Sounds like you don't have need of a new sound-system for everyday use. You have lived this long with only the car-radio. I would suggest that you focus on a radio for emergency rather than everyday use. Some features that would be very useful, in no particular order:<br><br>good large antenna or attachment point for a wire antenna. In a large scale emergency such as a hurricane, the local radio stations may be off the air so you want enough antenna to pull in distant ones.<br><br><br>weather channels - the more the merrier I believe that there are 5 nationally. In a large scale emergency the local radio may be swamped with useless sensationalism but the weather channels are likely to be FEMA controlled.<br><br>VHF, UHF and Shortwave reception. In the US, FEMA uses the Amateur Radio Emergency Services on VHF and UHF to coordinate emergency responses and a radio that can monitor these frequencies will provide a wealth of information on what they are doing where. I believe that other nations also implement the same sort of civilian based radio communications utilizing these frequencies. Also in an emergency that knocks out local radio you can get significant information from distant lands on local conditions over shortwave.<br><br>Low power consumption. If you are in an emergency that knocks out power you radio is usefull only for as long as you can power it.<br><br>Solar or other means of recharging / powering it. See previous point. The BayGen radios will run without batteries on their internal dynamo and there are others with the same features.<br><br>Decent mono sound quality. Stereo requires too much power and takes up too much room. ( amp, speakers, extra wires). You may be in a very loud situation or a situation that requires you to be quiet. in either situation an earplug with a clean audio feed will provide information but not entertainment and uses very little power.<br><br>Small form-factor. You may want to mobilize to evacuate or find a more suitable haven. In case of earthquake or hurricane or tornado that destabilizes your apartment building the radio that fits in your Bug-Out-Bag will be the one you will have. <br><br>In case of an emergency you might do best to go to the roof of your apartment building for better reception and listen for a few min/ hours for whatever info you can get and then return to the safety of the apartment. <br><br>There are radios that can satisfy all of the above requirements but if you also throw in the requirement that you enjoy listening to it as your home audio equipment then it becomes impossible. If you want entertainment focused everyday use audio then the list of desirable features is dramatically different.