Sangean WR-12 AM/FM/Aux-in Stereo Analog Wooden Cabinet Radio (Walnut)

I am a huge fan of vintage equipment. I have a RCA console radio from 1941 I restored and daily drive, I have 3 Pioneer receivers from the 1970's that I restored. SX-636, SX-1050 and a SX-3700. I love all these old machines. The WR-12BT absolutely nails the aesthetics of 70's equipment. When I take it to work and place it on my desk, I bet my co-workers will think it is 50 years old. Until they hear it. I also have a telescoping antenna on it to really drive home that authentic look. It is heavy, solid, feels well built. On looks alone, it justifies the price tag. All of that exceeds my expectations, it's an 11/10! However, I only rate the sound an 8/10. The sound is best described as a "bowl shape" EQ curve. Bass is good for being so small, and treble is clear. Mids are subdued, I agree with others that have shared the same observation. It still sounds good. Human ears will adjust to the subdued mids. BT works excellent. I saw many mention that they didn't like how it "disconnected" when turning the unit off or selecting the radio or AUX. Hmmm.... with my Pixel 6, the connectivity is better than any other BT device I have. Yes, it disconnects when not on BT, why wouldn't it? I don't want my phone trying to constantly reconnect as I walk around a large office. When I want BT on, it re-connects faster than any other BT device I have, less than 2 seconds. I don't understand why some think that is an issue. My area has terrible OTA FM. I did compare my WR-12BT to my SX-636 tuner, and they seemed the "same". In my area, that means I still don't get great reception from either. So, it's at least on par with good gear. I wouldn't even know what to listen to on AM, so no opinion on that. I have heard many top-rated, popular BT speakers. They are all plastic. They sound good too, but the heavy wood enclosure of the WR-12BT really makes a difference in the sound of bass. You can definitely hear an advantage to the wood enclosure, the bass sounds far better than other BT speakers. I don't mean in output power, I mean it sounds warm and full. In this observation I give the bass sound a 10/10, keeping in mind the small 3.5" woofer. I like the built-in power supply and that the WR-12BT doesn't have any built-in batteries that will fail and render the unit landfill fodder in time. I can see this radio lasting decades. This unit has been out for over a decade and I have not seen any reports of failures, only complaints about "plastic knobs" and BT operation. As far as the knobs go, I don't see any issues with them. Some say they are "cheap plastic", but, to me they are totally fine on this kind of device. I like the tone controls, Sangean intentionally made them to be depressed so that they don't get in the way of adjusting the controls. very smart IMO. The "shortcomings" of the sound are only due to the midrange dip and the fact it is a small speaker. People are forgetting what a real hi-fi sounds like, and many people think some BT speakers sound "excellent". I would challenge them to listen to even a mid-level hi-fi receiver and speakers. All BT speakers hit a size wall against real equipment. But, many people have not experienced real hi-fi, and I am not talking about audiophile gear, just the hi-fi that was typical before portable BT speakers became so prevalent. I would highly recommend the WR-12BT to anyone who appreciates the 70's aesthetic. It will excel in an apartment, home office, den, work office, cabin, etc. I wouldn't use it as a substitute for hi-fi in a house or large area. That's not something 2" speakers and a 3.5" woofer could ever do.

I thoroughly enjoy this radio in my living room. DELIVERY NOTE I was surprised when it was delivered to my door in nothing but it's factory box with the shipping labels slapped on the front. There was no outer, brown box containing padding around the factory box. UNBOXING Inside that factory box, was the radio, power cord (not a wall wart), an external FM antenna & the multi-language manual. Once i removed the radio from the box, I saw for myself, it's simple, elegant styling. The radio is heavier than you might expect. You wouldn't want to put this radio on a flimsy table. The manual is well written, even though the radio is simple to operate. It helps, especially with the bluetooth setup. OPERATION The radio is super simple to operate. One oddity is, there is a master power switch on the back of the radio. This must be switched on for the front power button to work. Simply press the power button, select the band you want to listen to, then tune in your favorite station. Adjust the volume and your all set. There is a green LED about the tuning knob to help you tune for the best signal. The dial is lighted, but it's very dim. It's best if the room is completely dark. The AM & FM antennas are built-in, but there are connections for both external FM & AM antennas. There is a switch on the back, so you can compare FM reception from the built-in and external antennas. This switch has no effect on AM. You can connect an external audio source (tape dec or CD player, etc.) to the AUX port on the back. The bluetooth is easy to pair, but will not automatically sync up next time you go to use that feature. Pease note: This radio WILL NOT support bluetooth telephone calls. SOUND I'm very impressed with the sound. It has a lot of bass for such a small cabinet, thanks to the woofer in the back & the bass port. There are bass & treble controls, so you can set the sound to your liking. The sound is not pretty even sounding, with the bass & treble controls set to mid point. It will certainly fill the room. If you connect the AUX input to the headphone jack of an audio source, the sound is slightly quieter that the bluetooth connection to that seme audio. I did not notice any "data noise" that some reviewers have mentioned, when using bluetooth. RECEPTION I collect radios, & I find this radio to be the best AM/FM table radio that I've owned. The AM is very sensitive & selective to the point that you can count the stations, especially on the crowded upper part of the band. FM is incredible. It's very sensitive, as well. The selectivity is so good that strong stations don't take up any more space than weaker ones. I can even hear station clearly on either side of a strong station that is just a few blocks away. THERE IS A CON The radio tends to drift off-frequency once it's tuned. It has only drifted once on me. Once I retuned, it stayed properly tuned for several hours. CONCLUSION This is a very simple-looking & operating radio, with lots of great-sounding technology under the hood.

