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Higher quality am receiver?
- Thread starter holton
- Start date
I use a Optimus (Radio Shack) Superadio knockoff, catalog 12-603A. It doesn't appear that Radio Shack still sells it. Apparently, it's replacement gets horrible reviews (see http://tinyurl.com/2k92s2 )
Are you looking for sound quality, or reception/ability to DX?
As far as portable radios go for reception, the GE Superadio is probably the gold standard, and the sound quality is probably the best you'll hear this side of a stereo boom box.
I have heard of people hooking a car radio up to a 12V supply and a better antenna, and using that for DXing and the like, since most car radios have more sensitive and more selective tuners than stationary or portable units. Fidelity runs the gamut, though, and is of course dependent on the speakers you use.
You could scour some junkyards and find an old (late 1980s) Delco radio with C-QUAM AM stereo--not that many stations still transmit in AM stereo--if that appeals to you.
I also use an old (1960s) Motorola clock radio--great tube sound on both AM and FM. The AFC's a little flaky, though, and while sensitivity is good (works great getting FM in office buildings, and did a great job picking up WFOX and WWID back in the early 80s before they moved in), selectivity leaves a lot to be desired because of the fritzy AFC.
Most home stereo receivers, though, are terrible when it comes to AM--either poor reception or sound quality. I wonder if the newer ones that support HD Radio are any better.
Lastly, there's an assortment of high-quality table radios out there from Bose and others, but I don't know how good their reception is, particularly on AM.
Problem is, AM seems to be an afterthought on most radios.
Are you looking for sound quality, or reception/ability to DX?
As far as portable radios go for reception, the GE Superadio is probably the gold standard, and the sound quality is probably the best you'll hear this side of a stereo boom box.
I have heard of people hooking a car radio up to a 12V supply and a better antenna, and using that for DXing and the like, since most car radios have more sensitive and more selective tuners than stationary or portable units. Fidelity runs the gamut, though, and is of course dependent on the speakers you use.
You could scour some junkyards and find an old (late 1980s) Delco radio with C-QUAM AM stereo--not that many stations still transmit in AM stereo--if that appeals to you.
I also use an old (1960s) Motorola clock radio--great tube sound on both AM and FM. The AFC's a little flaky, though, and while sensitivity is good (works great getting FM in office buildings, and did a great job picking up WFOX and WWID back in the early 80s before they moved in), selectivity leaves a lot to be desired because of the fritzy AFC.
Most home stereo receivers, though, are terrible when it comes to AM--either poor reception or sound quality. I wonder if the newer ones that support HD Radio are any better.
Lastly, there's an assortment of high-quality table radios out there from Bose and others, but I don't know how good their reception is, particularly on AM.
Problem is, AM seems to be an afterthought on most radios.
For the money, you can't beat an old car radio hooked to big speakers.
You may need to run a long coax to get the whip antenna outside...which isn't really necessary, but would help AM.
If you're really into it, you can wind up a loop antenna/ loose coupler which would give you razor sharp directionality.
Only problem on the old AMs is getting the whole 530-1710 on them. It's possible to tweak up and get some of the upper AM
band on them, but fr'instance, my 1972 Motorola will only go up to 1650 with tweaking, and then I lose 530 and 540.
The Bose wave radios are the worst AM radios ever, given the hype. They are audio upper-end brickwalled,
and cut AM off at somewhere between 2 and 3 khz. Sounds worse than an old telephone landline.
If you really want a good AM radio, think 1934-through-1974.
LOOK inside, or find a schematic, or ASK someone to help you find out if the tuning capacitor has 3 sections.
If it does, the AM design is good.
Almost any such radio can be made into a outstanding performer.
Avoid any radio with square-wave detection, unless you like an artificially high background noise level.
This means almost any radio with a digital display. I know I'll get others disagreeing here, but I
emphasize this point as being true. Once you demodulate sine waves by mixing in square waves, you add noise products.
Much easier for the manufacturer, but the kind of shortcut I abhor. I have one such radio, which I use daily or more often as
test and reference equipment, but I cannot "listen" to it.
I'll bet those Tivolis are good, but I haven't heard one.
Most people's AM reception needs help in cleaning up locally produced noise almost as much as they'd need a better AM radio.
In other words, more than half the improvement possible for AM would be items OUTSIDE of the radio.
You may need to run a long coax to get the whip antenna outside...which isn't really necessary, but would help AM.
