At last, Crutchfield has offered a retro-fit kit so that my Honda Fit can accept an aftermarket radio. While HD would be a nice plus (even though I despise the stuff), the main things I want are great sensitivity, great selectivity and a good AM section that doesn't sound like there's a pillow over the speaker. Suggestions?
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DX Car Radio
- Thread starter BobOnTheJob
- Start date
You're faced with a dilemma. If you get a receiver with better audio response, you're most likely going to have problems with stations that are 20 kHz away from any HD station -- possibly even 30 kHz away.
You could go with a radio that's choked down to 3.5 kHz audio, and it won't have issues with HD Radio stations except for 10 kHz adjacents (my Blaupunkt Alaska-II is like this). It's a great DX radio, but every station sounds like a telephone call.
You could go with a radio that's choked down to 3.5 kHz audio, and it won't have issues with HD Radio stations except for 10 kHz adjacents (my Blaupunkt Alaska-II is like this). It's a great DX radio, but every station sounds like a telephone call.
My wife's 1999 Toyota Solara has a great sounding AM radio. On WHAS & WIBC, there is some hiss at perhaps -20db, but the road noise covers it for the most part and the good high end outweights the hiss issue. On stations without IBOC, it sounds sweet. This Honda factory radio has the worst AM high end response that I've ever witnessed. Maybe there's a car radio with a wide/narrow AM switch...that would be the best of both worlds. In any case, hopefully someone has knowledge of a good, currently available, DX machine that let's some of that 5-6khz AM audio through. I listen to enough AM and engineer enough AM's that this is a must have feature...Philip J. Smith said:
The Pioneer supertuners (aftermarket Car stereos) have an excellent AM section. Wide band & with incredible sensitivity. It suprised me 
The FM is also very sensitive at 0.7microvolt 8)
dxer2_2000
The FM is also very sensitive at 0.7microvolt 8)
dxer2_2000
dxer2_2000 said:The Pioneer supertuners (aftermarket Car stereos) have an excellent AM section. Wide band & with incredible sensitivity. It suprised me
The FM is also very sensitive at 0.7microvolt 8)
They must have improved them. I had one a few years back that was the deafest AM radio I ever had. Frequency response was pretty awful too. FM section was OK, but most that can be said about most aftermarket radios.
Even a great AM car radio will be deaf on AM if the antenna trimmer has not been peaked properly with the radio installed,
and if a radio doesn't have an AM trimmer, it can't ever be expected to be "hot".
FM RF input is much less fussy, regarding sensitivity, since the antenna is approximately the right length already.
and if a radio doesn't have an AM trimmer, it can't ever be expected to be "hot".
FM RF input is much less fussy, regarding sensitivity, since the antenna is approximately the right length already.
Local/DX buttons went away sometime in the late 1980's. Their functioned by de-sensitizing the input.
Most conditions would call for the DX setting, but in areas with high RF levels, the local setting would reduce overloading and intermodulation. At the time, there was no good way to make this happen automatically via AGC.
Since then, with the proliferation of PLL radios, or more advanced circuits, there is no need for the button.
My car radios without this feature are nearly unusable on FM when I am the downtown Chicago area within a mile or so of the
FM and TV transmitters. Pushing the button on my Blaupunkt Richmond (1982) clears up all the intermod, making the band sound normal.
Most conditions would call for the DX setting, but in areas with high RF levels, the local setting would reduce overloading and intermodulation. At the time, there was no good way to make this happen automatically via AGC.
Since then, with the proliferation of PLL radios, or more advanced circuits, there is no need for the button.
My car radios without this feature are nearly unusable on FM when I am the downtown Chicago area within a mile or so of the
FM and TV transmitters. Pushing the button on my Blaupunkt Richmond (1982) clears up all the intermod, making the band sound normal.
BobOnTheJob said:
I went thru this ritual a year ago when the factory radio/CD in my GMC Jimmy died. Since it’s a second vehicle, I didn’t want most of the bells ‘n whistles that excite mobile-audio buyers – just a GOOD under-$200 radio with CD playback. Since I listen more to AM these days, I tried to find a model that performed well. My search was less-than-gratifying... Image the look of a “sales-type” in the car-audio department when you ask about AM
: Frankly, radio [in general] is far from the minds of the CE folks these days - which may-well indicate an absence in the minds of the consumer also. They seem to be more interested in iPod connectivity, multi-format CD playback, animated displays, and sat-radio. I finally "settled" on Pioneer’s $175 model P4800MP. It offered all the aforementioned features [minus the “cartoon display”]. The FM performance is very good... AM sensitivity was better than the current Alpine, JVC, and Sony models I have heard in other vehicles. AM sound quality is "OK" – but I doubt there is a wealth of audio much-beyond about 4.5-5k that manages to make its way through. Still, a well-engineered AM playing popular music can be enjoyed with "reasonable expectations" and talk stations sound good.
The current replacement is the D4900. Both use the “SuperTuner III-D” [featured across the entire Pioneer product line], so I imagine the performance is identical on all models.
R
rbrucecarter5
Guest
hipporadio said:
The next model up is the 5900, which I just installed a couple of months ago. I forget what it has that the 4900 doesn't. But I can tell you - the Supertuner III has undergone a number of revisions since it was introduced. The latest Supertuner 3's are fantastic. They use an adaptive IF design that rejects first adjacents so effectively the seek function locks on them, and there is NO crosstalk audible that I can hear. It widens out on strong locals so the response is flat.
Frankly - I have been a little disappointed by the AM on the 5900, but it is more than likely my antenna. Good AM DX in a car is more a function of the antenna than the radio. Some ham operators recommend a loading coil installed at the car fender, then a much longer whip. They claim they can get the mismatch (which is a 100:1) down to 10:1 or better using the loading coil to increase the effective length of the antenna. And it does not degrade FM, either.
I have not seen a peaking capacitor on any model of car radio in years.
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