Home Appliances Revue with 2013 Edition of West Coast Midnight Run

“they could create social islands in the shadow of the skyscrapers, groups of close friends among whom they could live as unconstrainedly ... without moral scruples or modern conveniences, live in the pure moment”

Crosley Radio is a relatively new and unknown name in consumer electronics, from a new crop of American manufacturers that are focused on providing specialty crafted products with a complete line of vintage, retro and art deco items spanning compact and tabletop music systems, jukeboxes and turn of the 20th century styled radios and telephones.

The first thing that startled us in the unit we procured (pictured at left) is the cutting edge electronics and chassis. We requested the Director model as it offered multi-playback systems in one compact table top box. The styling is a pleasure to behold and is Art Deco in every detail, from the brass faceplate and antique dial to the knit cloth that shielded the speakers.

The veneer and lacquer on the packaging is minimal however the housing is authentic finished and carved wood, not pressed laminate, and the audio performance is sur

prising for even an ultra modern package in this class.

The Director model can play CD-ROMs, unfortunately only one at a time. However it has both read and record capabilities and can read your favorite CD-ROM, store the selected tracks to temporary memory and rewrite the tracks on a new recordable CD-ROM disc.

The CD-ROM player in this Crosley unit can also record tracks from your favorite FM or AM radio stations.

You can also transfer your favorite LPs to CD-ROMs and then pop the CD-ROM into your computer and format the tracks as MP3s.

The pushbutton controls have better than average tactile feel and firmness.

And you can scan radio stations using the analog “Airplane” style dial or the digital LCD screen that also displays status conditions for each of the playback devices in this system.