portable radio recommendations

[Turnaround]

I am thinking of getting a radio to listen to with headphones. Is anything head and shoulders better than the others? Any other considerations with phone cord length and things like that?

Thanks in advance

 

[NAXOS]

xin modded sony sfr59 am/fm radio with Grado 60 headphones. Head and shoulders above them all! Anyone who says otherwise has hearring problems or less revealing headphones.

 

[Atracdsp]

xin srf-84

 

[Atracdsp]

I use mine with senn px100 ,a very nice (and cheap) combination.

 

[tlib]

Sangean DT-210 radio with Sennheiser PX-200 headphones, a nice combination.

 

[kiwirugby]

Another vote for Xin's modded Sony SF-84.

 

[D555]

I dislike Sony radios because, for the most part, the FM RF design is inferior. The Sony propriatary RF chips have inadequate mixers for FM resulting in images of stations all over the dial. The images are so strong and numerous that even stronger stations are interfered with. Sony attemps to address the problem with the DX/Local switch. In a *good* RF design, this switch shouldn't be necessary. It is my experience that the "Local" switch drops the signal strengths so low as to prevent stereo operation of local stations.

Recent Sony radios do sound good and generally have low hiss headphone outputs but, to me, unless the station can be received cleanly the good sound is for nothing.

For me, the best balance of RF quality and sound is the Sangean DT-210 (or DT-210V in the USA). The Sangean's high notes are not as crisp as the Sony's but the RF performance in AM and FM is adequate.

I'm on a quest for a pocket radio that uses balanced mixers in the FM RF stage and 2 IF filters in the FM IF stage. Haven't found one yet.

Paul

 

[NAXOS]

If you want rf performanse buy a sony or grundig portable sw radio, you get what you pay for. I own the yact boy 400 as well as the sony 2010, you get what you pay for.

 

[NAXOS]

read my lips sony srf59 modded by xin provided you have grado headphones. i listend to the sangean, they can`t hold a candle to the modded sony. They sound even better than any sony or panasonic portable cd players i have owned, not kidding! no, i did not own a vintage portable cd player. If you want to dx get a portable shortwave radio, well one of the better ones.

 

[maurus]

I'm glad with my digital radio Sony SRF-M606. 15 memories. Very good sound and very usefull switch Local/DX.

Very good with the news headphones Senn MX450.

-Maurus

 

[D555]

Portable shortwave receviers are, for the most part, too bulky and many still have mediocre FM peformance. It is possible to design good FM RF performance in a small radio. It doesn't take that much more board space to install a Toshiba TA7358 FM front end.

The 2010's FM performance is poor. It's very sensitive but the mixer is poor, produces images all over the dial and the output is not stereo.

The Sony ICF-SW7600G, for example has 2 FM IF filters, decent selectivity, but it still plagued by mediocre mixer performance.

The old Sony SRF-A1 stereo FM/stereo AM radio isn't too bad, actually. Decent RF and it's among the better of the Sony pocket radios (no speaker). Bit of hiss on the audio.

The Sangean ATS-909 has a decent FM front end and 2 IF filters and good RF perfromance but the audio is plauged by hiss at the audio, mediocre volume control tracking at low level, and radio is still a bit large.

The Grundig Satellit 700 has astounding FM performance and betters many home tuners, unfortunately the radio is *way* too large.

I'm hopeful of the new Degen DE-1105 AM/FM/SW pocket radio but it won't be released until February.

Paul

 

[Young&Foolish]

For a small short wave radio, the Sony ICF-SW100 is one of the best available. It has decent FM reception and a powerful headphone out but unfortunately lacks bass.

 

[D555]

I've considered the SW100 and SW07.

The circuitry of the SW-07 is very, very similar to the ICF-SW7600GR. Same FM front end, same number of IF fitlers -- almost the same circuitry except for additions for the display and the active antenna switching.

I suspect (but can't prove) the SW100 is very close as well. I do hear there is hiss on the headphone out for the SW100.

The Grundig Mini 300PE is an intriguing, cheap, radio. Fair FM, good AM and Shortwave, analog tuned but digital readout on all bands: AM, FM, SW. No memories but fun to cruise the frequencies. Haven't identified the single RF chip. It appears to have only 1 IF stage for FM. Plays loud. Some hiss on the headphone out and some distortion on FM at low volume. Otherwise, for less than $30USD, it packs a lot into the tiny case and is fun to use. This little Grundig would be a fun radio to mod.

Paul

 

[NAXOS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by D555 Portable shortwave receviers are, for the most part, too bulky and many still have mediocre FM peformance. It is possible to design good FM RF performance in a small radio. It doesn't take that much more board space to install a Toshiba TA7358 FM front end. The 2010's FM performance is poor. It's very sensitive but the mixer is poor, produces images all over the dial and the output is not stereo. The Sony ICF-SW7600G, for example has 2 FM IF filters, decent selectivity, but it still plagued by mediocre mixer performance. The old Sony SRF-A1 stereo FM/stereo AM radio isn't too bad, actually. Decent RF and it's among the better of the Sony pocket radios (no speaker). Bit of hiss on the audio. The Sangean ATS-909 has a decent FM front end and 2 IF filters and good RF perfromance but the audio is plauged by hiss at the audio, mediocre volume control tracking at low level, and radio is still a bit large. The Grundig Satellit 700 has astounding FM performance and betters many home tuners, unfortunately the radio is *way* too large. I'm hopeful of the new Degen DE-1105 AM/FM/SW pocket radio but it won't be released until February. Paul

i own a 2010 and the perforamce on fm is excellent and in Toronto we have lots of fm stations, to, i can dx to buffalo and beyond. Is there a better am reciever than the 2010, if so please let me know. the grundig 400 fm audio and dx abillities is excellant! do you have a defective 2010, do you own 1? what the future holds remains to be seen, but we have the xin modded sony srf59.

 

[pank2002]

You should consider this top of the notch beast. It will blow you mind!