Why Does the Tiny Ferrite on My Sangean LB-100 Get Better AM Than My Grundig S350 and C. Crane CCR-2?

A lot of background junk on my Grundig S350 and a bit of a hum on my C. Crane CCR-2 and CCR-Plus is baffling to me. These radios have big ferrite AM antennas inside. In contrast, my Sangean LB-100 has an undersized ferrite, about 3 inches, and it gets AM loud and clear with no background noise. This isn't to say that the LB-100 is for everyone. I live in Torrance where the LB-100 meets all my AM needs just fine, but one reader, who lives 40 miles away in Simi Valley, got poor AM performance on his LB-100 and he returned his. 

For me, though, the LB-100 is a strong performer, pulling in good AM sound even at my work office, an environment notorious for interference. My Sangean U3 delivers even better AM than my LB-100. I'd love to test the $230 Sangean Fatbox worksite radio. My guess is that its AM is superb.

Comments

[Paul]

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[Shawn P]

Any radio is going to pick up local AM stations, I suspect the speaker quality of the Sangean is better than the Grundig or CCCrane. The Grundig and CcCrane are probably overloading from the strong signals, which would make them noisy. You can try to turn the gain switch on the Grundig all the way down.

[Huesby]

"Any radio is going to pick up local AM stations" ..... specially if they are 3 blocks down. Great answer Shawn P. !

[John]

When you can buy a $20.00 Sony handheld that smokes the big Grundig and the CC, what it tells you is that the Grundig and CC designs are just stupid, there is no other explanation. No need to make excuses. Tube car radio from the 50's and 60's were very sensitive and also sounded like juke boxes. There is absolutely no excuse for a crummy AM radio section in a radio such as the large Grundig or the CC. The GE Super Radio I and II designs put a period at the end of the argument. The truth is that the CC and Grundig are inferior, by design choice.

[Robin Christoff]

John, you hit it right on the head.

Bought the CCradio (original)--fool me once shame on you.

Bought the CCradio (plus)--fool me twice shame on me.

Fool me three times? UH-UH!

[carmen]

10 watt TIS stations 80 miles away are audible daytime on a 8 foot coil fashioned using kr1st's design. stand near it with a Sony SRF-39 for serious DX

[Doug]

Since Grundig and Crane OEM from different suppliers, I'm not sure one can validly generalize about the quality of the brands in general.

For example, while I am no fan of the S350 (although I do confess that it looks great!), I am rather fond of the Kaito KA2100 = CCrane Radio SW.