Herculodge

The Accuphase T-100 "Had the Best FM Reception Ever Seen in Its Day"

Radio Russ describes one of the great apex performers, the Accuphase T-100, which commonly sells for $850 or so on eBay:

The Accuphase T-100 is just awesome. It's a hand-wired work of art that not only had the best FM reception ever seen in its day, it also had a killer AM section. I pull the T-100 out of its storage box once a year just to bask in its radiance. I don't want to put too many hours on it because repairing it is beyond my current capabilities. Also, some of the FETs it uses are no longer available. My location doesn't present much of a challenge as far as adjacent channel rejection which the T-100 excels at. 

The Sangean WR-3 may fall short in several other categories in an urban environment so my comment was based on its ability to pull in weak stations with very little noise using a non-directional, unamplified antenna. Sangean is making some of the best performing tuners available today and the WR-3 is their flagship model as far as I know. And why is it that jazz stations always seem to be the ones that don't come in clear?

iPad Tablet Is a Multi-Tasker, But Fails to Deliver a Kindle Knock-Out Blow

Wired News reports that the iPad Tablet ups the game for multi-tasking devices but fails to hit the Kindle where it counts. Why? Because the iPad costs twice as much and doesn't offer free wireless download convenience. 

Russ Stanton's Review of the Sangean WR-3 Table Top Radio

 

I've been using the Sangean WR-3 for almost a year now and still consider it my "A" radio. I had both the WR-1 and the WR-2 before I got this and was hoping that the WR-3 would be twice as nice as the WR-2 due to it being a stereo radio. I wasn't disappointed and have only some minor quibbles after having it on my bedside table all these months.

The sound is very good, better than the Bose stereo system in my opinion. A friend who owns the Bose system was blown away by it in a side-by-side comparison. For some reason, Sangean likes to make their products heavy on the bass side and the WR-3 is no exception. You have the option to adjust the bass and treble from -7 to +7, just like the WR-2. I have to turn the bass down all the way (-7) for talk radio to avoid getting a muddy sound. Listening to music, I seldom have to jack up the bass past the flat setting of 0. I like a lot of bass capability but this is ridiculous. (The worst offender is the WR-1 which has no tone adjustment at all. It has impressive bass response, just too much of it. I wonder if the new WR-11 is any better in this regard?)

AM sensitivity is outstanding. I have both a Select-A-Tenna and a CCrane twin coil antenna and neither one makes any difference to the WR-3. If the WR-3 can't grab the signal, it just ain't there to receive. Sangean must have made good use of the available room and installed a good size ferrite rod antenna. I would even put sensitivity on a par with my Sangean ATS 909 shortwave set. My location is almost exactly 50 miles from both Philadelphia and Baltimore and the WR-3 is sensitive to the point that I am bringing in 2 or more stations on the same frequency at night. 

FM performance is also excellent for my location. They ship it with a telescoping antenna that gives pretty good results. To really see what it could do, I hooked up my CCrane FM Reflect antenna and was very pleased with the reception. It performs right up there with my commercial-grade rack mount Parasound TDQ-150. The only thing in my arsenal that's better is the legendary Accuphase T-100. 

The CD player performs flawlessly and it also plays MP3 CD's with no problems.
One of the reasons I purchased the WR-3 in the first place was its ability to play MP3 files on either a USB memory stick or an SD card. This capability makes the WR-3 a great unit to use for parties because it can literally play music for days without repeating a song. 

 

The few negatives I have are the following:

- The WR-3 is basically useless without the remote control. All you can do without it is adjust the volume and turn the unit on and off. Since the remote is rather small and easily misplaced, I ordered a backup remote from http://remotes.com/ and got their customized replacement rather than another OEM unit which they also offer. I was hoping it would have a stronger output than the original, which it does, because of another weak point the WR-3 has:

- The remote control sensitivity is the worst I have ever seen on any device. You literally have to be pointing the remote directly at the unit. Trying to get it to work off-axis is an exercise in frustration, even with the dual-LED remote from remotes.com. Bright sunshine makes the situation even worse. The remote I got from remotes.com has a longer range but doesn't help with the off-axis problem.

- Sometimes I like to listen to audio books and the file sizes can be fairly large, some with runtimes of an hour or more. While the WR-3 has the ability to fast forward, it does so at a snail's pace. (This applies to the SD/USB function, not the CD function which is fine.) Holding the Seek button down for 1 minute will only advance the time by 5 minutes. You'd have to hold the button down for 6 minutes to get halfway through a 1 hour file! They should have it set up to increase the fast forward speed the longer you hold down the button.

