The APS-13 is by far the best investment you could make. I've got mine mounted at 25-ft, and I'm always blown away at how far I can receive stations. I hope to move it up to a 60-ft tower I plan on having installed sometime in the future.
The most noticeable quality of the APS-13 is its directional properties. Quite simply, it's razor sharp on the open frequencies. I can get 5-6 stations on most open frequencies just by pointing the antenna in different directions.
Here's what I average, when there's no significant tropo that could greatly affect ranges or introduce undesirable interference...
3-10kW:
Crystal clear reception up to 40 miles
Fair to good signal, no fading up to 50 miles
Marginal signal, some fading, 50-60 miles.
The best range is from WDDQ 92.1 Adel GA, 6kW @ 133 miles--weak signal, but very steady.
25-50kW:
Crystal clear reception up to 50-60 miles
Fair to good signal, no fading up to 70 miles
Marginal signal, some fading, 80-90 miles
Best range would definitely be WTSU 89.9 Montgomery AL, 46kW @ 69 miles--crystal clear reception when the antenna is pointed toward them.
100kW:
Truly, there's no set rules to these stations. There's some 100kW'ers that are only good up to 60 miles, while others can be clearly heard with a good, strong signal at 150 miles! It all depends on the height of the broadcasters' antenna, the signal's path to you, and distance between stations on the same freqency.
My best, most reliable 100kW dx would have to be WRUF 103.7 Gainesville FL, @ 250 miles. It's always there, in stereo albeit noisy. In the mornings, it sounds like it's only 60 miles away.
I use an Onkyo T9090II for extreme DXing, and a Sony ST-SA50ES for casual listening.