If you're really into it, you can wind up a loop antenna/ loose coupler which would give you razor sharp directionality.
Only problem on the old AMs is getting the whole 530-1710 on them. It's possible to tweak up and get some of the upper AM
band on them, but fr'instance, my 1972 Motorola will only go up to 1650 with tweaking, and then I lose 530 and 540.
The Bose wave radios are the worst AM radios ever, given the hype. They are audio upper-end brickwalled,
and cut AM off at somewhere between 2 and 3 khz. Sounds worse than an old telephone landline.
If you really want a good AM radio, think 1934-through-1974.
LOOK inside, or find a schematic, or ASK someone to help you find out if the tuning capacitor has 3 sections.
If it does, the AM design is good.
Almost any such radio can be made into a outstanding performer.
Avoid any radio with square-wave detection, unless you like an artificially high background noise level.
This means almost any radio with a digital display. I know I'll get others disagreeing here, but I
emphasize this point as being true. Once you demodulate sine waves by mixing in square waves, you add noise products.
Much easier for the manufacturer, but the kind of shortcut I abhor. I have one such radio, which I use daily or more often as
test and reference equipment, but I cannot "listen" to it.
I'll bet those Tivolis are good, but I haven't heard one.
Most people's AM reception needs help in cleaning up locally produced noise almost as much as they'd need a better AM radio.
In other words, more than half the improvement possible for AM would be items OUTSIDE of the radio.
This one is incredible. I just got it last week, sounds great too.
http://www.ccrane.com/radios/shortwave-radios/ccradio-sw.aspx
http://www.ccrane.com/radios/shortwave-radios/ccradio-sw.aspx
Tom Wells said:
There is a guy who modifies Bose Wave Radios for wideband and AM stereo (Chris Cuff, I believe). My trick is to add a wide band AM radio to the AUX inputs, then you will be blown away especially if it is in stereo. I did this with my old Bose using a Sony SRF-A100 where AM and FM were on par in sound. Comparing the Sony through the wave and the Bose AM tuner is the difference between a phone line and, well, full fidelity.
The Tivoli's are better than average in the AM section, it's good but not the Sony bandwidth. What helps the Tivoli is the sound of the box itself and the better tuner. It's sensitivity is lacking but if you have a tuned loop then you make up for it.
As far as the part 15 monsters, there's nothing you can and it's too late fix the problem.
W
wbz1030
Guest
As for the best portable I have owned for AM MW reception, nothing has beat my old Sony ICF-2010. I wish any AM receiver built had the option of synchronous detection! It makes a world of difference.
But since that is no longer produced, I can also recommend the Tivoli Audio PAL series (if you can find one on discount at $100 or below).
I have recently fell in love with a walkman type radio made by Sony, the SRF-59. Sells for around $15-20. I first heard about this ultralight radio from an IRCA group raving about its sensitivity, selectivity, and highly directional built-in loop antenna. All of which I can definitely confirm. Also, since it is so cheap, people have bought two of these Sony units and used an audio phasing technique (talked about on IRCA and on web sites) to pull in some incredible DX catches in the mud of even graveyard channels beating performance you would expect for a top of the line receiver and set-up. I have used the audio phasing technique and the highly directional loop antenna on the SRF-59 to eliminate persistent electrical noise in my condo unit in town and over loading happening being close to the 790/920/970/1190/1690 AM farm on Cheshire Bridge. I would recommend going down to Frys and picking up one of these Sony SRF-59s just to play.
But since that is no longer produced, I can also recommend the Tivoli Audio PAL series (if you can find one on discount at $100 or below).
I have recently fell in love with a walkman type radio made by Sony, the SRF-59. Sells for around $15-20. I first heard about this ultralight radio from an IRCA group raving about its sensitivity, selectivity, and highly directional built-in loop antenna. All of which I can definitely confirm. Also, since it is so cheap, people have bought two of these Sony units and used an audio phasing technique (talked about on IRCA and on web sites) to pull in some incredible DX catches in the mud of even graveyard channels beating performance you would expect for a top of the line receiver and set-up. I have used the audio phasing technique and the highly directional loop antenna on the SRF-59 to eliminate persistent electrical noise in my condo unit in town and over loading happening being close to the 790/920/970/1190/1690 AM farm on Cheshire Bridge. I would recommend going down to Frys and picking up one of these Sony SRF-59s just to play.
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