I'm actually judging not one but two PR-D5s because I sold my first one when I mistakenly thought my C.Crane CSW, which gets better FM reception, also gave me better AM. This is wrong. The PR-D5 has the biggest ferrite AM antenna you can get at 200 mm. It has no AM filter however so if you get AM overload, the PR-D5 isn't for you. For me, though, AM overload is no problem. The PR-D5 gets me my best AM.
I learned this after I bought my second PR-D5 and compared it to two of my strong performers, my aforementioned CSW and my Sangean WR-2.
So having two PR-D5s over the last eleven months or so, I feel qualified to update a report card. I'll start with the good and descend to areas that need improvement.
A Grades
AM reception
fit and finish or build quality
B Plus Grade
FM reception; grabs hard to get stations most of the time depending on the weather and which part of the house I'm using it. It's not as good as my two best FM performers, my C.Crane CSW and Eton S350 DL.
C Plus Grade
Speaker sound from the two 2.5-inch speakers is adequate but doesn't fill a room like my Boston Acoustics Horizon Solo. I'd say the PR-D5's big AM antenna begs for a bigger radio with bigger speakers.
Conclusions: In this modern era with so many cheaply built radios coming down the pike, Sangean is making two of the most appealing radios out there: The PR-D5 and the Sangean WR-2 clock radio. I suspect most people would be well served by having these 2 radios in their home.
I received my PR-D5 yesterday. I find the sound is excessively heavy in the upper bass and muffled in the treble, making voices on AM hard to understand. Other than this flaw, the radio would be fine for my purposes.
I wish Sangean would have included separate bass and treble controls on the PR-D5, like they did on the WR-2. This would have been able to compensate for the poor tonal balance on the PR-D5. I guess I'll have to wait until the CCRadio 2 goes on sale, since it has reception equal to the PR-D5 and includes bass and treble controls.
Posted by: Gary | September 25, 2009 at 02:01 PM
Gary, you and I had the exact same disappointing experience!
I bought a PR-D5 for its superior FM reception. How sad to find, as you did, that it has an artificial bass boost that messes with the intelligibility of speech. Simply unlistenable over the long term.
Everything else about it was lovely. It pulled in distant stations like a pro model, good form factor, etc.
But voices sounds like they were speaking into a resonant box.
Very, very disappointing.
If it had a bass reflex port (opening), one could fill the port with stuffing. That has completely solved the overly resonant bass on other small radios I've owned, notably the Tivoli Model One. But no port on the PR-D5. So one would have to take the radio apart, fill the empty interior space with something, and reassemble it. A lot riskier.
Does anybody want to open their PR-D5 up and see whether that looks like an easy tweak?
And, is Sangean listening? If so: You're losing sales on this otherwise near-ideal model because people find the booming voices hard to listen to over the long run.
Add a bass cut/normal/boost switch and we're all set.
Art
Posted by: Art | July 19, 2011 at 07:33 AM
I bought the PR-D5 for the purpose of listening to relatively faint AM stations that broadcast my favorite baseball team's games. For that, it succeeds admirably. The FM reception of this radio is adequate for my needs, too. I particularly like the PR-D5's simple controls and uncluttered display. The radio's primary negative feature is that the audio is rather deep and mushmouthed, unfortunately. I don't consider this a fatal flaw by any means, but I am still eyeing the CCRadio EP as a relatively inexpensive alternative with somewhat better audio.
Posted by: Sailcat | July 19, 2011 at 04:01 PM
Hey all. I don`t find the sound quality too much of an issue, though I do prefer the CC-EP for talk. When I put the two side by side I became quite disatisfied with the PR-D5`s sound and put it aside, only to pick it up again to find a new station. The digital tuning is a big plus.
BTW, does anyone else have, or is bothered by, the play in the tuning knob before the click to another frequency.
Posted by: Dannibal | August 17, 2011 at 06:47 AM
Dannibal - I've tried multiple PR-D5 units, and they all had quite a bit of play in the tuning knob (between clicks).
Posted by: Gary | August 17, 2011 at 09:26 AM
Thanks for the reply Gary. When did I become so nitpicky about things? Looking for perfection in a radio, forsooth.
Posted by: Dannibal | August 17, 2011 at 05:54 PM