Tivoli Audio Model One Bluetooth AM/FM Radio - Premium Wooden Cabinet with Clear Sound, Wireless Streaming (Black Ash/Silver) - Perfect for Home, Office, and Bedroom Listening

Our new Tivoli Audio radio arrived, a welcome addition to our new kitchen. Tivoli makes this unit in a number of combinations of face and cabinet colors, and apparently my choice was not popular, because it took about a month for it to ship after I ordered it.But that's to be expected if you're dealing with Henry Kloss, the high fidelity pioneer who is the brains behind Tivoli audio products. You see, in the early days of hi-fi the notion of waiting for custom cabinetry for your audio components was as much a part of the mystique of high end products as what was in them.Fortunately the insides of the Tivoli One BT seem to live up to the notion that everything old is new again. I love electronics that are bone simple in design and excellent in everything else, and this unit doesn't disappoint. It's a monaural radio with a dial for tuning stations, a twist volume control, a small yellow light to aid tuning accuracy, a simple twist selector for AM, FM or auxiliary inputs - and that's it.What you do get, though, is one excellent little speaker with a ported cabinet to boost bass performance, an excellent tuner, smooth electronics and the option to use Bluetooth enabled devices as auxiliary inputs. The Bluetooth option is a pricey add-on, so either they're soaking technophiles or stuck with complicated options for producing a techie add-on that melds well with audiophile components. I'll assume the latter for now, but I do wonder.The user manual warns that pairing Bluetooth units may take some patience, and for my Nexus 7 tablet it did take a few minutes to get the pairing to work. However, my Galaxy Nexus phone paired in just a few seconds and neither unit required entering a pairing code. Once paired, the Bluetooth audio is certainly sweet, as is the FM sound. Included is an inobtrusive FM antenna that plugs into a coax cable connector, which I added on, though reception seemed good without it. Helpful hint: remember to throw the switch on the back of the unit when you install the external antenna, otherwise it won't boost the signal.In a kitchen filled with state of the art appliances that seem to have a lot to say to us, the Tivoli One BT is a welcome change of pace. You turn it on, it plays music - or podcasts. That's it. Perfect for my wonderful analog wife, and just right for me. You could spend lots less or lots more for a compact radio, but for the money the Tivoli One BT is a great value if the best of old skool and nu skool audio matters to you.