Brains vs. Brawn: Grundig G8 Vs. Panasonic RF-4900

 

(Re-post)

Thanks to Dan for doing this comparison and posting his results:

I thought it would be interesting to compare my tiny, brand-new Grundig G8 portable radio with my huge, 30-year-old Panasonic RF-4900 communications receiver. Introduced in 2009, the Grundig G8 is equipped with a digital-signal-processing brain and is regarded as an excellent radio, delivering superb reception at a reasonable price. Debuting in 1979, the Panasonic RF-4900 has more knobs and buttons than the space shuttle, weighs 20+ pounds, and is bigger than the proverbial breadbox.

I don't have sophisticated equipment to measure sensitivity and selectivity, so I decided to use my ears to compare reception of distant AM broadcast stations with both radios sitting on the conference table in my home office. No external antenna was used on either radio, and I logged 12 stations before ending this experiment. I could have continued tuning up the dial, but I thought a dozen stations was enough for this comparison.

My home is located in a quiet suburban town, about 20 miles northwest of Boston. I started listening at about 9:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday, November 25, 2009, and I was able to receive and identify the following stations before calling it quits:

Freq  Call  Location

 700   WLW  Cincinnati, OH
 750   WSB  Atlanta, GA
 760   WJR  Detroit, MI
 770  WABC  New York, NY
 780  WBBM  Chicago, IL
1090  WBAL  Baltimore, MD
1100  WTAM  Cleveland, OH
1110   WBT  Charlotte, NC
1130  WBBR  New York, NY
1140  WRVA  Richmond, VA
1170  WWVA  Wheeling, WV
1210  WPHT  Philadelphia, PA

Both radios were able to receive these stations relatively clearly, with some occasional fade and flutter, as expected. I'll admit to rotating the G8 to maximize reception for each station, then rotating the RF-4900 on the table so its ferrite-rod antenna was approximately parallel to the front of the G8. I tuned each radio to the same frequency and powered-up one radio at a time, to eliminate the possibility of interference between the two receivers. By alternately powering the radios, I was able to conduct a straightforward Grundig-to-Panasonic comparison to determine which radio was the stronger performer.

While the Grundig G8 is impressive, I think the old Panasonic RF-4900 is just a tiny bit better. In general, reception on the RF-4900 was slightly clearer and more stable than the G8. Granted, it's a judgment call on my part, but I think the Panasonic's 6-1/2" ferrite rod and AM RF gain control teamed up to outdo the little Grundig. That said, the radios perform so similarly in their ability to receive distant broadcasts, only an A-B comparison like the one I conducted would detect a difference.

Keep in mind that this was not a scientific experiment. My conclusion could have been influenced by the RF-4900's better audio fidelity or maybe I was simply bedazzled by all those knobs and buttons. Anyway, it was a fun comparison, and I thought the readers here would be interested in the outcome.

Comments

[Carlos]

Awesome post, thanks Dan. G8 might be my favorite radio, though I'm having a lot of fun with the new Sony ICF-F10s.

G8 is my best FM performer, better than Grundig S350-DL and Tecsun CR-1100 (which has DSP). 94.9, which competes with 95.1, comes in crystal clear on my G8. It's kind of unreal. I wish its speaker were larger.

Cheers!
Carlos Edwards