Why You Can Trust CNET Cambridge SoundWorks Radio 820HD review: Cambridge SoundWorks Radio 820HD
The 820HD is a top-notch tabletop clock radio with support for the latest all-digital HD Radio format. But whether the programming and audio quality on HD Radio are worth the premium remains to be seen.
- Self-taught tinkerer, informal IT and gadget consultant to friends and family (with several self-built gaming PCs under his belt)
Editors' Note: The rating on this review has been lowered from due to changes in the competitive marketplace.
Cambridge SoundWorks Radio 820HD
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
It's taken a few years, but HD Radio is finally starting to take off. More than 1,200 stations in the U.S. now broadcast digital HD Radio streams, and the number of HD-compatible radios capable of receiving those digital broadcasts is slowly starting to expand. One of the latest HD Radio options for the home is the $179 Cambridge SoundWorks 820HD. As with similarly equipped units, the 820HD can receive those digital broadcasts, which offer the promise of better sound quality, no static, and digital-only stations that aren't available on analog-only radios.
Design
Unlike the 735i and 745i--which are just refreshed versions of older Cambridge models--the 820HD has an all-new chassis, a slick one at that. Available in onyx (black) or arctic white, the 820HD's gently rounded body measures out at 4.5x13.25x7.5 inches, and the 8.2-pound weight hints at the radio's solid build quality. Two stereo speakers flank the center-mounted screen and controls. We knocked the myriad buttons on the 735i/745i models, and Cambridge seems to have listened.
The bulk of interaction with the 820HD can be achieved with just two knobs--they're primarily for tuning and volume, but an adjoining jog button on the latter knob toggles it between two sets of customization functions, including bass and treble levels, loudness control, screen contrast, and snooze length. The remaining few buttons cover the everyday functionality of switching bands, seeking stations up and down the dial, and activating the two alarms. Even if you're not a major gadget-head, it's a safe bet that you'll be able to hit all the main operation points--tuning stations, setting favorites, setting the alarm--without ever having to consult the manual (that shouldn't be a distinguishing feature in a radio, but given some needlessly complex products we've seen, it's worth mentioning). A 27-button, credit card-style remote is also available for controlling the radio from afar.
The 3-inch-diagonal backlit LCD screen gives plenty of feedback for the various controls and settings, and it automatically adjusts its brightness depending on the ambient light in the room, so it's bright enough to see in the day but won't blind you at night. In addition to the basics such as the station frequency, the time, the date, and the alarm indicators, the screen offers additional data when tuned to digital HD Radio stations, including signal strength, song and artist info, and station and program listings (such as the DJ's name).
Features
In addition to receiving analog and digital ("HD") AM and FM broadcasts, the Cambridge SoundWorks 820HD can double as a speaker system for your iPod or other devices. Just attach a patch cord to one of the two minijack auxiliary line inputs on the Cambridge radio (there's one on the right side and one on the rear, but they're both feeding the same single line-in jack). In addition to the headphone jack, there's an optical digital output (on the rear) that you can use to pump audio to AV receivers that are so equipped. A 2.5mm, 12-volt power output for use with "special accessories" is also present on the rear panel. Sure enough, it worked perfectly when paired with the iPod dock that's included with the 735i.
Alarm functionality isn't usually notable, but the Cambridge 820HD offers some subtle flexibility not found on most run-of-the-mill clock radios. Each of the two alarms can be set to wake with an alarm tone or with any AM or FM station, though, annoyingly, you can't specify any of the HD2 stations, only the primary stations. Moreover, the alarm can be set to go off daily, weekdays only, weekends only, or just once. You can also lock in the exact volume for each alarm, so it can be as loud or subtle as you like in the morning, regardless of what the volume level was when you turned it off. You can have your favorite station lull you to sleep with the volume set to be barely audible (the sleep timer can be set at intervals from 15 to 120 minutes) but be guaranteed to be awakened at a dream-ending 70 percent of maximum volume. Snooze, meanwhile, can be preset to intervals of 5 to 55 minutes, depending on your personal level of morning procrastination. And while Cambridge doesn't mention a battery backup, there's clearly something inside keeping a charge, because the radio kept our alarm and preset info intact after remaining unplugged for at least 12 hours.
