(Re-post)
My black Grundig S350DL is amazing with no problems, much better than the red one I had a few years ago. The model surely suffers from quality control problems evidenced by Jason's Grundig S350 adventure:
I went back to Radio Shack last night intent on getting a GS450 and returning the Grundig G6 I bought on clearance a few weeks ago. I just did not like the rather tinny sound and weak shortwave on the G6 (The G8 seems better and I think that the ATS on the G8 is much, much better). Surprise, surprise - they show the GS450 in stock but cannot find it anywhere in the store and, even bigger surprise, the S350DL is still there and still marked at $49.
I weigh the otpions - dealing with the drift on the 350 vs. possibly having the FM crap out on the 450. I end up going with the S350DL. They ring it up and it comes up to $99. They have mislabeled the price on the shelf but give it to me at $49 anyway!! So, for the one year replacement, batteries and radio plus $10 coupon - I trade in the G6 and the 350 only costs me $2.22! I'm thinking - what a deal - since I had read reviews of the awesome FM on this model plus the great sound on shortwave and AM. I get it home and the tuning is an absolute mess.
The drift on AM was terrible! After 10 minutes, it is jumping all over the place - if you touch the radio, the sound mutes and the display goes nuts. I pack it up to take it back but then I decide to google the problem and find this: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Grundig-S350/message/4644 I do exactly what he says - I pull off the cover after unscrewing all of the screws (including the 2 in the battery compartment).
Only the speaker is attached to the front. I remove the three screws from the display and then tighten the two screws on the tuning wheels. They were barely loose - almost not noticable - so I was not too optimistic. I carefully got it all back together (the plastic pieces that hold the fabric handle on only go back on one certain way and were sort of a pain!). I cross my fingers, plug it in, and wow - a brand new radio. The tuning is perfect. Zero drift on FM and AM. AM sounds excellent.
I listened to Radio Australia here on 49 meters this morning and it was nice and strong just using the whip. Hardly any drift on SW - and I couldn't hear the drift - I only noticed it when I looked at the display. The sound is room-filling. I ended up listening to a fairly low-power FM station about 35 miles away that I typically have to listen to on the internet and it sounded just like it does in the car. I ran the radio for several hours just to make sure it would not warm up and go completely drifty or haywire and it is still perfect. I am very impressed and now I don't have to worry about the FM going bad. I'm not sure how often I will have to tighten those screws. The board appeared to have a manufacture date of 2007 so maybe the sitting around all of this time was the problem. We'll see.
I would like the memory pre-sets of the 450 but I don't think it's worth the $50 or the risk. Plus, the fast tuning on shortwave will allow me to quickly mine out the bands for signals and then use my KA-1103 as a companion for serious DX and SSB. I am lucky that Radio Shack honored the displayed $49 price on the 350DL but if they do end up going on clearance once the 450's are out every where, I think it would be a deal that is hard to beat.
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