[was ist los?]

So lately, i've found the need for a radio to use on the bus ride home from school everyday. I just so happened to go to Fry's the yesterday and took a look at the portable radios. Remebering Xin's positive comments about the SRF-59, took a look at the price, and remembered the M37V did not fare too well with Matt, the 59 was a no brainer. I took it home and quickly hooked up my MX500s and found my favorite stations.
Build quality is subpar. It's mostly plastic, but Sony focused on the electronics, rather than spend money on the case. Good decision in keeping price down and performance good.
Sound. Well when i first hooked it up, i fell in love with it and thinking about it's price. it's warm and rich with solid bass. Soundstage is amazingly good. I also imagined not too good reception and a lot of background hiss. To my surprise, reception was amazing and hiss is only evident on low volumes and startups. However, i did not listen much in stock form. I modded it with Panasonic FC caps. I replaced the output caps and the power cap as Xin recommended. The bass was deeper and tighter. For the effort and price, i am very satisfied.
In all, the 59 is a solid analog radio with a great price to boot. When modded, it's even better! The only other experience of portable radios i have had is with my iMP-350 tuner which lets be honest is a POS (the tuner). it is staticy and there is almost no comparison.
Note these comments are only what I think, please don't flame me!

 

[fractus2]

Thanks for the review was ist los? (and the peak at BOA).

I'm looking for a good portable am/fm also. How much would a mod like that cost?

 

[was ist los?]

Well i already had all the caps, but they are really cheap, around $0.75 per cap at digikey, but Xin sells a fully modded SRF-59 for $35.

 

[fractus2]

Quote:

Originally posted by was ist los? Well i already had all the caps, but they are really cheap, around $0.75 per cap at digikey, but Xin sells a fully modded SRF-59 for $35.

Wow, it goes for $13.49 new on amazon.

 

[Matt]

...I've seen my radio, the SRF-S84, for like $30 around the 'net, but I ended up paying $59.99 modded for it. I think he must buy them wholesale, sell them for retail and then charge mod fees on top of that. I really don't care, because he does a great job and the quality, small-sized soldering is a great service to have.

Xin can do no wrong, in my book. Now I just need to find a pair of portable, non-rolled-off-at-the-top cans so I can enjoy this radio more. The midrange of what I have is awesome, so if I could find a can with great mids and extension top (mostly) and bottom (less important), I'd be very happy. I need Grado SR-60's but portable.

- Matt

 

[RockysDad]

I'm loving mine too! Mine is modded also but I'm using Koss ProtaPros. Heavy bass for all you bass lovers unlike the cheap "transistor" sound you normally would think would come out of a portable radio. The highs are only limited by the Protapros, which is pretty darn good in any case.

If you are thinking about wanting a portable radio, want it audiophile quality and dirt cheap? This is it! Best $15 I've spent...

 

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

If you were to have it modded by proffessionals, they would charge you 75-80 dollars an hour.. so don't complain.

Biggie.

 

[Sailcat]

was ist los? YGPM re SRF-59 mods!