Cambridge SoundWorks Ambiance 2 Wifi Music System with Internet Radio and Pandora

Here is my final update. We received our second unit, after returning the first one because it was defective. Everything works on this one, but I do have some serious reservations. Here is what I find:Pros:-Pandora works great. I set up a Pandora station for my 90 year old mother and she absolutely loves it. She is tech challenged, so I told her to only use the on/off button and the volume control, which is all she does and it works flawlessly. She loves the music and keeps the radio on all day long.-The sound quality is fine. My Bose radio blows it away, but is also much more expensive. For the money the sound is fine.Cons:-The tuners, both FM and AM, are terrible. I put this radio in the exact same location as a 20 year old transistor radio (it cost me abut $20) and it just does not pull in any stations clearly in either AM or FM. I fiddled with the included antennas and got some stations to work, but it's clear you would need a much better antenna if you want to use the AM and/or FM tuner.-I found the Internet radio to be difficult to use. I fiddled with it a while, found some stations and not others. When I tuned to a station it worked for a while and then would lose the station. Not sure if this is a problem with the Wifi in the house (except Pandora works flawlessly) or with the Internet station or with the radio.Previous review:This is an updated review. The radio just did not work out of the box so I returned it to Amazon and got a full refund with no problems. Today I received a phone call from the President of Cambridge Soundworks apologizing to me. He assured me that these units are thoroughly tested for 24 hours at the factory prior to shipment. He speculated that the radio probably was damaged in transit. He asked me if he could send an evaluation unit to me to re-evaluate the unit. However in the interim my brother purchased this unit and it is enroute, so I declined. We are giving this as a gift to my mother for her 90th birthday. The actions of the president of Cambridge speak volumes about the company and how much they care about their customers. I would certainly favor buying their products going forward knowing that they stand behind them.I will update this again once I have a chance to test the new unit.Original review excerpt: I was very excited when I received the radio. I plugged it in and the words Cambridge Soundworks lit up on the screen. 15 minutes later it still said Cambridge Soundworks and blinked on and off periodically. I tried every button on the unit and the remote control, but nothing changed. I unplugged the unit and tried again. Same results. Fortunately I purchased from Amazon, so returning it for a full credit was a breeze. Very disappointed in the quality control from Cambridge. Clearly this unit was not fully tested prior to shipment from the factory.

I was a little nervous with ordering due to ratings. I am glad I did decide to order it. I did have to exchange the first one I got, due to sellers suggestion. I had a "fuzzy" sound like it wasn't on the station. Since it is internet radio, that shouldn't have been the cause.I have to say I had excellent customer service. Elena has excellent customer service skills. We exchanged e-mails and talked via phone. Their service department walked me through some steps to see if I could fix the issue. I don't remember his name, but said to ship it back.They paid for return shipping and within 7 days had my new radio. I have had it a couple months and have not had any problems what so ever. Once in a great while, it will "reboot" and appear to shut off. Be patient, within about a minute, it resets itself. I am guessing, since I am streaming from the internet, that is the reason. It is not at all annoying.As far as cleaning, no problems. A micro fiber cloth is your friend. Keep one handy and it is easy to wipe dust and finger prints. I find it classy looking with the finish. I already have all black kitchen appliances, so I use micro fiber clothes all the time.

We live in an area that can be considered a "Black Hole" for radio signals, especially FM signals.Our favorite "going to sleep" radio station had just moved their transmitter. The results, white noise!I began researching radios. I found in talking with neighbors with Bose Wave radios ( an early consideration), they too were having reception problems.I discovered that the Ambiance 2 could also receive Internet radio and Pandora. I wouldn't have to live in the whims of atmospheric conditions!I purchased the Ambiance 2 ( based on 20 years of Cambridge Soundworks speaker ownership). Hooked it up, it found my wireless network and we were off and running ( or so I thought). It would play very well then suddenly lose the wireless signal. By the way, I tried both FM and AM, the result, mostly white noise!I almost returned the Ambiance 2. Thought That I'd give it one more try, this time with an either net cable.It works GREAT!!So, if you're going to position the radio "far away" from your router and depend on your wireless signal ( mine had to go through several walls) you may be disappointed; however if you're willing to deal with the obstacles, you'll find that The Ambiance 2 can be a worthwhile purchase.