Grace DigitalMondo Elite Alto Smart Internet Radio with Accessory Speaker, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 7-Day Alarm – Microphone Free (Walnut)

I have a couple Grace Digital portables. This unit is more of a fixed system. Has great sound and is pretty much the same user interface as previous Grace Digital systems.Note that the connection between the main system and the remote speaker is connected via an included stereo wire.

Overall, this unit sounds pretty good. It's hard to beat heavy wood enclosures for the speakers. As others have stated, it is weak on the high frequency end - something a pair of inexpensive tweeters would easily solve. Setup was easy as I connected the wifi and the bluetooth pretty quickly. I like the screen and the overall interface. I own an Astelle&Kern music player and it sounded really good through this system via bluetooth. I was excited to get a unit with separate speakers for some nice stereo separation as well. Then I tried to tune the local public radio station that I have listened to in the evening - I have listened to a radio program called Echoes for years - and that's when it failed miserably. The tuner in this unit could not tune in either of the local public radio stations - it just sat there with the tiny dots moving indicating tuning, but never connected. I have a powered external FM antenna, but there is no connection for an external antenna. Grace Digital people, if you can't put an adequate antenna inside the unit, you would do well to put an external antenna connection on your units. I would assume that that one thing alone would substantially cut the number of returns you have through Amazon. With extreme sadness I packaged it up and returned it for a refund. I have a Le Mega M5P which sounds fantastic (but both speakers and little "sub" are in a single unit) and is built like a tank, has a large external telescoping antenna and tunes in every station well, I just don't like the interface and screen setup. But it is now my bedroom music system because I just can't find anything better. I would much rather have kept the Mondo Alto but can't do without my Echoes in the evenings.

I like this Mondo Alto speaker set from Grace Digital. I've owned an original Grace Mondo since 2015 that lives in a spot on my bookshelf to listen to some radio stations from my hometown. The Mondo Alto is an upgrade from that for sure, even the Alto it has a bit of a retro appearance and some of the hardware is a bit dated for 2023.I think the Mondo Alto looks quite nice as a bookshelf speaker unit in a study or office area. The 5 foot long cable on the 18 volt/2 amp power adapter is adequate, but it looks like a 5.5mm x 2.1mm DC extension cable could be used if you need more length. I've done a lot of testing in single-speaker mode but hooking up the 2nd speaker (just via traditional speaker wire that's included) helps build up more resonance. The music playback can get fairly loud, but I think the treble is on the thin side compared to my entertainment center's 2 way bookshelf speakers. That's perfectly fine in an office environment when you don't really crank up music but it's not going to replace my home theater setup.The interface feels very familiar, as someone that's experienced with older Grace Digital radios, but there's also more options to customize colors and tweak the menu styles a bit too. Things have been improved with your ability to add radio stations via link and Grace Digital taking control of the station database. The screen brightness and Bluetooth connectivity version are kind of dated nowadays, but they still work in my experience.When I originally started my evaluation, the GD Connect app was out of date and could not be setup on my pixel phone due to it using a newer version of android. In late November the app was updated and it now works with my pixel. I still think the rotary knobs and buttons on the control panel are the best controls to use but do like to take the remote with me when I'm sitting more than an arm's length away.With the recent markdown of this two speaker system to below $200, I think it's a pretty good value for an internet radio you can put in your bedroom or study. It sounds better than a portable BT speaker I own, but not as good as my larger entertainment center with two and three-way speakers. I like the retro/mid-century modern look to it too.

Has good stereo separation. Sound likes a table top radio. Not overly base bass sounding. Overall this a nice internet radio. With the Bluetooth and memory card,this radio also has a space bar. Other internet radios don't have a space bar which is needed for some internet radios.

I bought this for my elderly mother. We have terrible FM reception in our living room.The radio was very easy for me to setup - search for wifi, enter password with the big rotary knob. Local radio stations available under Internet Radio and Music Services/iHeartRadio.The radio is easy for my mother to use. She only listens to one station, and since the radio autoplays the last tuned station/source, she just has to press the power-on button to have music. Press that same button again to turn off. Volume changed with the small rotary knob (turning the other knob doesn't do anything when the screen shows the currently playing station).Sound through the powered (right) speaker was fine for what it is, no complaints. However, when I hooked up the passive (left) speaker with the included speaker wire, there was static/crackling coming out the left speaker. That was unacceptable.I returned the unit, and got the Grace Digital Mondo Elite Duo, which has worked fine, and is equally easy to setup/use.I liked the vertical layout of the Grace Digital Mondo Alto and Stereo Speaker Bundle better -- it takes up less counter space and I could aim each speaker separately. I also thought it sounded slightly better than the all-in-one Elite Duo.