Cambridge Soundworks 730 Clock Radio

Being a long time Bose fan I enjoyed listening to the deep bass and rich quality of sound offered by the Wave Radio. I mean, for the, then, $399 CDN it cost me to get it it had better been good. I could have just as easily bought a clock radio for nineteen dollars at my local K-Mart and called it quits. But being the music fanatic that I am I could settle for nothing less than the best my money could justify. Unfortunately for Bose, my money was better, much better, justified by the Cambridge SoundWorks 730 Radio. I discovered it about two years later when looking for a replacement to the Bose.

Just like in my Wave Radio I opted to forgo the CD player and save myself some serious cash for this silly upgrade and if need be I could hook up an external player, be it an iPod or even my computer via the external auxiliary jacks, one in front and one in the rear. To put things into perspective, the current SoundWorks Radio costs $250. You want a CD player with that? Be sure to pony up another hundred bucks. If you have a computer or an external CD or MP3 player you're best saving yourself the 'cashola' and spending it elsewhere. About the only benefit of having a CD player built in is convenience and elegance, but that's another review.

I love my unit. It is elegant, performs great, and the reliability is bar-none. After five long years I have yet to have a problem with it. I almost think that if I'm falling out of an airplane and the parachute doesn't open I'd want this radio to be the next thing coming out of my backpack, saving the day. Okay, I'm kidding. Really! I just can't believe that after such abuse as moving three times, everyday use by multiple people, and treating it like a pair of socks this thing held up so well. Wow. Totally impressive.

With eight presets on each of the two FM selections and another eight on the AM selection you'll have plenty of over the air stations to choose from. Too many, in fact. Where I live I'd love to be able to fill up at least 10 of the 16 FM presets available. Okay, I'll cut to the chase: FM reception is about as reliable as trying to play satellite radio under a bridge. It sucks. I have resorted to doing most of my listening via the auxiliary jacks. I can't say much for AM as the only two or three stations I listen to come in. Just barely, but not much better than on anything else I've tried around the house, aside from sitting in my car in the driveway. Even though the part of the FM antenna can be played by an external antenna or the built-in power cord either hardly makes a dent in the poor reception. If I'd have my pick I'd flip a coin and hope for the best.

Ease of use is … well, easy. Isn't that why it's called ease of use? But seriously, this thing is pretty simple. You have your presets on the left, hold one down for a few seconds and it saves your current station. Press it again and you get it back. Easy enough. The right side is a bit more involving. It allows you to choose your input, whether AM, FM, Auxiliary, or well, that's it. Oh, there is the power button in the bottom right and the station seek button directly next to it, but once you program your stations (probably using the "- TUNE +" buttons above the power button—as seek will never find a signal strong enough for you to listen to) you'll hardly use this side. You do have a Snooze/Mute button on the top, but it's yet another button you may hardly recall using—probably because you're deep asleep most of the time. Each does what it says, but I can never seem to remember how long the Snooze button snoozes, while I'm … um, snoozing. I'm sure it's decremental. I hope.

The sound quality is impressive. Unlike the Bose, this unit actually has a subwoofer at the bottom. The Bose accomplishes its deep sounds via a tunnel-like chamber coiling the length and width of the radio. The SoundWorks Radio uses a subwoofer to achieve similar results. Both are impressive in their own way, but crank up either to their tolerance levels and you'll find the speakers popping, cracking, and exceeding their limits no matter what you do. At least the SoundWorks Radio allows for bass reduction. Doing so will allow you to customize bass (read: minimize), thus allowing the treble and mid-range tones to do much of the work, in turn making your radio seem really loud. Um, okay, but I still prefer a good bass kicking, neither which of these systems is able to provide past their 50% volume capacity. Don't forget, IT'S A CLOCK RADIO, for crying out loud. And a mighty impressive one, but nonetheless, still a clock radio.

Controls are simple. Any easier and it'd read your mind. Everything is controlled by depressing the smaller "JOG" button just to the right of the large volume dial. Pressing it in succession will take you through the different menus, and twisting the volume dial will scroll through the selections in each of the menus. From the 12/24 hour format, to the simple Bass/Treble adjustments, to the Loudness, Snooze, and Language options, to name a few, everything can be adjusted using just that button and the dial. Since the SoundWorks Radio can pick up the information on song titles and artists played by compatible FM stations you can even choose whether you want that information to scroll or remain static on your blue-ish display. But be aware, if your reception isn't perfect (and perhaps even if it is) you're bound to encounter some weird test scrolling across your screen. Don't be surprised when you see "One M*$\ktiME" by "BR&*EY $PEAR(" rolling across [that's "One More Time" by "Britney Spears", in case you missed it].

About the only thing I can swear and curse at is the remote control. It's a nice shade of off-white (even though my radio is black) and it only works when pointed almost directly at the radio. Make no mistake about it. Whatever frequency the remote control uses is absorbed by just about everything in your surroundings, including air, I think. I mean, unless you point this thing head-on it refuses to register your commands. I tried changing the (included) battery thinking that perhaps it's just old and too weak to power the remote, but to no avail this is just a continuous annoyance as things didn't improve. Get used to it if you plan on using your remote, which, if successful, controls just about every, if not EVERY, function that can be executed using the radio's controls.

And last, but not least, pressing the Power button multiple times in succession will bring you to the Sleep Mode, allowing the radio to power down in 15 minute increments up to two hours as you fall asleep. And one of the two alarm settings will gladly bring you out of your sheep-counting session to the music of whatever radio station you were able to find and set, to the friendly yet very annoying gradual beeps of the alarm clock (aren't all alarm clocks annoying?) or a combination of both, though I have yet to use it and see how that works. What plays first, the radio, or the beeping alarm? Seriously, I've got myself wondering that now. I've never used it in that setting.

This is a great radio. Totally amazing. For the money spent I couldn't think of anything else to replace it on my desk. It has a few quirks such as those mentioned above, plus selecting your alarm makes a clicking sound—why?, but it's a small price to pay for the big picture. The radio is practically indestructible and it seems capable of outliving just about anything else I have in the house. Great sound is always on tap, and the sleek looks fit in no matter where I place it. Even five years later. It even remembers your settings no matter how long it's without power, and it doesn't even require a battery to do so. I remember having an alarm clock years ago that if unplugged from a power supply the time would always run faster under battery power, so when plugged back in the display would always be ahead of actual time. What was the point of the battery in the first place if it can't keep time? I'm not sure how this radio retains its information, but if I were me I'd get this radio again, and if I were you and this is what I was looking for, I'd get it while supplies last. But don't forget to do your research. I know I would, and that's why we're all here. And yes, like the Bose, it has a light sensor--brightening the display when it's bright out and dimming it in the dark.