Any portable stereos with QUALITY anymore?

[MtnMan]

About ten years ago, I remember buying a portable stereo. It was an RCA, you know, the kind of portable AM/FM radio with a built-in CD player and cassette deck. (Not really a "boom box", but still a nice little radio.) The CD player was just old enough (and cheap enough) that when home-made music CDs could be created in iTunes the stereo could not play them. But the radio worked perfectly for years and I could use a cassette adaptor to plug in an iPod. And because the RCA was portable, I could put batteries in it and take it to outdoor venues for work or play. The tuner wasn't the best, but it did catch my favorite stations without any problem.

After years of being hauled around and used quite a bit, the old RCA gave out on me. I went to Radio Shack and bought a JWIN to replace it, but the tuner in that thing is awful. I can't pull in half the stations I used to take from granted.

Where do you go to find a portable stereo with a decent AM/FM tuner, and a jack to plug in an iPod? Seems all the cheap stuff is junk, from what I've seen.

[AVService]

There are several good systems out there now.
It depends as always on how much you want to spend and exactly what your needs are?

I think a pair of powered speakers are the way to go now for many as everyone seems to have a portable player already.

These are tough to beat for the money and are good looking too.

http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5263720&CatId=4959

I carry these wherever I am doing an install.They are very heavy and sound great and may be overkill,one reason I love them.
I have sold many sets of them and no one complains after using them just one time.

http://www.nhthifi.com/NHT-M00?sc=12&category=1213

This is sort of the old school way to go.
Very nice and more flexible maybe than the first two?
Very portable and on sale now.

http://www.cambridgesoundworks.com/store/category.cgi?category=search&item=53CW0225AA000

There are a lot more like these too.
More details and I would have more suggestions?

Ed

[MtnMan]

^ Thank you for the reply.

Maybe I should've been a little more clear...

What I'm looking for is a portable AM/FM radio-stereo. A "baby boom box", if you will. Something with a good tuner so I can reliably get my favorite AM and FM radio stations. And it would be nice if it included a plug-in jack for an iPod. For years, I used that cheap RCA stereo to reliably pull in favorite radio stations. Now, the newer JWIN I bought at Radio Shack can't even do that.

The speakers you provided links to are interesting, and I could see myself using something like that for other purposes. What I'm looking for right now is a radio that will spend most of it time indoors, and occasionally be taken outdoors.

Thanks again.

[AVService]

I have used several of these and they are great for the money.
You will have to hunt one down though.
Target had the Mono version recently for under $60.00 and it is very good too.
These will not run directly on 12vdc for portable use but I have used them with one of the car battery jumper boxes that has an inverter in it to get power away from an outlet.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/544149-REG/Boston_Acoustics_HDUOMDNT_Duo_Horizon_AM_FM_Stereo.html

I would also look at Tivoli Audio as they do make a few portable models.

http://www.tivoliaudio.com/home.php?xid=8dafb456fb1bdf720097b600664ee25f

I also would look at the Power tool jobsite radios out now.
I have a Milwaukee model that does what you want and is very rugged and sounds decent too.
They all run on either wall power or any battery from the tool line they belong to.

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=jobsite+radios&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Unfortunately bells and whistles are what seems to be made these days and quality is difficult to find.

Ed

[bltkmt]

+1 on the Tivoli suggestion. I have an older iPal and love it. Very good AM/FM tuner, good sound and long lasting battery.

[MtnMan]

Hmmmm....

The Tivolis looking quite interesting, but I don't have that kind of $$$ sitting around right now. What a shame. This economy really bites!

The job-site radio idea is even more interesting. I understand some of these cordless power tool companies are moving away from NiCad power packs to Lithium Ion ones, right? I think I saw a Porter Cable Lion kit at Lowe's the last time I was there. Maybe there's any idea...

Thanks for the pointers!