Reported.
AM/FM/radio
- Thread starter Graydog
- Start date
Reported.
I hated AM radio in the 60s, it was mostly BS. At most you got 5-6 overplayed songs every 30 minutes. FM was better, but once we bought a car with a CD player, we never listened to radio. Unfortunately, my wife's new car (2018), has no CD player and she can't be bothered blue-toothing her phone for local trips. At least on long trips, in her car, I can jack our old iPod 3 into the system. The AM/FM/6 CD player in my car, an 04 Accord, is shot. I can only play one burned CD of 2 Brubeck CDs. I only do local trips, without my wife, so it's not a big deal. Years back she wouldn't even use my car, because all CDs were Brubeck.
Great way to keep your seat in the "right" position: have it so the lady of the house has limited musical choices in your car!
You understimate my wife. She's far smarter than me. The only Brubeck tune my wife will tolerate amongst our 800 50s/60s oldies is Take Five. I have 30 Brubeck versions of Take Five from the 50s to the early 70s, from 3 min to 16/17 min. I once tried to pull a fast one on a trip in her old car that had a CD player, by burning a whole CD of 80 min of just Take Five. It didn't take her long to catch on. She ejected that CD, and tossed it out her window. God love her.
I understand the nostalgia, I really do. I remember the 50s and 60s, the great clear-channel AM stations, the quirky one KW daylight-only stations, the FM simulcasts, 5 and 10 mHz BBC, VOA, Radio Moscow, etc. But nowdays I just shout out, "Alexa! WQXR."
Thanks, I will look to see if I have any generic substitute on hand to try, otherwise get one.
I own seven (7) radios. Some of them are set for one station.
As others have noted, the GE Superradio has been pretty much the gold standard (well, at least the standard) in this kind of application. I have one I bought about 15 years ago. The speaker went out so it was using just the tweeter. I opened it up and I guess whatever the problem was solved itself, so I'm a genius at the moment, but don't know how long that will last.
At the moment, Amazon has RCA RP7887 Super Radio 3 AM/FM High-Performance Super Radio III Receiver (Renewed w/Warranty) for about $60, so that would be one possibility.
More importantly, I would work my way through the suggestions others have made making liberal use of Amazon's generous return policy, as you have the freedom, as I understand it, to try them out in your application within the 30 day return window. With an added antenna, I would think one of them would meet your needs unless they are unrealistic.
Being amazingly cheap, when I thought I was going to have to replace my Superradio, I was thinking of the very inexpensive Retekess V115 Digital Radio on Amazon (about $22), but I have no experience of this unit, I just thought the favorable reviews sounded like my application. But, at a guess, I would think some of the slightly more expensive units others have mentioned here might give better results and last longer.
Finally, as others have mentioned, even a modest radio with a good antenna will beat a higher-performance radio with a modest (e.g. built-in) antenna, so decide if you're willing to add an antenna. Also, I didn't see if you mentioned AM or FM. That would inform what kind of antenna you want to add.
Good luck.
At the moment, Amazon has RCA RP7887 Super Radio 3 AM/FM High-Performance Super Radio III Receiver (Renewed w/Warranty) for about $60, so that would be one possibility.
More importantly, I would work my way through the suggestions others have made making liberal use of Amazon's generous return policy, as you have the freedom, as I understand it, to try them out in your application within the 30 day return window. With an added antenna, I would think one of them would meet your needs unless they are unrealistic.
Being amazingly cheap, when I thought I was going to have to replace my Superradio, I was thinking of the very inexpensive Retekess V115 Digital Radio on Amazon (about $22), but I have no experience of this unit, I just thought the favorable reviews sounded like my application. But, at a guess, I would think some of the slightly more expensive units others have mentioned here might give better results and last longer.
Finally, as others have mentioned, even a modest radio with a good antenna will beat a higher-performance radio with a modest (e.g. built-in) antenna, so decide if you're willing to add an antenna. Also, I didn't see if you mentioned AM or FM. That would inform what kind of antenna you want to add.
Good luck.
I never realized that the old Superradios have become a retro classic and collectable, but apparently they have. There are several enthusiast websites on them with history, service and repair information. So perhaps your SR is quite repairable.
None are new anymore. So if it were me, I like your idea of chasing down an older SRI or II on ebay over the later III. The IIIs had good performance, but were plagued with QC issues compared to the earlier ones.
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I also want to clarify my earlier suggestion about FM-AM stereo, as I think it was misinterpreted to mean the garden variety AM/FM receiver that now covers the modern home entertainment world.
What I am referring to is FM-AM stereo, which preceded the modern multiplex FM stereo standard we know today. The FM-AM stereo format was only in existence for a couple years in the very late 1950s-early 60s. This format simultaneously broadcast one channel on FM, and the other channel on AM. Both tuner sections (AM & FM) operated, received, and played at the same time - you literally tuned in each audio channel on a separate tuner dial. But because the AM channel speaker had to sonically compete with a mono FM signal playing on the other speaker, the AM tuner sections on these were elaborately over-engineered for incredible audio quality. Adjustable bandwidth and other sound-improving features not found on the usual AM tuner were not uncommon. Short of an vintage EH Scott chassis from the 1940s, these AM ‘stereo’ tuners were among the best sounding consumer AM tuners ever designed. But the calling card of these AM tuners was spectacular audio quality, and not necessarily maximum DX capability, although most had superior capture abilities.
The quintessential example of an FM-AM stereo radio instrument was the Fisher 800B receiver, which had separate tuning dials for each band, and was also equipped with an on-board FM-only stereo MPX decoder for the newer standard (at that time, outboard FM MPX stereo decoders were a new and popular accessory for most mono FM tuners).
Fisher Model 800-B AM/FM Stereo Receiver (1962)
antiqueradio.org
Hi,
Just posted on this topic in another thread (link below). Two new technologies have significantly improved AM/FM radios over the past decade.
The first is the shift by many manufacturers to Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technology for analog signals (also referred to as software defined radio). DSP dramatically improves reception and selectivity. We are also a fan of Sangean. My Sangean SR-35 pocket radio with DSP has better reception than the one in our older home entertainment system for example. Even better with our Sangean WR-22 tabletop radio thanks to larger antennas.
The second technology is HD radio (U.S. market) that is now in newer cars. Replaces the analog signal with a digital one. Sangean is just about the only manufacturer of stand alone HD radios and our HRD-14 and 16 radios are excellent.
Your Sangean KDT-20 is a great choice though we opted for the WR-22 for the bluetooth and USB capability (much of our music is fully digitized). Thanks to our proximity to our preferred radio broadcaster a quality indoor TV antenna gives us excellent FM reception on the WR-22. Built in ferrite antennas also work well enough in our area for good AM reception, even on the SR-35. We run the WR-22 through a set of Klipsch amplified stereo speakers for even better audio quality.
The Radio Jay Allen site (link above and in my post linked below) does a great job evaluating available radio receivers. Also discusses the adoption of DSP technology.
Radio Recommendation
I thought this would be a good resource base to ask this question. I want to purchase a radio. Shortwave a must. Around $100.00, definitely under $200.00. Portable a plus. Crank for an internal rechargeable battery a plus, but not a necessity. Any recommendations?
www.badgerandblade.com
