4 Different Radios Give 4 Different Sounds on Last Night's Angels Baseball

Last night Angels baseball was on 830 AM, a very weak station. Here's how the Angels sounded on 4 radios:

1. Boston Acoustics Horizon Solo: So bad that at certain rotations absolutely NO SOUND. Rotated for maximum effect, the Solo had to be cranked up at max volume just to get a pipsqueak of sound with ugly background noise. Atrocious. BTW, are they clueless over the fact that their Solo and Duo radios have at max a 2-year shelf-life on AM reception? If they do know, are they having urgent top secret meetings to fix the problem? I sure hope so. 

2. C.Crane CSW: There was some ugly background noise that I couldn't get rid of. Too bad since this is generally an above average AM performer, but it can't compete with the next two radios:

3. Sangean PR-D5: Almost no background noise. Very good signal.

4. C.Crane CCR-2. No background noise. I didn't even have to rotate the radio. The King of Angels Baseball. 

Final Thoughts: 

The latter 2 radios have 200mm ferrite antennas. That seems to be the benchmark. The GE SRII has it. So does the Sony ICF-5900, if you want to go vintage. All I can say is that once you've listened to Angels baseball with a 200mm ferrite, you won't be able to tolerate a lesser AM radio. 

Comments

[Gary]

With lesser radios, using a tunable, inductively-coupled, air- core loop, like the Terk Advantage, should help.

[Jeffrey McMahon]

I have a couple of such antennas, including the Terk, and the results have been minimal and haven't been worth all the extra hardware space-taking eyesore they present.

[Gary]

That's strange. The Terk makes a big difference with most of my radios.

[Mike W]

I compare a number of radios on tough MW signals myself sometimes.

The PR-D5 and the SR III are very good indeed, but both have more background hiss than either the Panasonic RF-2200, or the Grundig Satellit 800 connected to a CCrane TCF antenna.

Having said that, the first two radios are simpler to use, and the background hiss usually fades to insignificance once you get a few feet from the speaker.

I don't use the Solo on MW much.

[David]

I'm to far from Boston to pick up my beloved Red Sox on terrestrial radio, so I have to rely on the MLB on XM Radio.
(I just added the Best of Sirius to my XM package to hear the NFL play-by-play...Gotta hear my Patriots!)

Even with XM/Sirius, it's fun to DX the AM band to see what you can find out there (Sat radio makes it too easy!). I just have to decide whether to buy the PR-D5 or the CCRadio 2. I think the CCR2 may win due to its' bass and treble controls.

[Jeffrey McMahon]

Mike, the RF-2200 is the quietest AM I've ever heard.

David, if price is not an issue, the CCR-2 is better, especially for listening to baseball. Bigger speaker, big top preset buttons. The PR-D5 has tiny buttons in front. Easy to tip over. I'm getting better FM on the CCR-2 than the PR-D5 and slightly better AM.

[Val]

I am wondering if Terk Advantage is improving receptions of radio like Sony-EX5, CCR-2, and PR-D5. Anybody know?
Thanx

[David]

Good points Jeff. I definitely like the preset buttons on top (to easily jump between ESPN, Fox Sports Radio, and NPR. Question: Can you add a mix of AM/FM on the 5 presets?

[Jeffrey McMahon]

Gary, Val, I may not be using my Terk correctly. If the improvement was dramatic, I might put up with the eyesore.

[Mike W]

Val, I never tried a Terk Advantage but have had a Select-A-Tenna and a couple of other inductively-coupled MW booster antennas.

The improvement is greatest on otherwise decent radios with small internal MW antennas. The point of diminishing returns is quickly reached with radios that are already great MW performers, like the three you mention above.

Here's a really well-written article over at Radiointel comparing two such devices :

http://www.radiointel.com/review-2loop.htm

[Scooby214]

I have good success with a homebrew ferrite loop antenna that I inductively couple to my smaller sets. It works as well as the Select-A-Tenna, and takes up much less space.

As with the air coil loops such as the Select-A-Tenna, my ferrite loop works best with radios that have smaller internal ferrite antennas. While it brings only a slight improvement to my Panasonic RF-888, it brings a significant improvement to my Degen DE1102, my Grundig G8, my Kchibo D96L, and even my BA Recepter.

Brian

[kr]

I'll tell you what, it is all about the baseball... Listening to baseball on the radio has become a big thing in our house this year. My 10 year old listens on his CCrane SW every night to some game or the other. Mainly we pick up Atlanta, Cincy, and Chicago. But to all the people out there in radio land, try it sometime. Have the baseball game playing where you can hear it through the house and leave the tv and computer off. You can get a lot done and its interesting too.

Just my 2 cents. Hopefully junior will have memories when he's older of listening to baseball on the radio.

[Jeffrey McMahon]

KR, baseball was my first love of sports back in the late 1960s. Nothing relaxes me more than a baseball game on the radio. Often if it's on TV, I'll select the radio broadcast instead and get work done instead of watching television.

[Huesby]

Jeff:
Is this a boombox superadio ?
Item number: 330353843576

[Ken K.]

One of favorite small pleasures in life is listening to Baseball on the radio while sitting on my back patio on warm summer nights.

My radio of choice for this is my S350, as it's my "outdoor radio", it is kept in a deck box outside all year round for instant use. The batteries usually last about 2 years with heavy summertime use and puts out enough power to be heard from most anywhere in the back yard.

From my location in Central NJ I can pick up the Mets, Yankees, Phillies, Nationals, Orioles, Indians, and Red Sox almost like locals, as well as several minor league games.