A wood-grain finish and a solitary tuning knob lend the HDR-1 spades of retro charm. Too bad this stylish design makes simple tasks like station seeking into multi-twist and tap odysseys. A useful auto-tuning system takes some of the pain out of scrolling, and most operations are perfectly manageable via the remote. With good frequency separation and adequate volume, the HDR-1 does an acceptable job pumping out pristine HD signals. If you don’t mind sacrificing a little function for form, this radio is definitely is your ticket. Just don’t lose that remote! —Roger Thomasson
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WIRED__ Bright, room-filling HD sound. EQ presets + dedicated bass and treble controls + music or talk modes = reasonable sound-sculpting options. Sleep function. Versatile alarms can be set daily, on weekdays, or just weekends.
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TIRED__ Solo control knob makes navigating the various menus tedious — tuning stations is a special kind of annoying. LCD display is small, cluttered, and hard to read.
$250, [sangean.com](http://www.sangean.com)
