Our trip to Tivoli Audio World goes on with the Model Two: the U.S. brand, started up by the late Henry Kloss and by Tom de Vesto, is keeping full throttle on the evolution of their products. Starting from that extraordinary success that Model One has represented, they developed it in the concept of the PAL portable radio to reach now its consistent evolution, a stereo radio set. To put it squarely, we must say that defining the Model Two a stereo release of Model One is rather restrictive, since it is thought to be the platform for a complete mini-hi-fi setup. The Two comes in a twin cabinet to which one can add a subwoofer and, it’s a short while now, also a CD player. All these devices share the same design and are presented in a charming outfit: a cherry wood cabinet with a thick, charcoal-gray front panel (the full set is called radio Combo). As I said before, the Two is an evolution of the One so it follows all its main characteristics, and in fact the visual impact is the same of the mono version, but sided by a twin device hosting on the front panel the loudspeaker only. In consideration of this family feeling I will stick to the differences only, asking my kind readers to refer to my essay about the mono version .

The radio comes in a package including – along with the two cabinets - a wire aerial and a mains cord. The unit that works as a second loudspeaker is factory fitted with a 4.5 Mt.-long (about 14.80 ft) wire that allows deploying the two components apart enough to fully appreciate stereo reproduction. Let’s add that, since the radio unit works as left channel and the other therefore as right, channel swapping is not possible.

Here it comes our radio, the front panel looks the same of the mono model except for the On/Off, AM/FM switch that here includes an AUX position. An important difference is the placement of the reflex port, hosted in the bottom panel in the One and in the back panel here.
And there’s a reason for this: to allow stacking or siding the two cabinets in order to comply with the available space - I think this is an intelligent idea. Feet are supplied but not installed so that they can be stuck onto the radio once the layout has been chosen, to allow maximum freedom of placement.
Shifting to the back panel, we find the most relevant differences with Model One.
Further to the reflex port, this part of the unit shows quite many other differences: we find a balance knob and, below it, the left-channel RCA connector and a jack for an external 12V power supply unit. Rightward we find the AUX input: we read an odd MIX IN below it and we can spend some words on this.Among its feasible uses, the Model Two can work as a PC sound system and here it immediately comes to me a comparison with the Cambridge SoundWorks I normally use with my portable PC.
The SoundWorks really gets the job done and I’m happy with it (if my memory doesn’t fail it was designed by Kloss as well), especially in consideration of its low price.
But when plugging the Model Two in, the sound quality dramatically betters, even though the Tivoli’s got no sub; I repeat, we’re comparing two different price levels (the Two costs four times as much).Back to the MIX IN, this input allows computer-to-radio mixing, so that we can hear all these “Beeps” the machine delivers when performing its usual tasks.
A warning: Tivoli loudspeakers are not shielded so you’d better keep the monitor clear of them for this task.
Still on the back panel we find the classic REC OUT, a headphone jack socket below it and the SUB OUT at the bottom; the right part bears the external / internal aerial switch with its aerial connection and the mains cord socket.The back of the left case needs no description since it shows the reflex port and the connection cable only.

Listening session

Let’s switch the unit on and listen: during test time I had occasion to try the Tivoli with my two references: Radio 3 and Radio Capital that deliver the best music-quality-to-signal-quality ratio where I live. One could write a complete essay about the poor quality and the confusion of the Italian radio supply, but these two radio stations sometimes allow one to listen to unprocessed music even in a time when compressed music rules. Now let’s go to the notes: the radio sensitivity of this gear is really interesting at first sight, as we are used to know since we tested the Model One. But I have an impression that some work has been done to further strengthen it. What seems slightly different is the sound: it may depend on the different reflex port or on some intervention on the frequency equalization, but I somehow have the impression that the music that comes out here is less pumped in the low frequency range than in the mono sister. This turns into an advantage for both the bandwidth and the sound naturalness Taking into account the deployment of a subwoofer, not exalting low frequencies too much seems a sensible choice to me. The big advantage of the Tivolis is that of making radio stations sound sweeter, recreating an almost tube-like sound so that it’s difficult to get fatigued.

Complaints

An aesthetic one: the silk-screen work on the front panel is difficult to read with artificial or direct light, since the charcoal finishing is a bit too glossy and the inscriptions are in a pale yellow that doesn’t come out enough.
A check with the pictures at the factory’s web site showed me that this effect was less evident there, so it might be a problem of the production lot my sample belongs to.

Conclusions

The very good impressions I had from Model One are confirmed with this new product of the U.S. brand, even if it’s a bit larger than its mono version and it takes up more room.
I warmly recommend the Two for your kitchen, for small rooms such as offices or study rooms, to setup a second hi-fi system or to outstandingly amplify your PC.
Price is a bit high as usual, with a "street price" of about ? 250, but quality, design and value across time have their cost.