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Radio Shack: "No, We're Not Out of the HD Radio Business"

The Shack is probably embarrassed about ever having jumped into this folly, and theyaren't making a statement because they don't want to remind anybody that they made such a momentous error in judgment!
 
I bet 90% of the HD Radios that Radio Shack ever sold were returned back to the store. I bought one of their Sangean-clone "Auvio" tuners and returned it within a few days. It sounded muddy and distorted on FM, and couldn't stay locked onto "HD" mode on even the strongest, crystal-radio-receivable 50,000-watt AM IBOC signals. Even the little pop of static from flipping a light switch would make it dump back to analog mode.
 
The Auvio tuner at RS appeared to be made by the same company that made the Insignia component tuner seen at Best Buy. The Insignia tuner was not good; the FM was insensitive to analog signals, tuned in 200 kHz steps instead of the advertised 100 kHz, and the AM section was awful. (The HD wasn't fully tested) I'm not sure what company that manufactured the tuner(s). I think Radio Shack should have sold the Sony tuner instead since it was a much better tuner at the same price.

I did see on the DCRTV that it said Radio Shack is "dumping HD radio."
 
DCRTV, oh there's a reliable source. ;)

The only way to know if RS is dumping HD is to see if they start selling a new generation of HD radios. Remember, Apple starts discounting their stuff well before the new version debuts, to keep the product lines flowing. It's not an uncommon tactic in the electronics industry.

This would be a good time to get a steal of a deal on an HD tuner from RS IF they weren't all garbage. But then, most electronics from RS these days are garbage anyway, aren't they? The Shack seems to be a far cry from the destination it was for gadgets as when I was a wee lad; back then you wanted a RS scanner, or shortwave, or cassette player or turntable. Now they're even bigger junk than ever.
 
Zach said:
DCRTV, oh there's a reliable source. ;)

The only way to know if RS is dumping HD is to see if they start selling a new generation of HD radios. Remember, Apple starts discounting their stuff well before the new version debuts, to keep the product lines flowing. It's not an uncommon tactic in the electronics industry.

This would be a good time to get a steal of a deal on an HD tuner from RS IF they weren't all garbage. But then, most electronics from RS these days are garbage anyway, aren't they? The Shack seems to be a far cry from the destination it was for gadgets as when I was a wee lad; back then you wanted a RS scanner, or shortwave, or cassette player or turntable. Now they're even bigger junk than ever.
Click to expand...

I'm grateful for You Do It Electronics in Needham, Ma.. It reminds me of Radio Shack from my youth but bigger & better.
 
dumber than a box of hair said:
More spin, I presume? If all their HD radios being on clearance is just that...a clearance...when do we see the new ones?
Click to expand...

It could be accurate - he says "we are optimistic that a number of HD RADIO Technology products currently in development will have a strong future in RADIO SHACK stores." Zero is a number.

Dave B.
 
The $20 Gigaware HD radio for the iPhone I bought a month ago is collecting dust because it doesn't perform as well as my Insignia portable HD radio and kills my battery life.
 
Most retailers will only sell something at a loss when they want to get rid of remaining stock because its not selling at retail. If Radio Shack is doing this on all HD Radios, then they are likely getting out of HD Radios because they don't sell. Of course this makes iBiquity look bad and they are trying to make it sound like nothing is going on here.
 
I'd bet Radio Shack is going to continue to sell HD's as long as they think there is a market for them. This is probably a clearance of the old stuff to make room for the new crop of HD radio stuff that they've been told will sell.


As far as anything from RS being of good quality, in the 30 years I've bought stuff there, I can't remember a time when anything they sold was cutting edge or high-end. Their CB's were the noisiest things even with the best filtering, Their free flashlights and batteries back in the 80's were cheap at best. Anything in the way of car audio was marginal in performance and longevity, and the "Made In Taiwan" on the last page of every spec sheet was a standard. In their defense, they used to actually carry enough components to build something yourself of decent quality.
 
I still have and still operating Tandy 1000EX computer (I let it run 1 day a year), sold at the shack many decades ago, it still has the Deskmate Operating System
 
RadioEngnr said:
I still have and still operating Tandy 1000EX computer (I let it run 1 day a year), sold at the shack many decades ago, it still has the Deskmate Operating System
Click to expand...

Is that over there next to the Kodak Disc camera, the Betamax, and the videodisc player? :D
 
nocomradio said:
I'd bet Radio Shack is going to continue to sell HD's as long as they think there is a market for them. This is probably a clearance of the old stuff to make room for the new crop of HD radio stuff that they've been told will sell.
Click to expand...

What new HD radios are there? The XDR-F1HD was one of the best, but its been discontinued. I think Insignia has a newer model but most HD radios still on the market are models that are a couple years old.
 
I wouldn’t put too much value in what the salesperson at Radio Shack told you, after all they probably don’t tell the salespeople anything more than they tell the general public.
 
ddsparxx said:
The Auvio tuner at RS appeared to be made by the same company that made the Insignia component tuner seen at Best Buy.
Click to expand...

I never checked the manufacturers, but I bought both the Auvio and the Insignia component tuners, and the Auvio has a problem that the Insignia did not have. It seems to be plagued with "birdies", that's police scannner enthusiast jargon for signals generated by the receiver itself that interfere with (or completely cut out) reception of radio stations on certain FM frequencies. It's as if those frequencies are getting a nearby, strong "dead carrier" signal, but other radios in the same location get the intended station.
 
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