[jrosenth]

http://www.ccrane.com/radios/pocket-...-srf-m37v.aspx

 

[SiBurning]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mckickflip Are those the ones with the radio built into the circumaural headphones? I was probably going to suggest those

I was thinking more along the lines of the SRF 85. http://www.shopping.com/xPF-Sony_SRF_85

sgrossklass explains it well. As long as the radio is merely an afterthought, the quality is going to suffer.

 

[D555]

For portable FM reception, regardless of size, the Grundig Satellit 700 could very well be the best ever. It is not inexpensive

 

[sgrossklass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by D555 For portable FM reception, regardless of size, the Grundig Satellit 700 could very well be the best ever. It is not inexpensive

Well, ye olde RF-2200 modded with some narrower FM filters (e.g. 180 kHz, empirically matched please), of which it uses 3, won't be a slouch either.

On a more serious note, one may want to look at Aiwa's historic lineups which I have yet to untangle. (Their web site historically spared no effort to keep relevant information from being archived.) Their FM/AM radios in particular appear to enjoy a fairly good reputation, and the top models in more recent times appear to have been the CR-D(S)80x. They appear to have had rather good analogs, too, like the CR-AS75. Does anyone happen to have archived the downloadable manuals when they were still available? There are some on the Aiwa US site that's still online but there used to be more.

 

[pmartel]

I have one of the older Sony Sports Radio only walkmans. It is wondeful & won't get rid of it. The FM sound is amazing for what it is & get a real sense of 'fidelity' It's performance for noise levels is pretty good & behaves well in buses, FM being what it is. It's AM sensitivity is remarkable & very directional. Here in Toronto CHUM AM is at if I turn it around in the opposite direction, I can pull in a CBC Radio 1 station from Newfoundland if conditions are right. I doubt there's been better product produced from Sony since. I'd be interested to see if anyone has had experience with a DAB portable radio

 

[audiomagnate]

Getting back to your original post, I would recommend either:


The Sony SRF-M37 if you have strong stations:
1. It's small and light enough that you can run with it,
2. It sounds very good with UM2s (except for a loud super low thump when you change stations!).
3. It's digital
4. It has a hold button.
5. It has a DX switch if your stations are 2 strong.
6. It's cheap and you can find them everywhere, so buy one at a brick and mortar that allows returns and give it a shot.
7. They're tough. I've been running/hiking/canoeing/camping with one for over a year and except for some printing wearing off on the front it works like day one.
8. It's got weather, am and TV (till 2009) if you get bored with FM.
9. It uses one AAA

If you want something smaller, try a used MPIO FL-100 (another of Dr Xin's FM favorites) for about $20:

1. Great reception, (at the cost of some sound quality) and you can put it into mono for weak stations.
2. It's digital, and scanning up and down is super easy, and can be done blind.
3.It's got an MP3 player if you get bored w/FM.
4. Plenty of juice to drive UM2's w/o an amp.
5.It uses one AAA

 

[zowie]

read here:

http://www.fixup.net/tips/pktradio/pktradio.htm

 

[audiomagnate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zowie read here: http://www.fixup.net/tips/pktradio/pktradio.htm

I agree that the 37's reception is not great, but if you have strong signals it's not a bad choice for a portable. My favorite FM portable is the Sony D-T24 Discman, but you can't run with it. I'll pick up a 35 and get back.

 

[zowie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audiomagnate 5. It has a DX switch if your stations are 2 strong.

A DX switch is for weak/distant stations. It narrows the filters, at the expense of sound quality, to cut out interference. When your station is local/strong, you switch to LOC to get wider audio frequency response.

 

[sgrossklass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zowie A DX switch is for weak/distant stations. It narrows the filters, at the expense of sound quality, to cut out interference. When your station is local/strong, you switch to LOC to get wider audio frequency response.

In this case, switching to Local most probably disconnects the "antenna" (not the most elegant, but the most simple way of getting rid of overload) - I've seen service docs for a few portables like that. I have neither seen a portable radio with a wide/narrow bandwidth selection nor would I consider that necessary (distortion is typically limited by the lack of an MPX filter and other components rather than group delay unevenness, and it's not like you could expect more than two decently matched 180 kHz filters anyway).

 

[zowie]

Then it's possibly mislabled. Should be something like "att" for attenuator. Then again, the loc/dx switch on an old car radio I had operated to change the sensitivity of the seek/scan function. I don't know about the tiny walkman-type radios, but I know there are small radios from Grundig, Sangean and others that have reall loc/dx function.

 

[audiomagnate]

I just got back from three days in a very remote location that only gets two FM stations. The lack of sensitivity combined with the lack of a stereo/mono switch on the Sony SRF-M37 really pissed me off. It switches into mono only after the signal is way too noisy too listen in stereo or mono. The FM section of my vintage Discman, D-T24 worked fine, so I'll be looking into vintage FM Walkmans for when I don't need a CD player.

 

[D555]

Although the audio output is a bit hissy one of the better portable radios I've used is the Sony FD-30A with a 2" B&W TV and AM/FM stereo. It's analog tuned and appears to use some sort of AFC but reception is nice and the sound is strong on headphones. Not a bad radio at all, in my view.

 

[audiomagnate]

I've got a Sony SRF-M78 - the yellow sports radio that comes with an armband, and a vintage (1985 or so) SRF-33W on the way. I will post listening/reception results when I get them. The 33 looks really cool, and I only paid $17.50 pllus shipping.

 

[pds6]

I HAVE NEVER SEEN NEVER MIND LISTENED TO ONE, but it is my understand the Sony SRF-S84 (they are available, but Sony may not be directly importing them into the U.S.) is the portable radio by which all others are judged.

You will have to check, but I believe Dr. Xin is still modifying (for a fee of course) the SRF-S84.