Anybody heard the Sangean HDT-1 yet?

[wolfee]

A few online retailers claim to have these in stock now. Has anybody actually heard one yet?

 

[PUGSTUB]

I just ordered one. I should receive it next week. I will post my impressions after I spend some time with it.

 

[wolfee]

Will look forward to it. Are you located near a lot of HD signals? Will you be listening thru conventional 2 channel stereo speakers?

 

[PUGSTUB]

I think there is a couple of HD stations here at least. The one I listen to primarily (NPR) is broadcasting in HD so I will be able to listen to all types of music to compare. I use 2 channel through speakers and through my headphones (HD 650's).

 

[PUGSTUB]

I have burned in the Sangean and have been listening to it quite a bit lately. The frequency extremes sound slightly rolled off and the tuner suffers from a lack of 3d imaging or spaciousness. It is still very listenable and is dead quiet in HD mode. It just sounds like MP3 at 128k, however. I don't know if the next generation tuner they are working on now with a digital output will alleviate these problems or not. With a good DAC, the next generation HD radios may be quite a bit better than this. It is just hope and speculation at this point though. For now, I would say your money may be better spent on a good vintage FM tuner if you don't have any reception problems and get a strong signal on the channels you listen to. One thing kind of strange-I don't think I could tell which were HD broadcasts in a blind listening test with strong signals. Regular FM sounds almost as good. HD Radio leaves a lot to be desired. It's a shame it wasn't better thought out with more quality of signal in terms of bandwidth and recovery of depth information and ambience and spaciousness.