No doubt, my Sangean ATS-505 is the most disappointing radio I ever owned. I bought one for $105 in 2004 and could never warm up to it. The FM reception was okay, the AM was terrible, the radio felt light, cheap, and plasticy. Its ergonomics were not intuitive. I ended up selling it for $50, which is about all it's worth. For a compact shortwave radio, you'd be better served to get the $89 (sold refurbished on Amazon; used to be sold new for $99) Grundig G4000 or the $150 Eton E5. 
Having made this damning pronouncement against the 505 doesn't make me a Sangean hater. To the contrary, Sangean is making some of the best radios on the market. For example, their $150 Sangean WR-2 is in my opinion the best clock radio on the market with excellent AM reception and very good FM reception. Its only flaw is hard-to-use alarm controls. For another example, they are making the best general-use table top radio in terms of AM/FM radio reception with their $75 Sangean PR-D5, which has the biggest internal AM ferrite antenna available. For a more detailed review of the WR-2 CLICK HERE. For a more detailed PR-D5 review, CLICK HERE. 
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