Hi kevin I have the Grundig DAB Radio, which is very similar to the Pure and the Roberts and my husband has the Perstel. I don't know about your MP3 player, but we have played them both through active speakers and they work perfectly. Indeed, the Grundig uses the headphone as an aerial and it supposed to switch off if there is no signal. I accidentally left it on a few days ago with nothing plugged into the headphone socket and it was still working after 3 hours. I am not sure where it was getting the signal from. The presets on the Grundig are accessed by scrolling through a menu, but as long as you remember where you have put the stations, it is easy to use. The Perstel does not have presets. It differs from the Grundig in that it starts playing the next station as soon as you scroll to it. Ian Macrae's review is very informative and well worth reading. Let us know what you get. Pele West -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.296 / Virus Database: 265.5.2 - Release Date: 13/12/04 ** To leave the list, send a message to:- ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** and in the Subject line type ** unsubscribe ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, send a message, to ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq