Dave from Chicago Gives Us His Impressions of Three of His Radios

RCA Superradio III

When I first decided to upgrade my radios in late 2007, I bought an RCA Superradio III. I liked the powerful speaker sound, but something was wrong with the power button, so I got rid of it.

 

This year, I decided to get another one, needing a radio for my kitchen after I moved my Sony ICF-5500. The power button works fine on this one, and I remain very impressed with the powerful speaker. The Superradio III certainly picks up distant signals, but I'm experiencing a couple of problems that may relegate it to the basement.

 

For one thing, there seems to be considerable overload around WTAM 1100 AM out of Cleveland, one of the stations that must come in clearly on any radio I own. There is a lot of bleed from a Chicago-area Polish-language station at 1080, and the Superradio III's imprecise tuner makes it very difficult to zero in precisely at 1100 in any case. Inevitably, I end up fooling around with KDKA 1020 and KMOX 1120 before I can even find 1100, and then there's all of this interference. So, that's not going to work when I'm in the kitchen or cleaning up in the adjacent dining room.

 

Local Chicago stations generally come in fine, though the imprecise tuner can cause problems at night, when I should be able to easily zero in on WLS 890, WBBM 780, WMVP 1000 and WIND 560 without spending undue amounts of time with the dial. These problems really make me appreciate my Kaito 2100's electronic tuner.

 

Once a station is (finally) locked in, the Superradio III sounds great. I rarely listen to FM on it, as I can get FM stations on my stereo.

 

Sony ICF-5500

About even with my Kaito 2100 for DX-ing, and with a precise analog tuner, the 5500 is probably going back into the kitchen. All of my favorite distant stations come in strongly, without excessive bleed. Speaker's not as powerful as the Superradio III or the Kaito, and there's some scratchiness on the volume slide, but I consider these minor issues. On FM, the weak college station WDCB comes in assertively after some adjustment of the telescopic antenna.

 

Kaito KA-2100
Still the favorite among my radios. Great sound on AM, with good loudness and bass. For DX-ing, WTAM 1100, WRVA 1140 in Richmond, WLW 700 in Cincinnati, WGY 810 in Schenectady and many clear channel legends come in very nicely, sometimes with almost crystal clarity on certain nights. Has some difficulty with WHO 1040 out of Des Moines, for whatever reason. The RF control has worked wonders with KDKA, WJR 760 out of Detroit and WCCO 830 in Minneapolis. Chicago stations come in perfectly, with no bleed.

Comments

[Mike W]

First off, as an Albany, NY, area resident since 2005, let me congratulate Dave on spelling 'Schenectady' correctly, which I am incapable of doing myself.

Second, if you think the AM broadcast band is good on the 2100, you may wish to try the Sangean PR-D5 - unless you wish to wait and see if the soon-to-be-introduced PR-D9 is better on AM, which is unlikely.

[Jeffrey McMahon]

Schenectady is a word conceived by a comic genius. I can't say it without smiling.

[Mike W]

Those old Dutch settlers really did a number on this part of New York state. Half the map is unspellable.

[Jeffrey McMahon]

And I thought it was Scottish or Irish. I learn something new every day.

[Dave]

Thanks, Mike and Jeff. Part of me thinks I should just be satisfied with the Superradio III in the kitchen, and keep using the Sony ICF-5500 as a second radio in the bedroom.

I guess I should explain that. My bedside radio is the Sangean WR-2, which is my best FM radio. It clearly picks up the weak college station WDCB, even with a wire antenna.

I used to listen to one of my AM stations on it as I went to sleep, using the timer. However, I ran into a problem. I like the keep the volume low when I'm going to sleep, but need it to be higher to wake me up the following morning. So I started leaving the WR-2 on WDCB at a high volume, but not listening to it as I went to sleep. Rather, I'd use the ICF-5500's timer and listen to it as I dozed off. I love that knob-based timer; so simple, and so effective.

So anyway, if I move the 5500 to the kitchen, I'll probably listen to my Kaito 2100 as I go to sleep, using the Kaito's electronic timer.

[Herculodge]

You might try getting the Boston Horizon Solo. Amazing speaker sound. It will strain your credulity.

[Mike W]

I bought a Solo a few months back and will parrot Jeff's remarks about that model as well.

It performs exceptionally well if you can run a good FM antenna to it. In fact, I get some of those Schenectady FM stations with an attic-mounted dipole that I don't get with a whip.

[Dave]

I had a Solo briefly, before I bought the WR-2. But after a few days, it completely lost its ability to receive FM. Nothing but static. So I returned it.

The WR-2 has worked fine as a bedside radio, in general. The backlight is too bright, and I can't maintain a separate volume level for the radio alarm than the one I listen to in sleeper mode. Other than, I love it.

[Jeffrey McMahon]

Once you get snake-bit by a radio or anything (in my case a Volvo S70), it's hard to give that brand another try. I understand.