From the "now THERE'S an hour of my life I'll never get back" department:
Making good on my threat/promise to investigate the vaunted Alliance HD Radio Christmas Push purporting to make sure a vast array of thrilling new HD receivers are packed into retail outlets, I went HD shopping in suburban Rochester today. Come along with me!
BEST BUY HENRIETTA: For portable, bookshelf and desktop units: Zilch. Nada. Not even their captive-brand Insignia; just boring old-fashioned iPod docking and executive radio-CD units. In the car stereo section there were four "HD-ready" head units and two receivers, a JVC and an Alpine, which listed HD capability. No HD primary stations or subs were heard. Queries about HD Radio put to BB personnel produced the typical blank stares. One guy said, "I think we might have a boombox in the back." Overhearing this exchange, a co-worker shot back: "No, we don't have that thing any more." They shrugged and suggested I search on-line.
CIRCUIT CITY: A brand new store, where I was greeted at the door by Santa and an eager clerk. I asked where the HD Radios were, and got the diplomatic, vacant "whaaat?" stare. Finally Val composed herself and sent me back to the car stereo section, where a knowledgable, helpful lad led me to a display where there was one JVC HD-capable unit already playing loudly, tuned to the local rock station. I said, "That's analog. The HD digital must sound fantastic." The salesman's startling response somewhat mitigated this sentiment.
"Why are you interested in HD?" he asked confidentially. I explained that I was a broadcaster and was investigating consumer and retail interest in the system. He frowned. "You didn't hear it from me, but Circuit
City really doesn't recommend HD. There have been a lot of problems. The reception is weak and it flips back and forth between regular radio and HD which people find annoying. And the stations don't supervise the side-channels very well, so they go blank for hours or days at a time and then customers come back and complain that their new HD Radio isn't working. It's kind of a novelty. They listen to the side channels for a few days but then they return to the main stations and never go back. If you want real variety on the radio XM-Sirius is a much better bet. It costs a lot less, works better and gives you a lot more channels."
In Circuit City's home receiver section, HD Radio got a goose-egg. Not one HD receiver was evident.
RADIO SHACK HENRIETTA PLAZA: Get out the paddles! Holy Bejeebus, there are TWO (count 'em) HD receivers on display - albeit, at ankle level but there nonetheless alongside a small plastic holder with a sheaf of dog-eared and faded HD Radio tri-fold circulars (looked like not only is Radio Shack getting returns on the radios, people are even bringing back the sales literature.) And: as I stretched out, prone on the floor to test-drive these babies, I flipped 'em around and they were connected to AC and a master antenna system! Zowie - let's go for an HD test drive already!!
A Jensen iPod-docker radio was one of the two, sporting a cheesy black-plastic cabinet with little Chiclet control buttons. I pushed the STANDBY/ON button and a dim blue display advised, STARTING RADIO. After about eight seconds a local Class B rock station came on - in analog only. I would compare the audio quality to a $15 GPX radio-cassette recorder you might buy at the local Rite-Aid. It would be hard to imagine a dramatic increase in response from HD through this unit's pitiful 3-inch speakers and plastic box, even if the digital worked, which it didn't - no HD main or subs were detected. On AM, the Jensen could only detect 50kw WHAM whose transmitter was about 6 miles away. In analog only, of course. The scan blithely blew past 5kw AMs, 3 of which had transmitters within 3 miles.
For a chuckle, back on I pushed the HD Tag button. The Jensen muted and the display went away. After a few seconds of inactivity, I was thinking "I killed it" until the gloomy little blue window read, INSUFFICIENT DATA. 98.9 came uncertainly back on.
In sum, the Jensen at $88 offers Chatty-Cathy audio quality mounted in shiny black plastic which promises to show every fingerprint and dust speck - the display unit already sported several deep scratches - and a hard-to-read blue display and flimsy controls. It seemed more "Hasbro" than "Jensen." I wouldn't pay more than ten bucks for this little POS.
Then there was the Polk Audio HDX30 - which was handsome and presented impressive audio, which at $129.99 for a radio, it had better do. The Polk featured an attractive wood enclosures for control head and speakers and an easy-to-read bright, modern looking display. Unfortunately I could get nothing in HD - just the usual assortment of FM stations and nothing whatsoever, digital or analog, on AM.
The Accurian has apparently been banished. None were evident, nor was the lonely BA Receptor HD this store displayed this past summer.
That's the report. I could have gone to other BB/CC/RS outlets, but....I don't really think I need to. We all know what more visits would likely reveal.
