Digital Home Thoughts: Sony's AM/FM/HD Radio: Music for the Holidays

"You want one of these and you might not realize it yet. Want to know why? Because it just might be the best ever made. I'm talking about Sony's XDR-F1HD AM/FM/HD Radio tuner. This is a radio tuner. That means you have to plug it into a hi-fi or home theater setup to listen. It receives local AM and FM stations as well as all the new HD channels. HD is the new digital method for U.S. broadcasters to deliver over-the-airwaves audio and data in addition to their analog signal. If radio stations choose to broadcast in HD, they can add one, two or more digital channels on the same frequency as their analog station."

Those of you who read my introductory post know that I am a big fan of Sirius XM. Satellite radio is the cure for the remote areas of Canada. From what I've read, HD radio sounds great and provides commercial-free music, so why bother paying for satellite radio, right? How do you make a profit running commercial-free music with no subscription base? That's a separate discussion, but you can't debate the price on this radio: $100 or less [Affiliate].