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Insignia Home HD Tuner

C

Chuck

Some time ago there was a discussion about these things, and speculation (maybe by me) that they might be made by Sangean. It does have a strong cosmetic resemblance.

Yesterday, I purchased the last one from my local Best Buy. It was priced at $49.00, and I'd been carrying around a $25 gift card since Christmas. For less than $30 including tax, it was mine. I was hoping it would be a decent analog tuner. It isn't, or at least this one isn't. It's deaf as a post.

It also appears that it is not made by Sangean. Taking the cover off of a Sangean HDT-1 and comparing it side by side with the Insignia, there is no family resemblance. The Sangean's build quality is visibly a lot better than the Insignia, which looks quite cheesy by comparison

Just a cautionary tale....
 
That's a shame, but frankly I'm not surprised. Insignia products have been, in my humble experience, one step up from Emerson or Coby in manufacturing quality and QC.

It would be nice to have a decent, low-cost slimline HD add-on for home stereos. The AM/FM section of my hand-me-down tuner in the bedroom is kaput and for $50 this would be an ideal supplement. Signals here are strong but prone to noise from all my electronic doo-dads and computers. The HD signals generally rectify that issue.
 
The Sony HD tuner was the ideal candidate for adding on to your stereo, but it has been discontinued. I've seen some people asking $500 for one, which is a little extreme for something that could be purchased for $79.95 new.
 
I purchased the Radio Shack version of this same HD tuner, which also resembles both the Insignia and Sangean home tuners, but based on the AM band deafness to a 50KW signal, I'm afraid to open the cover and see what junk lives inside.
 
JohnnyElectron said:
I purchased the Radio Shack version of this same HD tuner, which also resembles both the Insignia and Sangean home tuners, but based on the AM band deafness to a 50KW signal, I'm afraid to open the cover and see what junk lives inside.
Click to expand...

A germanium crystal ;D
 
JohnnyElectron said:
I purchased the Radio Shack version of this same HD tuner, which also resembles both the Insignia and Sangean home tuners, but based on the AM band deafness to a 50KW signal, I'm afraid to open the cover and see what junk lives inside.
Click to expand...
Mostly empty space, with a tiny, poorly shielded computer board with the AM loop antenna going straight into a digital front-end chip. They purposely have to make it deaf on AM, because otherwise all you'd hear is microprocessor noise.
 
Chuck said:
The Sony HD tuner was the ideal candidate for adding on to your stereo, but it has been discontinued. I've seen some people asking $500 for one, which is a little extreme for something that could be purchased for $79.95 new.
Click to expand...

I wish I would have seen this coming. I would have invested in some extra stock to sell back. Most electronics lose value over time, but many people who are selling XDR-F1HDs know how invaluable they are to the niche market of DXers. I have been watching them on ebay and have seen bids go over $200. People are asking up to $500, but asking vs getting are two different numbers.
 
Here's my HD Radio story. Finally, out of curiosity, when the prices got low enough, I decided to purchase the Best Buy Insignia HD Tuner. After going through three, I finally found one with a good front end, but unfortunately, the audio output is on steroids, especially the digital out, and, as a result, the audio is very distorted, so that unit is back in the box. Then when Radio Shack dropped the price below $40 on the similar Auvio HD Tuner, I got one for comparison. This version has a better remote, but like the Insignia, the FM tuner is easily overloaded, and not sensitive on weaker signals, but the audio on this unit is clean. It's apparent that the quality control on the Insignia and Auvio is not good. Despite the better reviews, and because the Sangean tuner looks so similar, I decided against going in that direction. Seems like Best Buy and Radio Shack (and iBiquity) should have been more careful about introducing HD Radio to the masses with a not so good product.

Now as far as the Sony HD tuner goes: I've been a huge fan, and have purchased many Sony products over the years, and had my eye on the Sony XDR-F1HD tuner, but, I ended up waiting too long to get one, and, even though it's been accepted as a superior stand alone tuner, I just felt Sony made a mistake putting the tuner in that small box. I would have probably jumped at the Sony tuner, had it been designed to better integrate with other "standard" 17 inch wide components. I know it's totally subjective on my part, but, to me, it kind of makes the Sony stand out like a sore thumb! Just my impression, for what it's worth.

I finally found an excellent price on the more expensive Onyko multi-platform HD/Satellite tuner. What a difference! This tuner IS a quality product, too bad the rather high list price probably limited its appeal. The Onyko has a sensitive, selective tuner, plus the option of either adding Sirius or XM. And despite the lack of a digital audio output, it still sounds great to my ears. So that's my HD Radio adventure, seems like it should have been easier to get good HD than it turned out to be!
 
spunker88 said:
Chuck said:
The Sony HD tuner was the ideal candidate for adding on to your stereo, but it has been discontinued. I've seen some people asking $500 for one, which is a little extreme for something that could be purchased for $79.95 new.
Click to expand...

I wish I would have seen this coming. I would have invested in some extra stock to sell back. Most electronics lose value over time, but many people who are selling XDR-F1HDs know how invaluable they are to the niche market of DXers. I have been watching them on ebay and have seen bids go over $200. People are asking up to $500, but asking vs getting are two different numbers.
Click to expand...

You 'n' me, Spunker! You 'n' me.

Any McIntosh MR-78's for $79.95? :D

cd
 
Sorry for the mis-spelling - It's an ONKYO Multi-Platform HD Tuner! :) And, yes, it seems to be very good! However, even though I previously indicated I wasn't thrilled with the cosmetic design of the Sony XDR-F1HD, I agree, it's too bad Sony discontinued their excellent HD tuner.
 
nfladxer said:
Sorry for the mis-spelling - It's an ONKYO Multi-Platform HD Tuner! :) And, yes, it seems to be very good! However, even though I previously indicated I wasn't thrilled with the cosmetic design of the Sony XDR-F1HD, I agree, it's too bad Sony discontinued their excellent HD tuner.
Click to expand...

I have to agree. I own three of the Sony's. Despite their superior performance, the packaging is just plain cheesy. The ultra-sensitive buttons on top are an accident waiting to happen. I think they would have done better by marketing a 17" wide version for more money. $159.00 would have been comfortable.
 
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