I had read all about the Tivoli audio products, the Model 1, Model 2 etc for quite a while before I decided to buy a Model 3 to replace my lame and worn out clock radio. Today it arrived at work where I plugged it in and had it playing all afternoon. This thing is VERY impressive, it sounds fantastic for a very small mono radio and by just using the supplied external antena I was able to pull in difficult FM stations from more than 80 miles away... The cabinet looks very nice and I think it's a big part of the sound being made of wood instead of plastic must make a real difference. The bass port on the back is quite active when playing music at a loud volume. About the only thing I don't like is the external power supply but I guess it's ok really...The built in clock is very simple but it looks nice, a digital clock wouldn't have looked as pleasing but it would have offered more features and that might have been important to some people, for me it's fine....

Just got mine for xmas after becoming obsessed with tivoli in the fall (I won't mention my ever expanding tivoli collection here!) but I've been waiting to finally add the model three to my wake-up's. I've not been disappointed either. Although I do have a comment on the clock itself, I'll save that for last.

As is mentioned by others, the sound this little box produces is without comparison- it's as terrific as the one and two so no surprise here (but waking to it and not my little sony radio has just elevated my whole morning routine immensely!). The clock light is far more subtle than I first imagined and it casts a wonderful glow in the dark, giving off just enough to illuminate the clock face. The alarm setting is super-simple as is the sleep function, although I would have liked a little more than the 20 minutes the sleep give you- but this just requires a simple touch to turn the alarm button off thus activating the radio proper. I now no longer have to wonder paranoid in the middle of the night if I've set the alarm correctly since all it now takes is a glance at a glowing green light to know it's been activated!! And those lights- how I LOVE those glowing lights, green and yellow with that glowing face- it just looks so high-end!

[Re: not mentioned in the manual about the snooze, I've just discovered that one must press the snooze button within TWO minutes of the alarm going off or this function will not work].

Now, the clock itself. After speaking with the people at Bay Bloor radio in Toronto (experts at what they sell for sure) they simply explained why this radio is powered off of batteries- it has much more to do with the internal workings of this clock and the need for a separate non-interfering power supply then any kind of bad design as many seem to complain about. I've had no trouble so far and will simply change out the battery every so often- no fuss no bother! And having experienced the black out last year, having this clock function in black or brown outs is simply a bonus!

My only problem is with the overall design of the clock face- it is simply difficult to read at any slight angle when least half the clock face numbers disappear because the outer ring (used for alarm adjustment)obscures them when not read from directly face-on! However, this I am finding to be part of my adjustment at no longer having a digital read-out to read as I have been accustomed to thru out my life.It's going to be just a matter of getting used to.

I have fallen in love with the tivoli radio's not only for their shear aesthetic beauty but because of their simply, back-to-the-basics functionality and I am finding my whole experience with the model three to be about forgetting those glowing red numbers and getting used to a softly lit face.

All-in-all I am extremely pleased... besides, it's just too beautiful not to love!!!

I heard a friend's Model One Tivoli, and was sold, so I decided to buy the Model Three and the Dual Alarm / Second Speaker unit for my bedroom, to replace a very cheap and unreliable alarm clock radio.

So for $200 what do you get? Well, you get a modified version of the Model One / Model Two Tivoli, and a clock radio with a sleep timer and wake to Aux / Radio / Alarm function. To be frank, I can't figure out how Tivoli justifies an extra $100 for a battery operated quartz clock insert that has barely advanced features (setting time is electronically controlled - that's about it). In retrospect, the sensible in me would probably not make the same purchase again - instead, I'd opt to get the Model Two unit, and a nice alarm clock (though the style wannabe in me probably would - getting an all in one unit). Tivoli simply doesn't have enough "omph" or value for the dollar tossed in with the addition of the clock functions for the extra hun.

But let's break down the positives and negatives.

Positives: Sound quality kicks big time with lots of base in the unit (single speaker, dual speakers, even without the sub). FM radio, when dialed in right, sounds like near CD quality to my ears (with a caveat - see below). "Action" on the tuning dial is sweet with the 4x stepped down gearing. Clock is fairly readable, though it is pretty recessed into the case, so from an angle, it's hard to see the hours well, esp. in the dark. Ability to plug in your iPod or other mp3 player to the Aux, hook up a sub, hook up a second speaker (or as I've done, the Model Three Dual Alarm second speaker) and other hookups - wowsa for a clock radio! Ability to record audio is good as well - I have an MP3 player / fm receiver thingie, and when I compare FM radio recordings made with the device on its own, and with the audio in ability, recording the Tivoli's FM radio, there is no comparison - the Tivoli's FM sound quality is stellar (with a caveat - again, see below)

Negatives: People proclaim the Tivoli's ability to pull in FM signals. I haven't experienced this as well as i expected - some local stations sound hissy and tinny on the Tivoli, but in my '04 Jetta (with a radio that's often panned), they sound better. Where's this legendary FM ability across the dial? That said, when a station is pulled in by the Tivoli, it sounds (to my untrained ear at least) like big base CD quality. Other negatives: The 120 second "bug" in the design for the snooze feature has caused me to sleep in a few times (see another review for more info). Yes Tivoli - that is a major design flaw. The decision on fonts and font colours makes the tuning dial and other labels on the front of the box almost unreadable in most bedroom light. And as mentioned above, the clock functionality is not worth the extra $100 in price - maybe $30, maybe $40.

But it does look goooooood. :) And the sound is stellar - rivals my other sound systems in the house costing $100s more.

The Model 3 Clock Radio is flawed. Its sound quality though is excellent.

The biggest problem for me is that the front and back panels are nearly unreadable under most ambient light conditions. The standard lettering and background colors combined with font size and the reflectance of the "metallic" treatment do not produce enough contrast to promote legibility. A flashlight (held at the right angle to avoid reflectance) is a useful tool for changing frequencies. My Tivoli Model 1 (classic/walnut), in contrast, is much much easier to use and sounds just as good.

I agree with another reviewer that another problem with the Model 3 is that the clock is entirely dependent on batteries. It would be better for this AC radio to have an AC clock with a battery backup.

Wonderful full sound and appearance. But lacks a bass/treble adjustment... so you can't adust for music/talk etc. The default is high in the bass end and there is no way to adjust it..... Worst.. the clock started losing about 5 minutes a day... way too much for a quartz clock... should be accurate to 1 second a month... after a week, the clock died entirely... I figgured that maybe the battery (supplied with the unit) was just a dud.. so I replaced it with a new high-grade battery... same story... So I returned it... Tweeter's current (June 2004) catalog is offering this product for $159.99.