Bought this in June 2013 for use at a remote off-grid cabin, which obtains power through solar panels and distributes household power from an inverter. Due to remoteness I wanted a radio with a good tuner and narrowed it down to a few options. One brand I originally had in mind I ultimately dismissed after reading about longevity issues and cheap components, bringing me to Sangean. The WR-2 and less expensive WR-11 are purported to be very good radios, however I read numerous reviews about the WR-2 loosing presets and time when it is unplugged and being off-grid I'd rather not have a radio using "vampire power" anyway. My main concern with the WR-11 was it appeared the scale of the tuner readout would make it difficult to find a specific station, which lead me to prefer the WR-12 with it's nearly full width display. Although I was very concerned about the reported issues (both here and elsewhere), I went ahead and ordered one based on reports that the issue fixed and Amazon's stock had been purged. I am happy to report that I have none of the tuning or sound issues reported. The bass is a bit boomy and hooty (I expected as much from the small so-called sub-woofer), so I turned the bass control down about 1/4 turn to compensate. That's all it needed and the sound is surprisingly good! The radio section did not disappoint at all. It pulls in FM stations ~70 miles away with the built in antenna. The bundled external antenna improves reception marginally, but since it's only a wire maybe 4' long and not a proper areal I wasn't surprised. None the less it does make the difference between a marginal station and a useable one when the station is week. It would be really interesting to see far this could be pushed with a proper outdoor antenna. There are no drift issues others had experienced and the readout was accurate. Other pluses: The backlit display looks wonderful at night, the cabinet is real wood, the controls have a nice solid feel, and the large tuning knob make it easy to fine tune reception. The yellow gizmos at the bottom of the tuner display slide, and although the manual fails to mention what these are for, we use them to mark three radio stations that we most typically listen to. The minuses: The cabinet appears to be oiled only and may require periodic applications of an oil finish to keep it looking fresh (time will tell). The knobs and buttons are all PLASTIC. The tuning knob is where you expect the volume knob to be. AM reception is overcome by noise on modified sine-wave AC power, which is not uncommon and only critical if you power the radio from an inverter and want AM reception (FM is fine).

