The WR-1 sells for around $170 cdn at other Canadian stores, $100 cdn
at Radio Shack makes it a steal.
I emailed Radio Shack and received a reply from Centrios and they said
it is the same as the Sangean WR-1 with the name change being the only
difference. They also said it will only be available in the Pine
veneer version.
I picked up the Centrios Wooden Box Radio for in my garage and I am
very pleased with it's AM and FM performance. AM reception is not
that great at my location and the Centrios picks up more stations then
any of my portables.
Mine has very little tuning knob slop and the audio is outstanding.

Stephen Spark

On 8 Oct 2004 14:13:13 -0700, (Bob) wrote:

Hi Group:

I acquired one of these little gems this summer under the
Canadian Radio Shack's in house brand name of "Centrios". It is
similar in all respects to the Sangean WR-1 and has the complete set
of rear jacks for input, recording out, headphones and external
antennas.

This is AM/FM only and is built to compete with the Tivoli radio.
In Canada it sells for $100.00 Canadian and is worth it. Pricing in
the USA is somewhat higher.

The radio is housed in medium density fiber board covered in a
veneer of what appears to be real pine. Tuning is analog and as the
dial is quite short the pointer gives you a rough idea where you are.
Those needing to know what freq they are tuned to are advised to look
elsewhere. Those who know their local AM/FM bands will have no
difficulty tuning into their favorite stations. The dial is very
nicely backlit and an LED indicates the band selected.

AM sensitivity is just fine. It is not a DXers dream and does not
come up to the standards set by the GE SR III or the Grundig S-350.
However this radio does perform very well. From my location on
Vancouver Island I have heard Los Angeles on 640, Regina 540,
Winnipeg 990 and others even before the winter DX season gets
underway. Selectivity is quite good and I have been able to
separate stations that other radios cannot.

It is the audio that sets this radio apart. I have heard the
Bose Wave radio and it is stereo and costs about 4 to 5 times as much.
This radio has a 3" speaker and it is amazing how low this speaker
will go . I listen to quiet jazz a lot and this radio will follow an
acoustic bass nearly to the bottom of its range.

Quibbles? There is about a half inch slop in the tuning knob.
I can live with it because I grew up with much worse. The knobs are
smooth plastic and if I change stations while getting supper ready my
fingers tend to slip rather than grip.

If you subscribe to the theory that you can't have too many
radios and enjoy really mellow audio then you should check this out.
It looks like the new Eton masterpiece will not be here in time for
Xmas so maybe a new kitchen radio is in the works. I have not had the
opportunity to hear any of the other tiny audio giants so I can't say
if they are any better.

Regards, Bob