The moment we heard about their move into DAB radio we were both intrigued and concerned that a brand with 60 years heritage in the world of kitchen appliances would switch horses into the sharp end of techy audio delivery, DAB.

We managed to secure a pre production model for our review and it happened to be in possibly the least attractive cream colour (also available in polished aluminium and black). Like so many DAB radios Dualit have gone with a retro style (yawn) but they have gone one step further with a bakelite style case which really looks like something from the 50's rather than a new gadget in 2006. The toaster design maybe iconic but this just looks weird sat in the office surrounded by other kit, but in the kitchen it doesn't look too bad amongst some cooking jars and other catering kit.

The unit is fairly simple in design with just the portal like speaker grill on the front and a single blue power LED, the majority of controls and the LCD screen are on top of the unit. There are only 5 presets for storing your favourite stations but this isn't too much of a problem as DAB is so simple to tune. Dualit use one of the two rotary controls to scroll through the stations available and then a press of the same knob to select. Set-up is simple with the one press auto tune feature and the display can be varied between time / date, DAB info and signal quality / strength by pressing the display button.

All of the controls have a solid feel about them as does the rather funky metal carry handle stamped with the makers name, this has to be lowered to raise the aerial which goes straight up only which was a bit of a surprise and a little awkward to find somewhere to fully extend it in the kitchen.

The unit also has an FM tuner handy if you are in an area with weak DAB reception and you can even cable another audio source like an MP3 player via the aux input. There is a rather nifty kitchen timer that will help ensure your eggs are just the way you like them and also a bedside alarm function with snooze should you decide to use it in the bedroom. Power is either via the supplied main adaptor brick or from internal MiMH batteries which lasted just under 4 hours in hour tests when in DAB mode, we suspect they'd last much longer in the less power hungry FM mode.

The key test for Dualit was always going to be audio quality, so our first power up was all important. We were frankly relieved to hear a clear and rich sound with a good helping of bass, using Radio 2 as a benchmark we were soon able to tell that this was not a cheap audio system in an expensive shell. On a whole range of tracks from some rather bassy numbers on 1xtra and XFM to a bit of classical the Dualit kitchen DAB radio performed remarkably well perhaps only lacking the full warmth of bass heard on the Pure Digital Evoke XT-1.

Sustained listening over a number of days proved that this DAB radio was more than a match for anything else in its class and able to produce enough volume for the nosiest of kitchens. Our only doubts were about the RF performance as we managed to lose signal a few times resulting in spluttering audio and digital break up, this was countered by adjusting the angle of the whole unit as you can't angle the aerial.

Our only negative comment is that the top mounted LCD screen isn't great if you sit the radio on a window ledge or shelf as you end up tipping the whole unit forward to read the display. Clearly a display in the front of the unit would have spoiled the design, so this is a case of form over function.

On sale in May priced at £195 the Dualit DAB radio certainly isn't cheap, the design oozes quality and the audio experience is up there with the best. However other radios at this upper end of the price range offer MP3 playback, recording, multiple alarms and even digital outputs, so you really need to value the design of the Dualit to justify the price.

For us the unique style combined with quality audio output and excellent build standards make the Dualit DAB kitchen radio a solid contender for those looking for something a little different, especially if you opt for the polished aluminium finish.

Published - 09/04/2006

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