Just like my Sangean K200, my PR-D5 suffers speaker distortion or tired speakers after a couple of years of use. It got worse and worse until today I "retired" it and replaced it in the kitchen with my Grundig G4000, purchased from Amazon on May 9, 2006. While the G4000 doesn't have the PR-D5's oversized ferrite antenna, its single speaker is more reliable than the PR-D5's.
Let me emphasize, I'm not simply saying the PR-D5 has a muffled sound; it has distortion.
I haven't noticed this distortion on my PR-D5 or my dad's PR-D5, but I still don't like the muffled sound on AM. Even with the treble turned all the way down, my CCRadio-SW doesn't sound as muffled on AM as the PR-D5. I find the AM sound of the PR-D5 to be fatiguing after a short time.
I'd like to see Sangean build a radio with the reception of the PR-D5, but with a high-quality, single 4" or 5" speaker, and full-range bass and treble controls.
One thing I have noticed on both PR-D5 units is residual hiss on IBOC (HD Radio) stations like KFI 640. This is somewhat worse on my PR-D5 than on my dad's PR-D5. I'm not sure if it's due to an asymmetrical IF filter or perhaps the tuning is not spot on. Unfortunately, with 10 kHz tuning steps, there is no way to fine tune to the exact center of the signal, as can be done with any analog radio. To do this effectively with a digital radio probably requires 0.1 kHz tuning steps.
An easy way to get rid of this residual hiss on KFI with my PR-D5 is to put my Quantum Q-Stick+ antenna on top, and tune it for minimum background noise.
Posted by: Gary | January 17, 2012 at 12:54 PM
Had a nice email from Tao Qu (tquchina on Ebay) about availability of Degen DE1128 on ebay. Here is his reply:
"The Chinese Degen DE1128 will not be suitable in USA because the MW band is fixed on 9KHz (no 10KHz support), and the panel labels and the LCD display no English ... this is the request from Eton/Grundig to protect their own G2 ..."
Posted by: Paul | January 17, 2012 at 04:58 PM
How about a little bit of DIY speaker replacement? It isn't that hard. You're probably looking at 4 or 8 ohm speakers, 3" or 3.5".
Posted by: Dan | January 17, 2012 at 06:06 PM
Jeff- I have a Sony SW7600G, so I'm covered in the portable area, but if I'm looking for a nice, larger radio with great AM/FM, bass/treble controls, and an aux input, would you suggest the CCRadio 2 over anything else (under $150)? Thanks!
Posted by: David | January 17, 2012 at 06:43 PM
David, I would check out the C.Crane CCRadio-SW before I looked at the the C.Crane CCR-2.
Posted by: Jeffrey McMahon | January 17, 2012 at 08:05 PM
David - If the aux input is mandatory, you don't live too close to any AM stations, and you don't mind an analog radio, perhaps the CCRadio-EP should be considered.
I also really like the CCRadio-SW, but unfortunately it has no aux input.
Posted by: Gary | January 17, 2012 at 08:09 PM
David - Here are a couple reviews of the CCRadio-EP, in case you're interested:
http://www.thebdr.net/articles/ops/test/Tools-CCrane-EP.pdf
http://radiojayallen.com/cc-radio-ep/
Posted by: Gary | January 17, 2012 at 08:12 PM
Thanks for the info and the links!
Posted by: David | January 17, 2012 at 11:36 PM