Making good on my threat/promise to investigate the vaunted Alliance HD Radio Christmas Push purporting to make sure a vast array of thrilling new HD receivers are packed into retail outlets, I went HD shopping in suburban Rochester today. Come along with me!
BEST BUY HENRIETTA: For portable, bookshelf and desktop units: Zilch. Nada. Not even their captive-brand Insignia; just boring old-fashioned iPod docking and executive radio-CD units. In the car stereo section there were four "HD-ready" head units and two receivers, a JVC and an Alpine, which listed HD capability. No HD primary stations or subs were heard. Queries about HD Radio put to BB personnel produced the typical blank stares. One guy said, "I think we might have a boombox in the back." Overhearing this exchange, a co-worker shot back: "No, we don't have that thing any more." They shrugged and suggested I search on-line.
CIRCUIT CITY: A brand new store, where I was greeted at the door by Santa and an eager clerk. I asked where the HD Radios were, and got the diplomatic, vacant "whaaat?" stare. Finally Val composed herself and sent me back to the car stereo section, where a knowledgable, helpful lad led me to a display where there was one JVC HD-capable unit already playing loudly, tuned to the local rock station. I said, "That's analog. The HD digital must sound fantastic." The salesman's startling response somewhat mitigated this sentiment.
"Why are you interested in HD?" he asked confidentially. I explained that I was a broadcaster and was investigating consumer and retail interest in the system. He frowned. "You didn't hear it from me, but Circuit
City really doesn't recommend HD. There have been a lot of problems. The reception is weak and it flips back and forth between regular radio and HD which people find annoying. And the stations don't supervise the side-channels very well, so they go blank for hours or days at a time and then customers come back and complain that their new HD Radio isn't working. It's kind of a novelty. They listen to the side channels for a few days but then they return to the main stations and never go back. If you want real variety on the radio XM-Sirius is a much better bet. It costs a lot less, works better and gives you a lot more channels."
In Circuit City's home receiver section, HD Radio got a goose-egg. Not one HD receiver was evident.
RADIO SHACK HENRIETTA PLAZA: Get out the paddles! Holy Bejeebus, there are TWO (count 'em) HD receivers on display - albeit, at ankle level but there nonetheless alongside a small plastic holder with a sheaf of dog-eared and faded HD Radio tri-fold circulars (looked like not only is Radio Shack getting returns on the radios, people are even bringing back the sales literature.) And: as I stretched out, prone on the floor to test-drive these babies, I flipped 'em around and they were connected to AC and a master antenna system! Zowie - let's go for an HD test drive already!!
A Jensen iPod-docker radio was one of the two, sporting a cheesy black-plastic cabinet with little Chiclet control buttons. I pushed the STANDBY/ON button and a dim blue display advised, STARTING RADIO. After about eight seconds a local Class B rock station came on - in analog only. I would compare the audio quality to a $15 GPX radio-cassette recorder you might buy at the local Rite-Aid. It would be hard to imagine a dramatic increase in response from HD through this unit's pitiful 3-inch speakers and plastic box, even if the digital worked, which it didn't - no HD main or subs were detected. On AM, the Jensen could only detect 50kw WHAM whose transmitter was about 6 miles away. In analog only, of course. The scan blithely blew past 5kw AMs, 3 of which had transmitters within 3 miles.
For a chuckle, back on I pushed the HD Tag button. The Jensen muted and the display went away. After a few seconds of inactivity, I was thinking "I killed it" until the gloomy little blue window read, INSUFFICIENT DATA. 98.9 came uncertainly back on.
In sum, the Jensen at $88 offers Chatty-Cathy audio quality mounted in shiny black plastic which promises to show every fingerprint and dust speck - the display unit already sported several deep scratches - and a hard-to-read blue display and flimsy controls. It seemed more "Hasbro" than "Jensen." I wouldn't pay more than ten bucks for this little POS.
Then there was the Polk Audio HDX30 - which was handsome and presented impressive audio, which at $129.99 for a radio, it had better do. The Polk featured an attractive wood enclosures for control head and speakers and an easy-to-read bright, modern looking display. Unfortunately I could get nothing in HD - just the usual assortment of FM stations and nothing whatsoever, digital or analog, on AM.
The Accurian has apparently been banished. None were evident, nor was the lonely BA Receptor HD this store displayed this past summer.
That's the report. I could have gone to other BB/CC/RS outlets, but....I don't really think I need to. We all know what more visits would likely reveal.
