Bedside Audio

BenEadir

Hi,

I'm looking for a modern version of the "Radio Alarm Clock". Something with a small footprint which can sit on a bedside table but kicks out a decent sound. I don't mind if it has separate speakers as I can locate those either side of the bed.

The core functionality I'm looking for is:-

1. FM Radio (DAB would be a bonus)
2. Can play CD's - I know I know but my wife has a huge collection!!
3. Clock with a nice clear face which can be turned off/on easily to read the time. (I don't want the display illuminated beside my face when I'm trying to sleep!)
4. Alarm function - obviously
5. Bluetooth for streaming music/podcasts from connected devices
6. Some sort of wi-fi connectivity might be interesting.

I could live without the CD functionality if there was a way to rip my wife's CD collection to storage on the device.

Suggestions?

Ben

Richersounds.ie: Dave

Hi there.

Thanks for the post.

There are a number of options here :

Denon DM39 - Great little micro system - Cd player, Digitial and FM radio, USB connection, ipod dock but doesn't have the wireless control that you would like and will not rip CD's. Still always a great all rounder and compact. Priced at £249.95

Denon piccolo - The smallest unit featured here - This is a wireless streaming system which features internet radio, wireless streaming from an airlay device or from a PC / NAS or play to from Windows media 12, internet radio which is much more versatile than DAB and spotify and last fm support also. All in-all a feature packed system but more designed for streaming that good old CD's and has the alarm feature. Priced at £299.95.

Denon Ceol (RCDN8) - The latest version of this unit and one that certainly comes well featured. Cd player, FM radio as well as all the features that the Piccolo has and much better sound. This is priced at £499.95 and this very nearly ticks all your boxes except the DAB radio but with an FM and internet radio, you should be well covered.

Top of the pile :

Brennan JB7 - Can store lots of CD's on-board and sounds brilliant and is extremely simple to use. It doesn't have a radio but will rip and store the CD's in compressed or uncompressed formats. This has an alarm function and the display can be dimmed. It's priced at £479 and is one of the most easy to use storage systems that we do.

Very few systems use bluetooth as it's not a great transmission medium.

We do also have the Marantz MCR603 which is always popular but it may strap you for size. Let me know if you have a space to work with.

Let me know what you make of these and if any of these suit then we can recommend a pair of speakers to go with them.

ATB



Dave

BenEadir

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the reply, some very interesting options there.

The Denon Piccolo (in black) sounds like it would match my needs best. I have a 50mb UPC fibre broadband connection so streaming internet audio shouldn't be a problem (I assume I can get RTE and Newstalk etc this way??) and the CD collection could be ripped to the house PC which could then act as a NAS for streaming my wifes music library.

Two questions:-

1. Can it be configured with an Android micro usb dock instead of iPhone (Android fanboy here I'm afraid)

2. Does it come with the speakers in the photo you linked to or would they be extra and if so what would you recommend? FYI the room the unit will be in is 15 ft by 12 ft and the speakers will most likely be located on the ground.

Cheers,

Ben