is a keeper!

At this price point, this alarm clock radio (HDR-19) is fantastic for its design, build quality, ease of use, sound stage, and features. It's not an eyesore like so many other models out there. The smooth wooden cabinet looks great. It's heavy (in a good way) and the buttons and knobs feel solid. I was looking for a simple, high quality alarm clock radio that would last for years and wasn't as expensive as the models from Bose, yet not cheap looking like so many Sony Dream Machine-esque models on Amazon, and I found one. I initially considered Sangean because we have had one of their waterproof shower radios (H201) for years and it still works flawlessly. So much so, we've gifted their shower radio to family and they absolutely love them. Highly recommend the H201 as well. After a couple of minutes familiarizing yourself with the buttons of the HDR-19, it's very easy to use. The materials are high quality, it gets fantastic reception with its large telescoping antenna that can be tucked away out of sight if needed, and looks like a work of art compared to the janky under $20 basic clock radios that you find in kids' bedrooms or hotels, or the $100-$250 overpacked models that have way too many buttons and look like iPhone docks from the early 2000s. The buttons and knobs do not feel cheap and the display is crisp, dimmable, and only has all the information you need for a clock radio with an alarm function. You can set two alarms to individually be a buzzer or a radio as the alarm with settable volumes for each. I really enjoy the gradual build up to the preset volume of the alarms and the sound quality is very impressive. It includes bluetooth, which makes it a great speaker to use for background music if you are having guests over or the like.

Great little radio, tons of value from a radio that’s just a bit smaller than a composition notebook. A lot of sound and it doesn’t take up a lot of space. (Picture for scale) I like this radio so much, I’m getting a second one for my mom for her birthday. It has all the functions of her old CD-radio, but the sound quality is so much better because the hybrid-digital eliminates static on the stations she listens to. The good: - phenomenal sound quality. At least as good as a Bose or JBL speaker. - Sangean is a legit business that has been around since before I was born, so the product is solid and well-made. - simple to use. Any functions on the radio are controlled by turning the “tuning” knob left to right and pushing down on the “tuning” knob to select / confirm options. The knob “clicks” like a button if you push down on it. - it has a sleep function so you can have it on as you’re going to sleep or leaving the house and it will turn off after up-to 60 minutes. (To use the sleep function, you have to hold down the power button for about 3 seconds) - it has a little “signal” icon in the top right corner that shows how strong your radio signal is, so it makes it easier to pick up on weaker stations. - it has forty (40!) memory presets: 20 for AM, 20 for FM. That’s more than enough for the number of stations I can or want to listen to. - it comes with a little remote control and it even has batteries included. The mediocre: - the instruction manual is non-existent. It comes with a QR code to scan which takes you to the virtual manual. I couldn’t be bothered with that so I figured it out on my own. It was pretty simple to figure out after messing around with it, but I think I’m going to be learning about this thing’s functions for a few more days. - you have to hit the “menu/info” button to scroll through the station info on any radio station that has digital data. The default display is always going to be call-sign. If you want to see the station name or song info, it doesn’t scroll through those automatically, so you have to push the button if you want to see more info. The neutral: - it’s A/C powered only, so if you’re looking for a portable or emergency radio, this isn’t it. - the four modes including Aux-cable is a bit outdated, but at least it has Bluetooth functionality. If you want to connect an old CD or cassette player to it, you could do that, so that’s pretty neat I guess. Anything that has a headphone jack is fair game to connect to this radio as long as you have an aux cable. If you’re looking for a standard AM/FM radio with great sound quality that can double as a Bluetooth speaker, this is it. You should get this one.

