It's funny how the simple things can make for great conversation and exploration. My previous quest for hot water resulted in a great many ideas from all across the spectrum and I greatly appreciate all of the responses.

Backstory-
My ancient, crappy clock-radio died this week. I'm looking for something to replace it.
It was not a bad clock, having a simple digital display that had a couple of brightness settings, about 1" numbers, a really crappy radio, 8-minute snooze, and no battery backup.
Some of those things are good, some not so good.
I was perusing (literal definition, not the common one) Amazon for replacements and I thought I should upgrade to better sound.
The problem with better sound is that the units rapidly leave good clock features behind.
In the past I've run playlists from Windows Task Manager to fill the house with music during the 'get up and get moving' period of the day, but this isn't quite the 'alarm clock' solution I'm trying for right now.

I thought I'd ask all you clever people how you tackle the art of gaining wakefulness. Please share!