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Jensen HD Radios for $88!

scanman1

scanman1

Yes it's true, I stopped at my local Target today and saw a Jensen HD Radio with iPod docking capabilty for 88 bucks! I think it may have been a sale, so that price probably isn't permanent and may have already gone up again. But anyway, it sounded pretty good listening to the music that was being piped in through the units AUX jacks (I couldn't try the tuner since it had no antenna connected and it seemed to be locked into the AUX mode). IMO, it looks like a good starter radio for those wanting to get into HD Radio listening. 8)
 
I saw one of these hooked up in a store, with external (outdoor) antenna, and didn't even turn it on. It LOOKED like it couldn't possibly sound good (no internal volume for the speakers MUST mean NO BASS, the laws of physics being somewhat stubborn on the fact!)

J&R has a Coby HD component tuner (no amplifier or speakers) for 69 dollars. I have no idea if it's any good. I know Coby is a low-end brand, but they have an annoying habit of occasionally turning out a worthy product. I have one of their portable cd players that also plays mp3 files. While I mostly listen to my Sansa View when "going portable", the Coby is a very well-built little player that still sounds very nice. It DOES pause on track-breaks when playing cds that play "through the breaks" like live cds, side two of Abbey Road, Dark Side of the Moon, etc. This is infuriating, and I will never again buy a player with this problem. Still, the Coby sure isn't alone in this fault.
 
This is exactly what was needed years ago. The current state of HD radio might be very different if reasonably priced receivers had been available sooner.
 
I'm hoping to see a larger bookshelf HD system and I'm not sure why one hasn't been made yet.

I like the Insignia (and love the fact that it will play DVDs) but think that it might be a bit too small.
 
Chad, check out the PoliAudio HDX3. It's larger than the Insignia, has larger speakers, and seemed to sound quite nice in my brief listen at a local Radio Shack store. It's not on Radio Shack's web site yet, but I found it in a store in a pretty remote area. I wouldn't be surprised if it's in yours.

The speakers are big (by shelf system standards0...deep, allowing pretty good bass response, or so it seemed in the store.
 
rbrucecarter5 said:
This is exactly what was needed years ago. The current state of HD radio might be very different if reasonably priced receivers had been available sooner.
Click to expand...

And what was needed a true coverage which would not be blocked out if another station comes in the side channels.
 
I'm sticking with the HD100 receiver. Since it have external AM terminals, I can connect any external AM antenna with terminal wires.
 
That same radio is also available in Walmart. My factory installed GM radio has issues, so I've been thinking of upgrading. I think that same unit as a USB interface. A $14.99 Flash drive can hold 1000 mp3s..
 
I decided not to get one of these after all (I went to Radio Shack to check it out thouroughly and wasn't that impressed with the radio part). Even $88 for something I no longer have an interest in is too much. 8)
 
For a review of this excellent ::) unit, see "Your Intrepid HD Mystery Shopper Checks In," from December on this site.
 
I haven't heard it, but it looks rather cheaply built, with speaker enclosures to small to reproduce anything resembling bass (or even lower midrange), the laws of physics being what they are. Besides, I don't have an Ipod (I prefer the Sandisk and Archos players). So I'd go with something like the new Polk, if I were shopping for a tabletop unit. Of course the Jensen might actually suit my needs, since I prefer to listen to the radio through headphones...too many years on the air. To really LISTEN, I always reach for the cans!
 
Hey, Mike - I'm with you! But if you're gonna listen to the Jensen, break out your trusty Brush-Clevite crystal headset! ;)

BTW - I still have my Clevites I wore that first day on the air in April 1967....they still work!
 
Wow Savage, that's incredible. I have in a drawer somewhere the Koss Pro-4aa that I wore at my first gig (1974). DAMN those things were uncomfortable! I later switched to the Koss HV1a, a phenomenal sounding headphone, but if you turned your head sideways (toward the mic), the feedback was KILLER!
 
Mike Walker said:
I saw one of these hooked up in a store, with external (outdoor) antenna, and didn't even turn it on. It LOOKED like it couldn't possibly sound good (no internal volume for the speakers MUST mean NO BASS, the laws of physics being somewhat stubborn on the fact!)

J&R has a Coby HD component tuner (no amplifier or speakers) for 69 dollars. I have no idea if it's any good. I know Coby is a low-end brand, but they have an annoying habit of occasionally turning out a worthy product. I have one of their portable cd players that also plays mp3 files. While I mostly listen to my Sansa View when "going portable", the Coby is a very well-built little player that still sounds very nice. It DOES pause on track-breaks when playing cds that play "through the breaks" like live cds, side two of Abbey Road, Dark Side of the Moon, etc. This is infuriating, and I will never again buy a player with this problem. Still, the Coby sure isn't alone in this fault.
Click to expand...

Actually I just bought a Jensen yesterday with a Terk antenna and it sounds great, gets all FM HD stuff in the Los Angeles Market. AM side is all static almost as though it just were just picking up up the IBOC hash which is probably the case ;D
 
Oh yeah, Mike - the Pro-Four-Double-As. Also known as "The Head Clamp." Yep, if your station was aggressively processed, listening off-air was problematic - just get your head a little off-axis while on-mic and....SCREEECH! Feedback!

I recall working on-air at KDWB (AM 630, not today's 101.3) in 1974, which at the time had the notorious BL-40 Modulimiter in the chain (10% IMD if I recall) and set up to be "maximally dense." The BL-40 had that polarity-flipping feature that would audibly reverse for maximum positive peaks. I'd get my head situated so the Koss headphones weren't squealing, and I'd be talking with nothing underneath my voice, and the Modulimiter would suddenly flip on some syllable. Boom - the Pro-4AA's would screech in my ears.

After a few episodes of this the GM came in the control room and told me if I couldn't keep my headset from feeding back, to switch to the internal monitor. I can't stand that, gotta listen off-air, so I retired the Koss headphones and went to something else - can't recall what it was.
 
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