In our multifunctional world of gadgets and super-connectivity, it's easy to forget what's really important when it comes to personal tech: ease-of-use and high quality output. Audio pioneer Henry Kloss has been designing radios that deliver on both counts for over five decades. Kloss's latest effort is a potent antidote to today's over-the-top techno-lust.

The Tivoli Model One Table Radio has an almost Zen-like simplicity and a cool retro design. On the front of the handsome wood case you find only a speaker, tuning, volume and AM/FM selector knobs, and two indicator lights (one for power, one for signal strength). No bouncing disco lights, no digital read-outs, no tangle of audio cables sprouting from the back. But don't let the chunky WWII-era tuning knob and the radio's diminutive size (4.5" x 8.4" x 5.25") fool you. This little fella is filled with state-of-the-art electronics. The Tivoli is the first radio of its kind to use a GaAs MES-FET mixer (a technology more commonly found in digital mobile phones and military-grade radios) - allowing it to go where other radios can't. Most digital tuners have a hard time tuning in closely spaced stations and they can't pick up many distant ones. The Tivoli can. You'll be amazed by its reach, even using only the built-in antenna. For an even stronger FM signal, there's a Type-F connector in the back for a cable hook-up or an external antenna.

And with one small mono speaker, you may think the Tivoli only delivers portable radio sound. Not so. This radio can fill any room with the kind of pristine sound that will literally turn heads. Try it next to your fancy bookshelf stereo system and see which comes out on top.

The Tivoli Model One's price tag ($99) is perhaps the most amazing thing about this top-of-the-line component, which will probably outlast the analog radio that it's designed to receive. Hope Henry's next model is digital.

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