I own an Outlaw 1050 receiver and Insignia speakers, and I am just not happy with the sound. I use it for video games and music. I was just at Target and I was listening to the Tivoli Model One radio and I loved it. I just stood there for the longest time listening to a rock station it was playing. This is the type of sound I have been searching for but I don't know what to call it.

Can anyone familiar with this radio explain to me what type of sound signature it has? I would like to upgrade my set up to sound similar to the Tivoli. At this point in time I am more interested in SQ than features.

I have been considering Era speakers with either a Nad or Arcam receiver. Will this give me that same type of sound? Can anyone recommend brands that may sound similar?

Also is there somewhere I can learn what all the terms mean- bright, smooth, tight- all that stuff?

Going upscale from what you have would likely be moving in the wrong direction to duplicate that Tivoli sound.

A good audio playback system is made up of many components. What good table radios do, if they exist, is combine all of the components into one spot. Radio receiver, amplifier, speakers are all bundled into one nice, neat little package. Building a good home audio playback system is tricky because you need to mix and match separate components. Your 1050 is a great place to start for good sound. I have owned one for over 5 years and have been very pleased with its sound quality. I think believing that an "upgrade" to NAD or Arcam is going to make that noticeable difference is a little silly as their sound is very comparable to the sound that your 1050 can produce.

Where you can help your 1050 out is by upgrading your source components and also possibly your speakers. What do you use as your source when you play CD's at home? Do you use your DVD player or a dedicated CD player? You may not believe this, but a dedicated CD player will produce a better sound than most entry-level DVD players even when connected in the exact same method. I made this switch with my system from a Sony DVD player to a dedicated CD player and the difference was very noticeable and all good.

Your speakers, while being a good buy for entry-level speakers, are not really helping you at this point. You said it yourself, their fine on movies and video games, but not on music. This is a very typical response to entry-level speakers. The ERA brand, though I've never heard them in person, seems to be a good speaker to upgrade to. I would also suggest looking for a store that sells Paradigm or PSB or NHT or B&W brand speakers and taking your favorite CDs and listening to them. If you're more inclined to shop online, take a listen to Ascend Acoustics, or the Onix brand over at av123.com or even Outlaw's own speakers. Every single one of the brands I mentioned will give you a pair of speakers that will give you a better sound than your Insignia's.

Only your ears will tell you what type of sound you like. Take a favorite CD to a store and listen. Or, order a pair of speakers online and try them in your own system. What sounds "bright" to someone else may sound perfect to you.

Though the following article talks about a particular speaker brand, it can apply to all speakers:

http://www.audioholics.com/education/loudspeaker-basics/how-to-judge-loudspeakers-sound-and-accuracy

Good luck and let us know how it works out.

Good speakers are the #1 item to alter or color sound to your liking. Every other segment of the signal chain is going to be at least an order of magnitude more precise than loudspeakers.

Another overlooked thing is room acoustics. Deadening or livening specific regions of the room can make huge differences.

For me, Tivoli is like Bose or the Cambridge table radios - pleasant enough for casual use but not focused on fidelity.

Crisseagrim,
Totaly agree w/ Jason J. I'm going to add a little more info to his post.
My dad was looking into upgrading speakers from Axiom M22's. He wanted more mid range.
He ended up w/ Paradigm monitor 7's - nice speaker. He also added speaker cables from Blue Jeans.com. He has a 1050.
I also found B&W has a new speaker or updated line (600 series)that sounds fantastic. really. I was playing w/ them (685)in my favorite audio store. As the tunes where rolling, several other customers could not believe the sound was coming from the little B&W's and not the Martin Logins next to them.

My dad was shooting for the $600-ish area for speakers. There are some fun speakers out there from good manufactures.

Let the adventure begin....

Later,

Crissaegrim,

I own a Tivoli Model Three which is similar to the Model One and have the matching external speaker for stereo sound. Not sure which speaker manufacturer could exactly duplicate the full range 3.5" driver sound in the Tivoli but you may want to try one of the small satellite/bass module systems by Cambridge Soundworks. To my ears, they seem to have a similar sound and the Tivoli is somewhat designed by the same principles. Small satellite speakers connected to a bass module. Not sure if the demo you heard also had the Tivoli bass module connected. Good luck with your selections.

HI guys, If I'm not mistaken the tivoli is based on a radio made by Henry Kloss who also had a hand in cambridge sound works, we have the sirus satellite model of the tivoli and my wife loves it.

That would explain why it sounded so similar to the Cambridge systems I've been around. Very pleasant. Not sure an upgrade from an Outlaw product would be in order though.