UPDATE: Click here to read our full review of the re-engineered Tecsun S-8800. Note that the review below refers to a first production run S-8800e model.
In reply to our Tecsun S-8800e overview, SWLing Post contributor, Hymefly, comments:
I own this radio. Its performance on AM and shortwave is better than my Kaito 1103 and Sangean ATS-909x. My Grundig Satellit 750 beats it on SW. The 8800 is a bit better on AM than the 750, though.
The 8800 and my GE Super Radio 1 are just about equal on AM. The 8800 beats my Panasonic RF-2200 on SW, but not on AM. I didn’t compare it to my other radios on FM, as I really don’t listen to that band nor have any interest in it.
I did try out the FM band, though. It seems to have good sensitivity. The speaker provides good sound quality, but not “Super Radio” good. Display looks outdated. Not a fan of those amber/yellowish displays with spotty screen coverage. Not even close to the display on my 909x. But then again, no other radio comes close to the 909x’s display. Why can’t manufacturers implement nice bright white lit displays like the 909x?
The remote works ok. By the way, all comparisons were done utilizing each radios’ own built-in AM and telescopic antennas for SW. Overall, I can compare it more closely to the RF-2200, but with 8800 having slightly less sensitivity on AM and better on SW. The two even look almost the same. The 8800 seems to be an updated and refined modern design borrowed from the RF-2200. The RF-2200 has a more robust solid built, though. Overall, I give the 8800 a score of 7.5 [out of 10].
Thank you for your input, Hymefly. I’m pretty impressed the new S-8800 even comes close to the performance of the Super Radio 1 and the Panasonic RF-2200. I’m very curious what the price will be when the S-8800 hits eBay.
I am a bit confused on this review in regards to MW. The author describes the AM reception to be weak as it has alot of local noise produced by the radio.
However later on into the review he says that he is quite happy with the external AM antenna….
I can’t seem to find any reviews on how well the external AM antenna performs…
If someone could test the external am antenna would be great…
Tks
Greg
Hi, where you purchased? I can not find it online. Than you.
I tend to find these types of table radios irresistible. I assume it will be superior to its old version in terms of the DSP chip and that Eton will eventually plaster their name on it and sell it for double on Amazon.
Are you aware that anon-co, besides their Ebay store , have their own website?
http://www.anon-co.com/
Thanks for this very interesting first hands on report on the really expensive Tecsun S8800.
I’ve had my Tecsun S-8800 for over a week and would like to offer the following impressions. There’s no doubt that whilst the AM Broadcast band performs reasonably well the radio suffers from Image Rejection problems in my area, I’m around 15 miles from several ABC 50KW transmitters. Image rejection issues seem to be common place in all the Tecsun radio models I have, a S-2000,, a PL880 and PL660. Slectivity isn’t as good with the S-8800 as with some other radio sets I have here, the RF-2200 is of course king but I point to other less expensive radio models such as the Sangean PRD4W, CC 2E and CC EP., the last 3 had to be imported but it was well worth the expense. Remote control is a delight to use and well worth the addition to a portable radio of this type, imagine what a beast the now discontinued CC SW radio would have been with a remote sporting a keypad. Shortwave is one of the joys of the S-8800 where good selectivity, sensitivity and audio can all be had. FM is right up there but we are talking Tecsun are we not? Well what else could one expect as I’ve never seen a bad performing Tecsun radio on the FM band.