Yeah, ignore Lawrence Magne's recommendations for both the S350, AND Eton E5. After all he's only reviewed shortwave radio equipment his whole life, and only writes the definitive annual roundup of shortwave equipment. 700WLW knows best. He always knows best. He is, after all, expert in all things.
The S350 has limitations. (Though most, like frequency drift, and lack of stereo to the headphone jack were addressed in the upgraded S350DL, which though much improved, is the same price). It's an inexpensive radio. It's also a single conversion design. Not perfect by any means. But it is a hot rod when it comes to sensitivity (at the cost of "ghost" images on occasion), and the sound quality is simply the best of any inexpensive shortwave portable. For program listening (as opposed to DXing) on shortwave and mediumwave AM, the S350DL is an amazing value.
The Eton E5 is made in the same Chinese factory as many of the BEST new shortwave portables. What 700WLW apparently doesn't know is that Sony, which certainly did make great shortwave radios once upon a time, has been (appreently) racing to eliminate all innovation from their range! Most of their more innovative radios are gone. The ICF-7600GR IS a great radio for shortwave and mediumwave dxing, but it's FM is leagues behind (in terms of sound quality, sensitivity, and selectivity) the Eton E5, and it's "kissing cousin" the Kaito KA1103. Synchronous detection IS lacking on all inexpensive portables (to my knowledge) these days other than the ICF-7600GR (or if you can still find it the ICF-SW77). It CAN be a useful feature under two specific sets of circumstances.
One: there is a strong, interfering signal on a first adjacent channel. Say the station you want to listen to is at 1240, but there's a station not too far away on 1230 which is interfering (which is exactly my situation here in Wilkes County, NC...with 1240 here in the county, and 1230 a few miles away in Newton NC). Turn on the sync detector on the Sony, then select upper sideband. Voila! The radio tunes to the upper sideband, ignoring the lower sideband closest to the interfering (1230) station. Unfortunately, these radios are often (perhaps usually) misaligned at the factory, so that the upper and lower sidebands, which should be identical to one another (though 180 degrees out of phase) sound quite different. On MOST SW7600GRs either the lower, or upper sideband is obviously "brighter" than the other. If the filter was exactly symmetrical, they would sound the same. Perhaps you can easily overlook this. I can't. It's annoying as hell to my ears!)
Two: Synchronous detection locks onto the carrier frequency of the incoming AM (or shortwave) signal, phase locks with it, then replaces it with an internally generated carrier. What is the purpose? There is a particular type of distortion that occurs when the carrier fades, but one or more sidebands doesn't. This distortion can be easily heard on distant stations at night during deep fades. Synchronous detection can greatly reduce this particular type of distortion.
Those are the two things sync detectors do. For most AM listening, in most circumstances (the filters are already rather narrow in most AM portables, so selectable sideband is of limited utility in the vast majority of cases), they make no particular difference. Rather than concentrate on features (useful though they may be, and coveted by "radio geeks") of limited utility (most of the time they make no difference), Eton/Kaito/Grundig decided instead to concentrate on what has always been Grundig's strong suit...SOUND QUALITY. Plug a GOOD pair of headphones into both the Eton E5 and the Sony ICF-SW7600GR, tune to a clean FM stereo station, and you'll quickly see the difference in performance. Bass response falls LIKE A ROCK below 100hz on the Sony, but is rock solid on the Eton/Grundig.
Sound quality on local AM stations (through headphones) is also far superior on the Eton/Grundig. THERE IS BASS RESPONSE on the E5. Local music stations in my area (WKSK 580 West Jefferson, NC...WKBC 800 North Wilkesboro, NC) sound fantastic on the Eton. WKSK, with their new transmitter, tower, and newly tweaked audio is very "fm-like", even given the limited high frequency bandwidth of this, and almost all shortwave portables.
The Eton E5 is quite demonstrably superior in terms of weak signal sensitivity to the Sony. As I write this, the time station on 15000khz is barely audible on my 7600GR, but really "pops" on my E5. Ditto several other weak signals I tried while writing this. So while the Sony has superior ability to deal with deep fades (due to the sync detector), it actually has less sensitivity to weak signals. Advantage: E5.
Don't trust my word? Do a Google search for reviews of the Eton E5 (Grundig G5). Read owner reviews at RadioIntel.com and other sites. A direct link to the RadioIntel review is here
http://www.radiointel.com/review-etone5.htm
Here's a summary of their findings about sensitivity. Note they pretty much mirror my own, although my test this morning was apparently a bit more dramatic than theirs "Comparing it with my trusty Sony 7600GR, the E5 proved slightly more sensitive on AM & SW and noticeably more sensitive and selective on FM."
Again, this isn't to say that the SW7600GR is a bad radio. Just that considering it the be-all, and end-all of portable shortwave radios, and the E5 as "cheap junk" is, well, about as well considered as 700WLW's other assertions in these threads.
There was a time when "Chinese" meant "cheap". But that time passed years ago! If 700WLW kept up with radio technology, he'd know that the plant which manufactures the Eton/Grundig radios is now considered to produce among the best radios available. Such as the Eton E10, which is considered by many experts to be the best shortwave portable ever made at any price, beating many much more expensive tabletop communications receivers. It has XM, too. AND a synchronous detector which performs better than the Sony's. It costs 500 bucks, and while not inexpensive, is an incredible bargain.
If you're interested in the truth of what constitutes a quality shortwave portable, pick up a copy of Passport to Worldband Radio, subscribe to Monitoring Times, Popular Communications, or join one of the excellent newsgroups on the subject. You'll find popular opinion from experienced swls (shortwave listeners) and hams quite different from 700WLW's!
I shouldn't even point out that Sangean is considered to make the absolute BEST pocket am/fm stereo headphone radios in the world. In fact, their DT-200V is widely considered THE best pocket radio for AM reception. If you're a talk radio fan, this is what should be in your pocket. I quote from the review at RadioIntel.com "What's To Like?
The DT-200V provides excellent reception of FM stations and is surprisingly effective on AM. It is obvious that Sangean did not consider AM reception to be a mere afterthought as it seems to be on most small radios. Nulling of AM stations is extremely easy and the small size of the radio allows you to manipulate it for maximum reception or maximum null, depending on what you are trying to accomplish. The size and placement of the controls makes this an extremely easy radio to operate in the dark. I have found the DT-200V to be pretty hardy. It can take a lickin' and keep on .... well, you know. Battery life is good. I am pretty bad about turning on a radio, wandering off and then finding it still on hours later. For this reason, I really like the 60-minute auto shut off. This is a good radio to fall asleep to and the auto-shut off is important for that."
Don't take my word. Instead investigate for yourself. You'll find that the world of radio is usually exactly the opposite of what 700WLW would have us believe. But since his (world) is apparently flat, maybe he'll soon fall off it's edge! We can hope.
