I love my Tivoli/Henry Kloss Model One radio.

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by felix.scerri, Apr 16, 2014.

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  1. felix.scerri

    felix.scerri Forum Resident Thread Starter

    G'day all, over the last week or so with all the weather stuff going on locally, I've been giving the Tivoli Model One in here a lot more use than usual and I really have to say, I love this little radio! It sounds great (both on AM and FM), and it is a nicely sensitive and selective radio receiver with excellent RF performance, and it is really such an endearing little radio that looks so nice.

    I've had a few Tivoli's now and the first one I bought has developed a fault on AM and is now FM only. A while back I was chatting to a lady at a local café about radio stuff generally and she mentioned that she's never had 'a radio'. I offered to find her one and eventually I realised that my partially operational Tivoli sitting gathering dust on my work bench downstairs would fit the bill perfectly. So I cleaned it up and making sure it was operational on FM, I gave it to her, explaining how the controls worked and explaining that 'AM' no longer worked. She happily accepted it.

    The following day I popped in for a cup of coffee and she hurriedly told me how good 'the radio' was. She had never heard such good quality sound coming out of any radio! She was quite impressed. I'm just glad my old Tivoli went to the good home! That made me very happy. Regards, Felix.
     
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  2. Echo

    Echo Forum Resident

    How can she compare? You wrote she never had owned a radio... Maybe she would say the same about a cheap transistor radio... :)
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2014
  3. felix.scerri

    felix.scerri Forum Resident Thread Starter

    G'day mate, well she has never had one (as an adult), but she has heard plenty like the one at the café where she works. The Tivoli has superior sound quality.

    Apparently her man is a bit of a Rock music aficionado and he leaves the Tivoli tuned to one particular Rock FM radio station! Regards, Felix.
     
  4. allnoyz

    allnoyz Forum Resident

    Had to look this up as I had never heard of the model or brand before. $260 at Crutchfield!! I can't imagine paying that much for a single speaker table top radio, but I'm glad to hear that you enjoy yours. :)
     
  5. felix.scerri

    felix.scerri Forum Resident Thread Starter

    G'day mate, you have never heard of the Henry Kloss/Tivoli Model One before? I can't believe that. They've been around at least since 2000. Wow! Regards, Felix.
     
  6. moops

    moops Senior Member

    Location:
    Geebung, Australia
    Felix, you are the king of thread starters !! :thumbsup:
     
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  7. RonW

    RonW Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    Tivoli is regarded as one of the best if not the best table radios to be had anywhere I have never heard one but those that own one praise their sound. They are totally engineered for hi sound quality. Not cheap even used they fetch some $$$.
     
  8. felix.scerri

    felix.scerri Forum Resident Thread Starter

    G'day mate, I often use the Tivoli in here as a tuner through the line level output which sounds great too (and in stereo too on FM), yet much of the time I prefer the sound quality through the Tivoli's own single speaker! Regards, Felix.
     
  9. chervokas

    chervokas Senior Member

    I've used a Tivoli Model Two daily for years (stereo!) -- listening the news on it this morning while having my coffee, it's my kitchen audio source. It IS loveable, though I'm not entirely sure why. I think or music the bottom is a little boomy (sometimes I find myself partially plugging the ports) -- but I don't much listen to music on it, much more news, sports, talk, etc.; but the tuner is excellent and I love the retro style that harkens back to Kloss' original KLH Model Eight in the late '50s.
     
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  10. felix.scerri

    felix.scerri Forum Resident Thread Starter

    G'day mate, here is a photo of mine in here. I particularly like the yellow LED! Regards, Felix.
     

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  11. inperson

    inperson Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio

    Nice guy! :thumbsup:
     
  12. inperson

    inperson Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    I read that they have a lot of drift. Have you found that to be true?
     
  13. felix.scerri

    felix.scerri Forum Resident Thread Starter

    G'day mate, I did notice a bit of drift on AM but FM seemed to be rock stable on one we had, but I've been listening to the one in here for the last couple of hours to ABC Classic FM with no drift at all.

