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Relive the Past with the Sangean WR-55 Retro Wood Cabinet AM/FM/Bluetooth Radio
May 29, 2025
Remember the days of listening to AM/FM radio and not imagining that there'd ever be any other way to "stream" content? You don't have to be quite that old to appreciate the beautiful 50th Anniversary Sangean WR-55 Retro Wooden Cabinet Radio with AM, FM, Bluetooth, and AUX input. It's a very modern device masquerading as a 1940s tabletop radio, as tech expert Dave Taylor explains - and demonstrates - in this detailed review.
Check it out at: https://amzn.to/4klFHdU
Visit Dave's Q&A Web site at: https://www.AskDaveTaylor.com/
0:00 Introduction
0:39 Tech Specs
1:36 Closeups, Front and Back
2:30 Music Playback Demo
3:40 AM and FM Demo
4:35 USB-C and AM Interaction
5:20 Commentary
6:30 Price and Conclusions
#sangean #radio #bluetooth #retro #nostalgic #retroradio #askdavetaylor
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0:00
we are back in time with this amfm
0:02
Bluetooth radio let's check it
0:06
[Music]
0:12
out Dave Taylor here with this this is
0:15
the 50th Anniversary San jeene
0:19
w55 wooden cabinet radio with Bluetooth
0:24
I know 50 years ago people would have
0:25
said
0:27
Bluetooth what is the color of your
0:29
tooth to do with the radio but it's am
0:33
and FM and Bluetooth and it's actually a
0:37
beautiful piece of Hardware the first
0:39
thing I want to show you I'm going to
0:41
zoom in but I want to show you how the
0:43
tuning dial works so this is how you
0:46
tune am or FM but as you turn it it
0:50
actually moves more slowly than as you
0:53
spin the dial so check this
0:56
out tell me that's not pretty cool right
0:59
by it itself but there's so much more
1:02
that's really interesting about this it
1:04
has am and FM and Bluetooth and AUX
1:08
input and it is actually made with
1:10
Cherrywood so the cabinet part is really
1:14
quite beautiful and it's not just a
1:16
plastic or a veneer it's actual wood and
1:20
has a two-way speaker in it there's a
1:22
mid-range and a woofer all tucked into
1:24
this little unit and it's Bluetooth 5.0
1:28
so it's really quite the modern
1:30
technology and that dial scale has an
1:33
adjustable backlight and let me show you
1:36
closeup of the front so you can see the
1:38
different dials it has an input selector
1:43
knob it has tone and we'll come back to
1:45
that that's a really interesting tone
1:47
knob and then there's volume along with
1:50
the actual tuner itself on the back
1:54
there's quite a few different controls
1:56
and inputs ranging from the ability to
1:59
adjust the backlight to the ability to
2:03
plug in an AM antenna though it does
2:05
have one built in and that's aux in and
2:09
headphones 3.5 mm out and there's a USBC
2:14
out if you want to charge a device again
2:17
50 years ago people would have said do a
2:20
what but and then there's DC in and
2:24
notice the FM antenna that you can have
2:26
discreetly hidden behind the unit if
2:28
you're not using it
2:30
all that's well and good but let's
2:32
actually play some music so first I'm
2:35
going to go ahead and just use Bluetooth
2:37
off of my iPhone and let's see how this
2:42
works and it's very nice sound
2:45
reproduction let me actually turn it
2:46
towards me so it actually picks up a
2:48
little better and then the tone knob let
2:51
me turn the volume down so the tone knob
2:55
super interesting because if you turn it
2:57
clockwise then if you imagine IM in the
3:00
sort of wave form of Bas all the way to
3:02
treble then turning it clockwise
3:06
increases the sides so you get more base
3:08
and more treble turning it CL
3:11
counterclockwise boosts the mid-range so
3:14
let's see if we can hear that so I'm
3:16
going to start by boosting the base in
3:20
treble turn the volume back up again so
3:24
that's Bas and treble at maximum and
3:26
then I'm going to rotate it
3:27
counterclockwise
3:32
and it definitely has a very different
3:34
sound quality and I'll put it right in
3:36
the
3:38
middle and it's very pleasant music
3:41
reproduction while I have it facing me
3:44
I'm going to switch to
3:46
FM and tune in a channel
4:01
yeah and now let's open up that
4:08
antenna and this is a local classical
4:10
station and I certainly don't have
4:13
rights to this music so we'll turn it
4:15
back down but suffice to say that's FM
4:18
let's go on to
4:19
am well you know what will you could say
4:22
that and there's am right off the bat
4:24
and it's clean and clear for the Trump
4:27
Administration and that is with the bill
4:29
buil-in am antenna so really very easy
4:33
to work with I'm going to close this and
4:36
hide it again and you can see here
4:38
hopefully the illumination of the dial
4:41
and the dial illuminates when you're
4:42
using am or FM and there's some
4:44
interesting characteristics with the
4:46
USBC plug on the back it won't work if
4:50
you're using AM radio and that's because
4:53
it will create so much interference that
4:56
your Am won't work so they have decided
4:58
to just cut that feature out if you're
5:01
in am mode if you're using FM and
5:03
particularly if you're using Bluetooth
5:05
totally no problem at all so I thought
5:08
that was a really interesting little
5:09
subtlety and I do want to show you it
5:12
has a pretty big Transformer on the end
5:15
of its plug and the wires about that
5:18
long so maybe 6 feet so I would say that
5:23
I love the design I really I mean I
5:25
can't speak enough how much I like this
5:28
sort of retro nostalg IC design and
5:31
they've just done such a beautiful job
5:33
of engineering and they've been around
5:35
50 years they know what they're doing
5:36
this company is really been doing great
5:39
radios and shortwave and all sorts of
5:41
devices like that for a long time they
5:44
have a lot of engineering knowledge so
5:47
this is what you get it comes with a
5:49
very helpful instruction guide this
5:51
folds out to be I don't know the size of
5:54
a highway billboard it's pretty big but
5:57
in so many languages it's super helpful
5:59
um that's really everything I got I am a
6:02
big fan of this I think it's a beautiful
6:05
looking and a great sounding device this
6:07
is perfect for an executive desk or in
6:10
your kitchen if you have a nostalgic
6:13
vibe in your house this could be great
6:15
on your bedside table and you can listen
6:17
to am or FM if that's your groove or you
6:20
can use it with aux in or you can of
6:23
course use it as a Bluetooth speaker
6:26
with your favorite smartphone lots to
6:29
like here I am going to ask you to
6:31
subscribe to my channel click or tap on
6:33
that subscribe button hit that Bell icon
6:36
for notifications give me a thumbs up if
6:38
you found this of value and of course I
6:39
hope you did excellent this is the sanen
6:44
w55 wooden cabinet radio with Bluetooth
6:48
and it is $
6:50
15991 at amazon.com it is fairly spendy
6:54
but you're getting a really high-end top
6:57
device for that and dimensions wise real
7:00
quick 10.3 in by 6 in by 6 and 1/2 in
7:04
tall so it is 4 1/2 lb certainly light
7:08
enough that you can tote it around if
7:10
you want but why would you put this in a
7:12
perfect place right in the center where
7:13
people are going to see it and enjoy all
7:16
of the compliments people give you a
7:18
when they see it and especially B when
7:21
they hear it that's all I got I hope to
7:24
catch you in my next video
7:29
[Music]
7:42
he
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