What Hi Fi Sound and Vision
05 JAN 2004
Acoustic Solutions SP111
Very good value from this combination tuner, but it’s worth spending more for better performance
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We weren’t too sold on Acoustic Solutions’ original digital radio tuner: the fact we had to open it up and reconnect a wire to make it work didn’t help at all. But this current model is a much better bet, given that it offers both digital and FM reception in one box for just £90.
That’s made possible by the use of the Radioscape RS200 DAB module, which is at the heart of the tuner we have here: this package, based on Texas Instruments’ DRE200 receiver chip, enables a manufacturer to make a complete digital/analogue tuner with the addition of only a few basic components.
In fact, a manufacturer need only take the RS200, bolt on a power supply, case, buttons and a display and it has a complete radio solution ready to go, making it both faster and more economical to develop such units. The chipset can also be used for portable and personal models.
Minimal connectivity
The connections are relatively minimal – analogue and optical digital output, a shared F-type antenna connection for both digital and analogue radio reception and a headphone socket with its own volume control – and a remote control is provided as standard, although this is a bit hit and miss in strong lighting. Also there are just four presets available on each band, but then you can scroll quickly to digital stations, so this is perhaps more of a drawback for FM.
And by the standards of budget tuners the SP111 is very good, combining crisp, clean reception of digital signals with adequate FM capability, provided you use it with an outdoor aerial. Things are less impressive with the wire antenna provided, but then that’s the case with all hi-fi tuners, be they digital or analogue, and the extra investment in a rooftop aerial should be considered a must, not an option.
On digital radio the SP111 is superb with speech, and OK with music, although the latter is very much in the hands of broadcasters – some digital music services sound truly horrible – while the FM section errs on the side of caution, sounding warm and smooth rather than delivering all the detail available on a very good analogue tuner.
But then this tuner covers both bands and is consistently enjoyable – and for the money that’s pretty impressive.