Sangean is known as one of the foremost producers of excellent quality radios, both portables and tabletops. The new WR-60 is their latest stereo tabletop model incorporating and building upon the features of radios such as their RCR-40 and adding CD playback which is becoming increasingly rare these days. Many people still have large CD collections and there are fewer and fewer quality options to play them… the WR-60 is a great choice if you are one of these people.

Specifications & Features:

AM/FM RDS/RBDS

Bluetooth 5.2

CD MP3 / WMA Playback

Aux Input/Headphone Out Jacks 1/8” Stereo

Stereo Speakers with Acoustically Tuned bass ports

Acoustically Tuned Natural Maple Wooden Cabinet for Warm, Rich Audio

Output Power: 5W x 2

Tuning: Manual/Auto Scan

20 Station Presets (10 AM / 10 FM)

Front Panel Controls/Remote Control

Easy-to-Read TFT LCD Display with Adjustable Backlight

EQ Modes: Normal, Movie, Jazz, Rock, Classic, Pop, News, Flat, Custom with Bass and Treble Controls for Customized Sound

Loudness On/Off Control

Soft and Precise Tuning with Auto Scanning

Dual Alarm Timers by Radio/Buzzer/Humane Wake System

Adjustable Sleep Timer and Snooze Function

Dimensions: 320mm x 102mm x 223.5mm / 12.6” x 4.02” x 8.8”

In Use: Having owned and used many Sangean table radios there were no real surprises with the WR-60. The beautifully-finished wooden cabinet is very attractive and as with other Sangean radios the feeling is one of quality and solidity. It’s an excellent performing table radio and since I use their somewhat similar RCR-40 daily in my family room it’s natural to compare the two. In fact, they are quite comparable in overall performance… the main differences with the WR-60 being a more powerful amplifier, the addition of CD playback, an updated display and a different FM antenna arrangement. Whereas the RCR-40 uses a wire FM antenna the WR-60 uses a rod antenna. Both receive similarly…the only difference is in how you would adjust them. To be clear, either type can pull in FM signals similarly and one is not inherently better than the other. If space and accessibility permit the whip can be adjusted precisely for best reception, whereas the wire has the advantage of being able to be tucked away and hidden more easily…. again, neither is inherently superior. Note: The very efficient internal AM antenna receives best when signals arrive from the sides of the radio.

Performance of the WR-60 is exemplary in every way. Sangean’s table radios are known for their powerful, warm audio with sound which as good or better than other table radios, and the WR-60 continues this tradition and is specified at a solid 5 watts per channel which is powerful for a table radio. The dual ported stereo speakers and wooden cabinet project a powerful sound and can fill a large room authoritatively. There are the usual EQ presets which should serve most users well, or you can set you own Custom EQ with separate Bass and Treble controls along with a Loudness On/Off setting so you can tailor the sound to your preference. AM and FM reception are excellent in this category ranking approximately **** on AM and ***** on FM which matches or beats other table radios I have compared it with.

My only complaints concern the Owner’s Manual and the Remote Control. I must confess I could not figure out how to access the Custom EQ settings and the Loudness On/Off functions until I asked Sangean. They provided these instructions:

For the Loudness setting, press and hold the Info/Menu button, then go to System Settings and navigate to Loudness to turn it on or off.

For manual Bass and Treble adjustments, go to System Settings > Equalizer, then scroll down to My EQ Setup. That’s where you can manually adjust the bass and treble controls.

After seeing this it made sense and to be fair, if I had spent a bit more time I would probably have figured it out. But two things combine to make mastering some of these lesser-used functions tricky.

Above: Left: – RCR-40 Remote – Right: WR-60 Remote

First, there seems to be an industry-wide trend in which owner’s manuals have become somewhat incomplete leaving some things to trial and error. The old step-by-step manuals are no longer the norm…perhaps this is my own personal bias. Second, the new Remote Control is somewhat less intuitive than Sangean’s previous remotes. Look at the comparison of the WR-60’s remote with the older RCR-40 Remote. The new remote dispenses with some of the obviously labelled buttons, which makes navigation harder to learn. I don’t think it is a game-changer and I still think the WR-60 is a great radio, but  I wish Sangean would reconsider making the remote more user-friendly. That would eliminate the only negative I found with the radio. And again, once you have made some initial settings, daily operation is still easy enough.

Conclusion:  I think the Sangean WR-60 is another in a long series of excellent Sangean radios and has top performance in this category. My CD’s sounded great through it and overall reception and sound were first rate. If you are looking for a high-quality radio that can also play CD’s, it is not only rare but it is also one of the very best options currently available.

Recommended!

See it at Amazon:

Jay Allen