    I know how annoying frequency drift can be as a Ham Radio operator! However in any production run of electronics one can always expect the occasional sample to be not up to specification, sadly. Regards, Felix (vk4fuq).
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2014
  14. Robinator

    Robinator Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Texas
    I have a Model 3 (the one with the clock) in my Hot Wheels room. It sounds great and it has aux input too.

    I bought it on clearance at Target for $50. The radio does drift from time to time but it's an easy fix/correction.

    -Rob
     
  15. allnoyz

    allnoyz Forum Resident

    The reason I was not familiar with it is because I've never been in the market for a table top radio. I bought a portable/pocket radio about a decade ago to listen to baseball games at work. But I even gave that one away about a year ago.
     
  16. Jeff Edwards

    Jeff Edwards Senior Member

    A local thrift store had a bunch of 'em still in boxes (Target clearance items?) for $30 each several years ago. I bought one and have never opened it for some reason.

    Reading this thread, I think today will be the day!
     
  17. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Sheesh - when I bought mine it was $100. I see the current model has some additional feature.
    Currently, I own the Model 2 with the subwoofer, but it has been a closet for some time.
     
  18. jamesmaya

    jamesmaya Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Has anyone ever needed their Tivoli serviced? I have a Model 2 (purchased about three years ago) and can't get any sound out of it.
     
  19. Scott in DC

    Scott in DC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    I am a long time Model One owner and I really enjoy it. It is very listenable for AM/FM and the Aux jack works well with XM and iPods. The later models included the Aux on the front panel knob, the earlier models did not.

    Scott
     
  20. rcspkramp

    rcspkramp Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver, WA USA
    Listening to one right now. Great little piece.
     
  21. Mogens

    Mogens Forum Resident

    Location:
    Green Bay, Wis.
    Yes, I blew the speaker out on one. I packed it up, sent it back to Tivoli, and they sent me a replacement for $50. I thought that was pretty classy as I'd had for nine years.
     
    JL6161 likes this.
  22. JL6161

    JL6161 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Michigan, USA
    Total Kloss Tivoli fan here. I have had a couple of RadioCombo (stereo radio + CD player) + subwoofer systems. Stupidly sold the first one to a friend when I changed my home office configuration. Within months, I missed it so much I got another one (super cheap on Audiogon) for my workplace office. And then I got a refurbished one-piece music system for my bedside from Tivoli's outlet store. I love that a bit less than the separates, but it still beats anything else and is far more convenient than 3 components on a dresser + subwoofer on the floor.

    Really beautiful, nice sounding, reliable. Mine don't pull in much FM radio, but that's a geography issue.
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2014
  23. Mortsnets

    Mortsnets Forum Resident

    [​IMG]
    I love my Tivoli PAL - built in telescoping antenna, rechargeable battery powered.
     
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  24. SonyTek

    SonyTek Forum Resident

    Location:
    Inland Empire, CA
    I also bought mine (Model One) on clearance at Target - I paid about $10 for it because it was a display model. All black unit. I like the sound, although I'd agree it does seem a bit "boomy" at times. It could use a tone control for sure, for those times you don't want so much bass. Mine also drifts, on FM (not sure about AM, since I rarely listen to AM) and I have to retune it. It uses a standard tuning capacitor (not digital tuning, so no PLL) and depending on the ambient temperature, it drifts off frequency often.

    Another problem mine developed is a scratchy noise when tuned, especially when left on one station (or dial position) without being moved for a long time. Possible corrosion develops on the contact points in the tuning capacitor and there's really no permanent way to stop this from happening. I took mine apart and sprayed some good electronic contact cleaner in it and it seems to have corrected the problem for now.

    You could also consider a Sony ICF-9740W, no longer made but available on eBay for reasonable prices, or a newer digital version similar to it like the ICF-M1000 (used, on Amazon going for about $69). I personally wouldn't buy the Tivoli for retail price, since there are alternatives out there that IMHO sound just as good for less money, without the inherent design issues / deficiencies such as analog tuning capacitors.
     
  25. felix.scerri

    felix.scerri Forum Resident Thread Starter

    G'day mate, on the 'scratchy tuning' issue, I did read of a Tivoli recommended solution of turning the dial from end to end several times until that issue clears. Apparently this really works! Regards, Felix.
     
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