Radio is all about reception, and Cambridge has seen fit to include a panoply of options for pulling in the best signals. The RF-style screw connector on the rear panel will interface with any one of the three enclosed FM antennas: a single-strand wire antenna, a dipole (split-wire) version, or a more traditional telescoping aerial. A plug-in AM loop antenna is also provided. You can mix and match whichever ones work for your particular environment, with one FM and one AM plugged in simultaneously at any given time.
Performance
The Cambridge 820HD is pretty much a souped-up clock radio designed for critical listeners willing to pay a premium for sound quality, design, and the still-novel HD Radio support. To that end, we focused on radio reception and sound quality during our listening sessions. With the telescoping antenna attached, FM reception was generally very good. The steel-and-concrete jungle that is Manhattan is notoriously bad for radio, but we were able to pull in all but 4 of the 28 area stations (found via Radio-locator)--and at least half of those misses were college stations. Analog AM was its usual mess of static and pops, but most of those stations came in after some fiddling with the loop antenna and adjusting the placement of the radio.
Many of the FM (and even some AM) stations in the New York now broadcast in HD Radio. Simply tune to the regular analog station, and--if a digital version is available--the HD Radio indicator will light up, and the radio will tune over to the digital version within a few seconds. We were able to get most of the digital stations available (check the HD Radio site for a complete listing of stations in your area) on the FM band, although there were occasional dropouts on some, and one or two were so weak that the digital signal just couldn't quite lock in. Meanwhile, the two AM HD offerings just didn't seem to tune in at all, but given the truly awful AM reception from other radios in this location, we're not counting that against the 820HD.
In terms of sound quality, the 820HD was about what you'd expect from a tabletop radio. Flipping around the dial, the stereo sound was reasonably rich and full, though a touch brighter than we liked, until we adjusted the bass and treble controls. The rear bass port can really pound out the deep notes, and clicking the setting up just a couple of notches added a welcome bit of oomph to pop and rock tunes. (By comparison, turning the "loudness" function on or off didn't really seem to make a discernible difference.) When we put the Cambridge head-to-head with the Polk Audio I-Sonic, the latter system came out on top: a classical piano piece (on an HD Radio station) sounded a bit more refined and offered better presence on the Polk. But the Cambridge system more than held its own, especially when you consider that the Polk system is fully three times the price of the 820HD. The bigger issue with the Cambridge is one that affects all radios and speaker systems of this size: with the speakers just a few inches apart, the stereo separation is limited.
Conclusion
Sound quality nitpicks aside, the real problem with the Cambridge SoundWorks Radio 820HD is the same issue that afflicts all HD Radio products: HD Radio technology hasn't yet distinguished itself as a worthwhile added value. To our ears, the HD Radio stations weren't delivering a dramatic improvement over their analog counterparts. And while we welcomed the presence of digital-only HD2 stations on the dial, many of them seemed to be noticeably compressed--more MP3 than CD. Moreover, the data streams seemed limited to artist, song, and show title info. That's nice, but nothing that can't be done with RDS info on analog stations, and many of the HD stations seem to lack the informational displays altogether. While the digital stations certainly offer static-free reception, that's only if they're within range; a distant HD station will drop in and out if it's too far away. Even more disturbing is that some nearby HD stations seem to blink out randomly--the cell phone-like signal meter drops a full six bars to zero and then shoots back up again a few seconds later, even when the radio is completely stationary. To reiterate, none of these problems are the fault of Cambridge 820HD. The same issues exist on the Polk I-Sonic, and will continue to exist for any and all HD Radio receivers until the stations decide to offer more bandwidth and better data support.
While the HD Radio issues aren't particular to the 820HD, they're certainly a factor to weigh when considering purchase--in other words, if HD Radio isn't all it's cracked up to be, why pay a premium for a radio that's got little else to offer (no CD player, no network audio streaming, no satellite radio support)? Well, if you're in the market--for a Bose, a Tivoli, a Boston Acoustics, or a Cambridge--the 820HD is a pretty great little unit. It compares favorably to identically priced models such as the Cambridge SoundWorks 735i (with an iPod dock, but no HD Radio) and the more expensive Boston Acoustics Recepter HD (HD Radio and outboard stereo speaker), and it's got better alarm functionality than the Sony XDR-S3HD. As of June 2008, Cambridge has effectively cut the price of the 820HD from $300 to $179. With that impressive markdown, the Cambridge SoundWorks 820HD becomes a much easier recommendation for anyone looking for a great tabletop radio.
Assistant Editor Matthew Moskovciak contributed to this review.