Someone here own stock in Sangean?

[KB1OKL]

There was a thread about a wonderful Sangean IBOC clock radio which broke thirty five times (or something like that), I posted something about my trusty overpriced Bose Wave radio which has never failed me, has flown back and forth to S. America, has been used with step down transformers etc. and the whole thread's gone?? What is the problem, you can't mention a non-IBOC radio here or you can't compare an IBOC to an analog radio? I don't get it, what's the problem?
how3 about this I have a 1938 RCA 811K HD console I've had since 1971 which has also never broken down, is that a better comparison?

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Nope - my company makes the chips that go in Sangean and Pioneer. I've touted the DX abilities of the HDT-1X, I could care less about HD. Well - I'll make an objective test in a couple of metro areas to see what happens 40 to 60 miles from the towers with a dipole, with a Godar, with an outdoor antenna, etc. Don't look for my report too soon - I want to conduct tests over several days to make absolutely sure I have non-skip conditions.

As far as the Bose - NOT a particularly good radio from a DX point of view. By extrapolation - if they make an HD radio in the future, they better do some RF design work and make the things more sensitive. They sure have a fanatical following - I've sat in a room with a GE Superadio next to a Bose Wave radio, tuned to the same frequency, decent reception from the GE on a station 250 miles away - absolutely NO reception of the same station from the Bose. And the Bose fanatic stubbornly telling me it had to be MY radio at fault stealing signal from their Bose. So I moved the GE away from the Bose and they still spouted the same line - like the GE was sucking all the electrons out of the air or something. No arguing with that type of mentality - so I didn't bother.

As for the Bose being rugged - I don't know. My GE has been slammed around a bit in its 10 year history, dropped, got in heavy rain, been hit by a surge - it has never skipped a beat. Too bad the whole line has unstable tuning pots in them now, probably the death of the product.

a "1938 HD console"? I had no idea the Ibiquity HD system was that old! Will you send me a schematic? I'd love to see how the codec was implemented with tubes! Seriously - I have old radios from the 30's myself. Every one of them have excellent reception. I have to power them up through a variac to be safe if they haven't been used in a few years - but they are good AM radios.

 

[KB1OKL]

I agree with you the Bose is insensitive, both on AM and FM, it is rugged though and has been through a lot, but I'm definitely not a Bose fanatic, I paid way too much for it. I've got a Marantz 2385, now that's a receiver. I have two GE super radios, bought them at yard sales. They are great radios, especially for the two and three dollars I paid for them. I collect all sorts of radios, have many classic boatanchors, R-390A's, Nationals, Hammarlunds, Hallicrafters, you name it and I've probably got it. I started out with consoles when I was a kid though, back when you could usually get them out of someone's cellar for free or ten bucks because they were just taking up space, haha! Miss those days. The RCA was my first DX machine, traded an 8 track player for it.
I have all my old radios on devices that power up slowly over a two minute span of time, start at 60 V and goes up from there, and have a voltage drop of about 6 volts so the voltage stays at about 115.
I'll do the same, power them up slowly with a variac if they haven't been on for a long time.

 

[Chuck]

I used to be a Bose Professional Products Dealer. There were some Bose sound reinforcement products that really did give surprising results in difficult situations. They worked especially well in church installations. They aren’t the cure for everything though.

On the other hand, I never figured out the Bose Wave Radio. It was sold "direct" with no dealer network. It is a "nice" radio but nothing to write home about in my book. Still, they have sold a ton of them. They do sound very good if the station in question has enough signal strength. I amazed at how many of my own station's listeners own them. We have a weak signal, and it seems they do work a lot better than a Sunbeam radio from the drug store. I'd hope so, since they cost nearly 50 times as much.

I'm happier with my GE Super Radio, My Tivoli Model 1 or my BA receptor - analog only - version. YMMV

 

[KB1OKL]

On the other hand, I never figured out the Bose Wave Radio. It was sold "direct" with no dealer network. It is a "nice" radio but nothing to write home about in my book. Still, they have sold a ton of them. They do sound very good if the station in question has enough signal strength. I amazed at how many of my own station's listeners own them. We have a weak signal, and it seems they do work a lot better than a Sunbeam radio from the drug store. I'd hope so, since they cost nearly 50 times as much.

I'm happier with my GE Super Radio, My Tivoli Model 1 or my BA receptor - analog only - version. YMMV

I think it's because they had very good advertising and explained how they worked in a superficial way, another nice thing was they allowed you to have them subtract payments from a credit card for 12 months. Super Radios are much more sensitive and selective both AM and FM. The thing that sold me on it was the fact that it doesn't blast you out of bed, it comes on gradually, the first few times i used it for an alarm I dreamed the sound was very far way and came closer and closer, was kind of cool actually. They insinuate that they sound better than they really do though. They are hardly a substitute for a real component stereo. It did do me nicely though when I lived in Peru for a year it was my only stereo and they are very reliable, I put it in my carry on.