Chris' First Experiences with His Grundig S450 and CCrane EP Radios

 

 

Re-post

Thanks, Chris Compton:

Got my Grundig S450 DLX Dec 24. Out of the box with brand new Duracell batteries the AM/ SW started motor boating after 3 minutes. The FM was deaf. Universal sent a replacement I should have in hand on Monday 1-3-11. A BIG disapointment!

On topic of quality, I went through two defective C Crane "CC radio EP"s before I got a good one.
The first one had a defective volume control. The second one drifted badly on FM when the LED dial light was switched on or off.

Crane tells me the first 2 were Pre-Production units. The third unit however is quite good on a par with my RP2100 on AM with good selectivity and sensitivity, that is,once you get the the hang of adjusting the Twin Coil Ferrite knob. Adjustment is necessary for tuning stations above 1200 khz.
The Music/Voice switch is a bandwidth selector and the two bandwidths are well placed.
I like the audio because the Bass is not harsh ala my RP 2100.

The FM is OK, nothing to brag about. Sensitivity is good but adjacent channel selectivity is not so good. 

What I really like is the led dial light feature. It can be left switched on with very little impact on battery life.
All in all a nice replacement for GE SR3. 

 

Comments

[Gary]

I wonder if Chris' replacement S450DLX worked OK. I recall that some folks got more than one defective unit.