I wish I could have kept this radio! We needed a small radio for our living/family room in our townhouse since our entertainment center is down in the basement rec room. I started off wanting the WR-22 because I fear analog tuning (I hate static!) and I wanted the Bluetooth option. Then a friend momentarily distracted me with Tivolis, and I had a feeling that my wife would prefer something classy looking like that to be out on display in the living room, rather than the blinky many-buttoned digitalness of the WR-22. The WR-12BT seemed like a great compromise (and much cheaper than a Bluetooth Tivoli), so I ordered both to compare side by side. In the end the WR-22 won her approval largely because it's a little smaller and, in piano black, matched our black IKEA Billy bookshelf that is our liquor cabinet, which it sits on. Go figure. Side by side, the WR-22 surprisingly "sounds larger" than the WR-12BT at comparable modest volume, probably because it does better with the low-mid-range sound generally associated with the "Loudness" button/setting. (I ended up turning Loudness off in the WR-22, it's too much.) The WR-12BT definitely has a lot of bass, in lower frequencies than the WR-22 hits -- but is a little thinner in the low-mids, which is probably why other reviews say the vocals can get washed out by the bass. (I also noticed that funky bass guitar licks weren't as strong on the WR-12BT as they were on the WR-22, oddly enough.) And truth be told, I very quickly set the bass knob close to the minimum and bumped up the treble a smidge to get a sound I liked. However, if you're NOT listening to this in a side-by-side comparison with a "better" radio, and you're not looking for audiophile quality, this is still a great sounding little box, even if you are going to want to stick to the left half of the bass knob settings. It's definitely capable of a louder maximum volume to fill a room than the WR-22, and the stereo sound was a nice bonus over the mono WR-22. It's definitely cooler looking! The tuning was great -- especially with even a basic single-wire external antenna and the FM set to Mono, which allowed me to pull in a lot more stations quite well. The Bluetooth connectivity was easy and high quality (although if you have the volume set on the louder end, during silence in your playback you will be able to hear a little faint digital noise from the Bluetooth connection, kind of like the mosquito buzz from a cell phone). While analog tuning isn't as convenient as the WR-22's digital with presets, it IS nice to be able to see what your volume & mode knobs are set to before you turn the system on, whereas the WR-22's digital knob and Source button can surprise you with a loud blast in the morning because you don't know the settings until it's on. Bottom line: great, room-filling, classy-looking, better-than-decent-sounding bookshelf sized sound system for whatever room isn't your primary entertainment center room but you still need music in. It ain't the greatest thing in the world, but for the price (much less than a Bluetooth Tivoli and a LOT less than a Bose Wave system), it's really darn good, and that's why I give it five stars.

I brought the Sangean WR-12BT because of it's wood cabinet, it'sOK beautiful! I lived on an Island that don't have AM nor FM reception. I use the Sangean radio in the Bluetooth mode. Playing Amazon Music the sound is just beautiful, very clear and vibrant. I listen to Amazon Music in the evening with a glass of wine, I am in heaven. The radio is beautiful and the sound is vibrant. Highly recommended.

Sounds as good as it looks, easy to use. Sadly the FM signal drifts too easily. Being my second unit (first one lost in a house fire) I expected better signal retention. I would think that in this high technology age, integrating digital tuning into this retro styled package would be a slam dunk. I have not found a suitable replacement @ this price point not to mention that @ close to $200 slightly down on features (+ $30 for the bluetooth model ). Yes I liked the separate bass & treble controls but no balance control? How about PLL tuning or a slightly splayed speaker aiming to spread the stereo imaging ( it's very narrow actually ) ? While I used my 1st radio for about 2years, it was mainly for background sound. As my main music source in a hotel environment the lack of stereo imaging becomes a Major issue. I really struggled with returning this but always wanting more forced my decision.

I got this to replace my 1940s GE AM radio in my living room. In the morning, I tend to listen to AM as I eat breakfast and get ready for work. But, I noticed that my old radio, although beautifully rebuilt, had a problem pulling in many stations regardless of orientation or my external Loop antenna. It also grabbed both the signal and noise/interference. My only hesitation with getting the Sangean because a lot of manufacturers relegate AM to a secondary feature that doesn't really work well. Well, I am happy to report that the AM performance is excellent! It pulls in a ton of stations and, paired with my loop antenna, pulls in even more. It filters out the static without damaging the sound quality and just sounds great! FM is also very strong (I use an 150mm antenna) and pulls in a ton of stations. So many, in fact, that the green LED used to help you find the strongest signal is always on when looking for FM stations. It does flicker and get brighter when you come across a usable station though, so it still helps. The light is more distinct on AM in my case. The Bluetooth has great range: I can be on the other side of my apartment in my bedroom and it still connect with my phone. Another thing to note is that this model uses a true analogue tuner, it's not just the needle scale. As you move the dial, it never stops picking up a signal even if it is only static. Digital tuners usually go silent in between stations. This is great for trying to find weak or distant stations since the radio isn't hiding anything from you. As for the sound quality in general, this thing can be very bassy! I suggest turning the bass setting down when you live in an apartment! The sound is rich and lively, and the tone controls are most welcome. Having a dedicated FM-Stero setting is great too, since some stations might have static on stereo, but are much better switched to FM Mono. I believe that you will be able to adjust the sound to your liking and can really get the most out of this excellent radio if you want! My particular unit was manufactured in 2018.

It’s beautiful. Looks and feels retro. Bluetooth connection is easy. This radio is simple, well built, and I’m pleased with the sound quality. I’ve had several Sangean radios over the past 30 years but haven’t bought a new one in over 20 years. I was pleasantly surprised that this company even still existed and excited to give the brand a chance again after all these years. I’m very satisfied and will be a lifelong customer.