(Source: The Herculodge)
Our friend, Jeff McMahon, over at the Herculodge blog has just replaced his bedside radio–he writes:
Inexplicably, the Sangean WR-2 wasn’t getting 89.3 KPCC without static, distortion, and bleed-in from another station, over the last few weeks, even with the wire FM antenna attached to the back of it. Who knows why FM reception is subject to variation. It could be the weather.
In any event, I put the Sangean WR-2 in my daughter’s room (she gets her pop station MyFM 104.3 very easily, with the pigtail antenna on the back) and put the 13-year-old Grundig G4000A by my bedside. With the telescopic FM antenna alone, KPCC has a weak signal, evidenced by the Grundig’s reception meter, but when I put the wire SW antenna to the side SW antenna port, the reception is strong and clear.
Over the years, I’ve had many portables, including the Degen 1103, and some old Tecsun models from about 10 years ago. They all suffered from weak tin speakers. Not so with the Grundig G4000A. The speaker sound is very pleasing.[…]
Old radios never die, they just get repurposed! Very nice to see the Grundig in daily use.
Too bad Jeff does not listen to AM (MW) band anymore. There are still selective programming to listen to like Regional/cultural music, specific talk radio, sports events, etc. This is especially true of those of us who have “Cut the Cord” to paying huge monthly fees for cable TV and internet charges. The $100/month I am saving is being used for all sorts of things from retirement savings, buying the latest SDR, or just going out to a nice restaurant!
One thing my Sangean HDR-18 does that I hate is a high treble RASPY sound that makes it unpleasant to listen to, whether or not it is in HD mode. It sits unused because of this unless there is a sports event I want to listen to in HD (with both AM and FM outdoor antennas attached). Cutting the Treble just makes the treble very mushy and some of the raspy sound is still there but attenuated. I wonder if anyone else has this problem with Sangean HD radios???