The Ultimate Shower Radio

I have a radio in pretty much every room of my apartment. Often I have several going at once, because I like the racket. In my bedroom, I have not one, but two: a Bose clock radio/CD and a Tivoli Audio clock radio (which, if you haven’t ever played with one, is badass. They sell them out of a cart at the Pru Center).

Anyway, I’m a stickler for audio quality, which is why my decision to replace a solid, though waterlogged, Zenith CD player in my bathroom with the cheapest thing I could find at Best Buy was so inexplicable. From day one, I absolutely hated it.

The radio couldn’t get reception. The lack of clarity and bass, the chinzy blue plastic design, it was an utter piece of crap that mocked me each morning for cheaping out and acting like a 13-year-old. That said, I didn’t want to put somethng good in there either, because the moisture would just ruin it in a couple years anyway.

So last week I was at Abodeon, the great modern/design-heavy homegoods store in Porter Square, and I tried out one of the Tykho Rubber Radios ($55). It’s about as simple a device as you can find, small, compact, coated in thick, colorful rubber, and water resistant.

You control the volume via the buttons on the front, and the tuner is built into the antenna. The latter is a litte tricky to get used to, but the reception is excellent for such a small radio. Plus, the sound is extraordinary, balanced, and surprisingly loud. You look at the thing and think its another triumph of form over function, but it really is a highly, functional, great-sounding, and durable radio. I haven’t dropped it on the floor yet, but I expect I will, and when I do, I expect it’ll be fine. Highly recommended.