Re. [Leica] OT: Tivoli Model One Hi-Fi radio

[pklein at 2alpha.net (Peter Klein)]

Wow, thanks for all the advice, everybody.  It sounds like most people 
like the Tivoli Model One.  I just *knew* there would be Tivoli users on 
the LUG.  Maybe we should add Tivoli to the 
Lagavulin-Mephisto-Tilley-Pelikan Pantheon.

Tina:  Isothermal Community College?  I would hate to hear their football 
fight song!  Not to mention their jokes about the weather.

Phreak:   Yes, I thought of the extra speakers to the stereo option. 
Sound-wise, it would be the best. But for the sake of domestic 
tranquility, it isn't an option.  Ugly wires and all that.

Jeffery: Any announcer who plays The Rite of Spring at 4:00 AM ought to be 
reincarnated as the central character!

I use headphones for really critical listening. In fact, I have been 
floored with what good sound I get from my old Sony ICF-2010 
AM/FM/Shorwave portable. The internal speaker is tinny, but put a good set 
of stereo headphones on, and WOW.  You even get FM in stereo.  The Sony 
sounds great with a good set of amplified speakers, too.  But there is no 
way I'm putting that radio in the kitchen--it stays in my den.

I grew up in the Boston area. I remember KLH radios and Advent speakers 
very well.

Anyway, here's the scoop so far.

I visited a local Target and Radio Shack on the way home yesterday. The 
Radio Shack "bargain" is a probably a no-go for me.  Reception was lousy 
in the mall, and I couldn't get the classical station. What I could listen 
to sounded like all bass and highs, with very little midrange.  I suspect 
it was made to *look* like a KLH-Tivoli type radio to cash in on people's 
nostalgia, but the guts are probably different.

At Target, they had a Tivoli on display, along with a Boston Acoustics and 
a comparably priced Sony.  The Tivoli had the best sound, to my ears, and 
pulled in the local classical station the best (using an external wire 
antenna with each radio).  I was all set to buy it.  And then came. . . 
Adventures In Retail. . .

There were no boxed Tivolis on the sales floor, just the display model. 
They looked in the back.  Nothing.  So they wanted to find out if it was 
at another store.  I asked about the price.  The tag was missing from the 
display counter.  The Young Sales Dude was, like, y'know, totally helpless 
without a bar code.  He called his manager on a walkie-talkie, she called 
him back on the phone. He told her I was looking for a "radio-clock." I 
corrected him.

I paced around for a few minutes.  Eventually Ms. Manager showed up. She 
was an engaging blonde with a reasonable head on her shoulders, and they 
spent several minutes minutes searching for the display tag.  No joy. 
Eventually, she did some trick with her portable data unit by entering a 
completely different model into it, using that to dump the store's stock 
lists in that category, and confirmed that, no, they don't have it in 
stock.  No idea when they'll get it, but it's at this or that other 
Target, maybe.

I'm going to check out a more conveniently-located hi-fi shop that 
supposedly carries the Tivoli.  I could order online or from e-pay, but 
I'd like the option of easy return if it's defective we don't like it.

--Peter