{"id":15554,"date":"2015-11-16T08:36:41","date_gmt":"2015-11-16T12:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=15554"},"modified":"2015-11-16T08:36:41","modified_gmt":"2015-11-16T12:36:41","slug":"dan-compares-the-sangean-ats-909x-with-two-classic-portables","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/11\/dan-compares-the-sangean-ats-909x-with-two-classic-portables\/","title":{"rendered":"Dan compares the Sangean ATS-909X with two classic portables"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sangean-ATS-909X-Sony-SW07-Panasonic-RF-B65\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, Dan Robinson<\/a>, who\u00a0shares a radio comparison he initially posted in the excellent Extreme Shortwave Listening<\/a> Facebook group. Dan writes:<\/p>\n

When the Sangean ATS-909X<\/a> was first released a few years ago, I decided that I would hold off obtaining one to let whatever bugs there might be in production get worked out.<\/p>\n

I have always been impressed by the design of the 909X, but was cautious when it came to the question of overall sensitivity. I once owned the 909, had it modified by Radio Labs, but that seemed not to do much — the 909, in my view, suffered too much from the well-known deafness issue when using the whip antenna.<\/p>\n

Over the years, I used and still own many of the classic portables. This includes the SONY 7600GR, Grundig SAT 500\/700, 2010, E-1, SONY SW100\/SW07, SONY SW-55, and the radio I consider to be at or near the top of the small portable heap, the Pan RF-B65. But a couple of weeks ago, I broke down and bid for a new in box Sangean 909X. It’s the black version, and arrived a couple of days ago.<\/p>\n

I remain impressed by the 909X’s design — beautiful radio, wonderful large LCD and backlight, excellent filtering, along with a feature we used to see in the SONY’s — adjustable\/variable attenuation. But I wondered how the 909X would stack up against two of my favorites, the SW-07 and RF-B65. I was crossing my fingers — but alas, initial results are not encouraging.<\/p>\n

While the radio initially on its own seems to be quite sensitive, I lined it up next to the SW-07 and RF-B65 and did a comparison. Now, first I must note that propagation continues to be in the dumpster and I conducted this test in late afternoon.<\/p>\n

All three receivers were tuned to Cuba on 11,760 khz — they were located next to one another on a table in the top level of my home here in Maryland. The results are seen in the video<\/a> below.<\/p>\n

You can hear how much more clearly the SW-07 and especially the RF-B65 handle a signal. With the Panasonic, stations just pop. Same with the SW-07.<\/p>\n

Disappointingly, as you can hear, stations on the 909X appear to be buried in noise. It’s quite extraordinary — I was very surprised by this comparison and intend to perform additional side-by-side tests in different areas of my home, which does suffer from high noise levels likely produced by electric lines and a transformer outside (which is why a run a Wellbrook on my main radio stack downstairs). But it is notable that the 909X appears to struggle so, while the old classic portables SW-07 and B65 excel. Interested in the views of others . . .<\/p><\/blockquote>\n