"Drive-in-Freak" writes:
Unfortunately the Grundig S450DXL is a dud. Thanks to Rat Shack's liberal return policy I tried thee of them, and every one had the same issue: noise. When you're tuning they ring terribly.
Also sensitivity and selectivity on the AM/WM band is lackluster. While I understand not everything can be a RF-2200 or Superadio, forking over $80 or whatever for a radio that's doesn't quite have the pulling power of a $10 Sony pocket radio(ICF-S10MK20) is a bit much.
Too bad they didn't put a bit more effort into it. It could have been a nice rig.
I bought one at RadioShack last April. No problems with mine, and it pulls in all bands just fine. I dislike the lack of scan tuning, otherwise it's been a workhorse and sounds great. I guess I was lucky. Quality control or lack thereof does nothing but besmirch Grundig's good name and it seems Tecsun are doing all they can to associate Grundig with crap.
Posted by: imara | December 10, 2012 at 03:41 PM
Imara, how would you rate the S450 compared to other radios you have used?
Posted by: Keith Beesley | December 10, 2012 at 09:26 PM
imara:
To be fair, Grundig S450DLX is not made by Tecsun but by Redsun (the manufacturer of RP2100 from which the S450 is derived).
Tecsun's QC is not good, and there are worse ones, for example, Degen (manufacturer of G3/G6 etc.) However, first of all, Eton should take most of the blames.
So many samples of the first batch of G3 had various issues and Eton rep simply said they were aware of no problem at all (compare that to the recent response from Sangean rep regarding WR-12).
Posted by: owl | December 11, 2012 at 07:32 AM
I don't even bother with new any more, Satellit 750 the exception. Find a vintage Sony or Panasonic if you can.
Posted by: dorpmuller | December 11, 2012 at 11:23 AM
Tecsun Pl-660 is a fantastic receiver if you love shortwave and single sideband digital/voice transmissions.
Posted by: Shawn | December 11, 2012 at 11:28 AM
I actually bought mind a year ago this month as with coupons I was able to grab it and the 1 year replacement warranty for just over $70. Does the radio have shortcomings? Well, I think it's got a bit of poor build quality as a couple of the front switches feel like you need to exercise much more care than something built better. With that said, the only problem I've encountered was accidentally breaking the telescopic antenna. I had actually purchased this after returning a S350 which was a total disappointment.
I miss my vintage Somy ICF-2001 which took a lightning strike decades earlier. A RatShack DX-302 isn't quite as portable as the 450DLX but isn't a terrible radio when chasing shortwave. I think the recommendation of finding a vintage receiver is probably the best advice to find decent build quality.
Posted by: Bill DeFelice | December 22, 2012 at 02:33 PM