I've been researching compact home audio systems for several years. I have one old huge 8-speaker Technics component stereo and a smaller Pioneer component stereo - 500+ watts each - and I never use them because they are just too much. For years I had planned to hard-wire speakers throughout the house using one of these beasts but, again, it's just too much. I wanted something much smaller that sounded disproportionately good. I considered going the obvious route with a small army of Sonos speakers. Personally, I've never really found their sound to justify the immense cost. Being a fan of JBL, I was excited when they released the [new] Authentics series. They look and sound good but seem a bit cheaply made. While they are Wi-Fi and meant to compete with the Sonos, I'm constantly annoyed by JBL not getting any of their products to work together. If I were to do a wireless household audio system, I would want a decent sound bar included in the setup but JBL refuses to make any of their speaker series connect to each other and they're constantly changing the type of wireless technology while also not making any of it backwards compatible with older products. Then I finally decided to ditch the entire idea of an expansive interconnected household system. Our house is only 1,200 square feet on a single floor, so there really isn't a need for speakers in every single room. We have a collection of JBL Bluetooth speakers we use a lot with our mobile devices but I now wanted a tabletop radio with Bluetooth instead of always using the battery-powered JBL's (which are getting old and the batteries aren't lasting as long as they used to). I've also had a Sangean WR-15WL radio centrally located in our dining room for the past 10 years. It was connected to my girlfriend's turntable and we would occasionally use it to listen to OTA live FM radio. We actually really like to listen to live radio but don't often do so in the house as the WR-15WL reception and sound quality is decent but not awesome and radio tuning can be cumbersome. Still, the WR-15WL let me experience the high quality of a Sangean radio. So my new plan was to replace the Sangean WR-15WL in our dining room with something that has better sound, volume and features. My first consideration for a new radio was a Sangean WR-12BT or a WR-16 but I figured these would have the same standard radio tuner. Then the new Sangean HDR-19 was released. I didn't jump on it right away due to the price, but when I came across it on a really good sale, I ordered one right away. Unboxing it I wondered if I was going to keep it. Turning it on and giving it a quick trial, I wondered again if I was going to keep it. Well, that was a week ago and I've used it pretty much every day. The little Sangean HDR-19 turned out to be exactly what I was looking for: a compact, high-quality tabletop radio with clear and accurate radio tuning, an auxiliary input, Bluetooth and a good match of speakers and amplifier with some tone control (3-band digital EQ). To me, it sounds really good with a broad range of fairly crisp highs and mids and enough bass to fill out the whole sound. Despite suffering a bit at the top third of its capable volume, the radio definitely punches above its weight class. The controls are minimal and easy to navigate but the radio does require some minor setup (like time, date, emergency alert system and region selection for radio reception - hint: USA is region "B" which is not the default). Everything about the HDR-19 feels premium with smooth, LED-lit knobs and firm buttons. The LCD screen can be a bit cluttered but it does a good job of displaying information. I have no regrets at all in buying this radio. If you are looking for a small but very good sounding radio (FM & AM) with added features like Bluetooth and an auxiliary line-in (3.5mm stereo) definitely consider the HDR-19. If by any chance the radio is in stock locally, don't hesitate to go and try it out. You'll be able to tell right away that Sangean makes quality products. I strongly recommend this Sangean HDR-19 tabletop radio.

This radio has nice sensitivity and good looks. The sound is quite good, as well. The user interface could be better: The buttons and labels on the radio are too small. The presets involve a two-step process, and step one is finding the presets button, so the process is a bit clunky. The remote is only somewhat useful, since it provides no access to station presets at all (as far as I could determine--the documentation is not great). It would be nice to be able to detach the telescoping FM antenna and substitute a dipole (or other) external antenna--lots of radios have a coaxial plug on the bottom of the telescopic antenna that allows this, and at the price point of this radio that flexibility should be included. Still, for my purposes this radio works well, and the build quality is above average.

Seems well built. It is heavy for its size. The plug is very large. 19 volts is different from most. As you press the 'info/menu' button it will either say the day and date, or the station call letters, or a message from the station, or the category such as 'news', or some white squares (see photo). Am not sure what the 16 white squares mean nor the one blacked out square. Have not tried the bluetooth nor the Aux In. The sound is good. The like the remote, small and does everything that the front panel buttons do. The antenna for FM (included and attached) feels sturdy and gets the expected local stations. I am not sure if it comes off. The volume and tuning knob feel good and have detents as you turn them.

I own the previous model of this radio and was pretty happy with it (HDR-18), so when I saw there was a new model I thought pretty hard about whether it was worth spending the money to get this one. I did, and couldn't be happier with it. FM reception was very good on the HDR-18, but it's improved on this model. There's a low power station I like that the HDR-18 struggled with and could only pick up when I placed it in just the right spot, but this HDR-19 picks it up much better wherever I put it. The display is easier to read than the one on the HDR-18, and I think it shows the information in a more useful way. The addition of Bluetooth means I can now use this to stream music from my other devices when I need to. The speaker is high quality and sounds great, and the radio's very attractive to look at. There are more presets than the HDR-18 has, but that comes at the cost of not having a dedicated button for each one and having to press multiple buttons to navigate between presets. This unit is quality through and through. I highly recommend it.

I bought the Sangean WR-22 a couple of months ago for a bedside clock radio and it's okay but lacks a bit in music tone. Mostly, I just needed the better tuner/alarm so it's still great for its intended purpose. With it, I started listening to talk radio, so decided to get something for my living room. Thinking the HDR-19 could work well for the living room, with the HDR channels to boot, I ordered it. To my surprise, the physical dimension would have worked nicely for my bedside also and the design matches any room. For ~$40 more than the WR-22 one gets 4x as many presets, the HDR capabilities, a better quality remote, better reception, a telescoping antenna (a separate purchase for the WR-22) and better tone that includes a mid-range frequency (WR-22 has only bass and treble) and a 3 band EQ. The physical depth of this unit is 4-1/2" so it fits nightstands better than the 7-1/2" deep WR-22. It is taller and wider at the base but tapered design and shallow depth means it's more maneuverable. Great unit and well worth the upgrade price!