Doug Getting Crisp Reception and Robust Audio on His Tecsun PL-660

 

I just received my 660 yesterday and have no hiss at all on FM, just a clear, clean, surprisingly robust audio. Ditto the AM and SW bands. It is really a fine, fun little radio and the sensitivity is incredible, MUCH more than I expected.

An oldies AM station in Vancouver (WA) way north of where I live comes in very weakly if at all on almost all my other radios; on the 660, it is a booming, static-free 10. On SW, I actually get MORE stations with stronger signals than I do on my legendary Sony ICF-2010, something I never would have figured on. 

I had a PL-600 that I sold because I was never even satisfied with it, let alone thrilled. Mediocre FM and SW reception, though FM was fine. From aesthetics to ergonomics and performance on all bands, the 660 is significantly superior and the audio (though not up to my SR II or Panny 2200 due to its much smaller speaker size) is most pleasant. I cranked up our local classical and jazz stations with no distortion. A little thin on bass, I suppose, but I am not a big bass fan so not an issue. And, unlike the 600, the Sync on the 660 just flat out WORKS. Having separate LSB and USB bands is just one more plus. I just like handling this radio, like the overall feel of using it. And I am still stunned at how many SW stations I get and how strongly they come in, especially here in Portland, OR which is pretty far down on the World Band food chain for reception.

BTW, I got it from Kaito USA and saw no evidence that it had been opened, though it was not tape sealed.

 

Comments

[Doug]

Richard——I have used sync repeatedly on world band listening, mainly on the 41 and 49 meter bands and haven't yet noticed any spillover from local stations. When I do hit sync, I instantly get a cleaner signal with less noise. Now I've only done this a few times, so this is an evaluation in progress.

Pablo–––As for FM sensitivity, it all depends of course on where you live and the relative distance and strength of the stations. But here are two examples of the 600 vis a viz the 660, both off just the whip: With the 600, the best reception I could get with the 600 on our local classical station 89.9 was a 9, that is to say clear reception with just a hint of static, BUT the stereo indicators would continually flash on and off as it obtained and lost the necessary signal strength. With the 660, a 10 in reception, no static at all, and the stereo indicators stay on the whole time I am tuned in. Much the same on 89.1 our local jazz station. So whatever problems other 660s users are having on FM, I am not. Also, on AM, the 660 pulls in a distant oldies station at a 9.5-10 level whereas the 600 was maybe an 8.5. From where I sit, the 660 is just a superior radio in all aspects.

[Pablo]

Thanks for your comment Doug! I´m still tempted with the new Sangean ATS-909X (are the positive reviews are growing everyday) but this Tecsun sounds interesting as is half the price of the Sangean..

[Account Deleted]

Olá, Doug. Moro no Brasil e tenho um PL 660. Gostei muito da sua revisão. Parabéns pelo blog. Este receptor é um dos melhores que eu conheço.
Obrigado, Doug.
Sergio, 04/04/2011.