- I know this is really nit-picking but the USB socket is installed upside down.

In conclusion, the WR-3 is a fantastic radio that does everything well and looks great doing it. Mine has a beautiful black piano finish that would look great in any room in the house.

I should receive my Acoustic Research AV100B this Wednesday and I'm curious to see if it will displace the WR-3 as my "A" radio.

 

First Amazon Review for the Milwaukee 2790 Worksite Radio with DSP Earns Praise for Sound and Reception

Reviewer gave the Milwaukee 2790 four stars, not five, because there is no built-in battery charger. Other than that, the 2790 delivers some serious radio sound and tuner sensitivity. 

I Have Over 6,000 Songs on My iTunes Library, Yet I Still Play My Radio 95% of the Time

 

I can get obsessive about making playlists on my extensive iTunes library. But once the playlist is made, I'm quickly bored with it. I turn on the radio.

Why am I adverse to playing my iTunes songs in favor of the radio with all its interruptions, quirks, and imperfections?

There's a fancy word I want to use to explain this: solipsism, the condition of disappearing into yourself until the self becomes the only reality. That's what a playlist is to me, an insular world that makes me feel isolated and anxious, kind of like the crazed narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" who feels claustrophobic when she's surrounded by wallpaper. The wallpaper of my iTunes playlist can only remain for so long until I need to break free from it lest I become more and more disconnected from my surroundings. 

In contrast, the radio makes me feel connected. Would I feel as connected with an Internet radio? I have my doubts (but would be lying if I said I'm not tempted by the highly praised Logitech Squeezebox Boom). In any case, I think I am one of those Radios Lovers Who Can't Be Cured. 

Answering the Question: How Can I Get My Ripped CDs to Play As High a Volume as My Purchased iTunes Songs?

Whenever I make playlists consisting of songs purchased from iTunes and CDs ripped into my computer (and now in my iTunes library), I notice the ripped songs always play at a lower volume on my iPod. This is especially apparent through headphones. My wife notices the same thing. Ripped music is more muted and at a lower volume. 

What gives? Is this Apple's method for getting us to re-buy songs we already own on CD from iTunes? 

Reader "JG" answered my question:

Just enable "Sound Check" in iTunes *and* on your iPod. Enabling it in iTunes will scan your library and determine the volume for each track (this can take a long time if your library is huge). When that's done, sync your iPod and enable Sound Check on the iPod. During playback it will automatically adjust for each track. Just google "iTunes iPod Sound Check." This feature was added several generations ago (actually iTunes 3), but I guess it's not on by default. Good Macworld article about this subject: Adjust the Volume of iTunes and iPod Tracks.

Toshiba 10TM-631F AM/FM Radio with Original Box and Papers Buy Now for $75

Here's an intriguing Toshiba you don't see often with original box and paper work. 

Sony Orbiter Radio Bidding on eBay and So Is This Sony CRF-320

I wouldn't pay the full Buy Now price of $200 because of the scratchy volume control on this Sony Orbiter. But still a very appealing radio. 

Too bad I can't drag the pics of this Sony ICF-320 because it is the cleanest I've ever seen. The seller is from Istanbul, Turkey, and the price is $600 plus $150 shipping. But look at those pics. Stunning. Now if only more of today's radios looked like this. Or even JUST ONE. 

No AM Band on the New JVC Kaboom RV-NB50: Only FM with 30 Presets

For whatever reason, JVC decided to forego the AM mode on its new JVC Kaboom as you can see on these specifications. For me, no AM is a deal breaker. Too bad. I've always liked the Kaboom. 

Latest Radio Technology Shows Up in the New Tecsun PL-360

Tom Welch has apprised us of this very intriguing, new offering from Tecsun, the PL-360, which features DSP (improves FM sensitivity), a dock for external AM antenna (the AN200 external antenna is $20 extra), and something I've never heard of before--ETM, Easy Tuning Mode. 

The PL-360 powers on 3 AA batteries or an external adapter (not included). Without the AN200 (but I would only buy the PL-360 WITH the external AM antenna; seems like half the fun), the PL-360 is $46 plus $24 shipping. The seller, Anon-co, hails from Hong Kong. 

With the external AM antenna, the PL-360 reminds me of a two-pronged wine opener. Sorry I couldn't drag a larger photo. Click on the eBay site for a better look. 

If you're looking for outstanding FM induced from the new DSP technology, you might look into the Milwaukee 2590 worksite radio, which I reviewed a month back.