A recent email about my blog paying less attention to radios, made me think about the hobby that propelled me to start a blog in the first place.
I got bit by the radio bug almost 10 years ago when some substandard clock radios, I noticed, were not grabbing AM and FM stations the way I wanted.
Around 2004, I was snatching up every Degen, Tecsun, Grundig, and Eton radio there was. I was also buying vintages, the Sony ICF-5900 my most famous model.
Recently, I bought a Sangean WR-12 and it was a dud. I also noticed that Boston Acoustics stopped making radios. Theirs sounded great but had a lot of bugs, to say the least. It was around this year that I became discouraged about the radio market. There's not a lot out there. C.Crane is about the only vendor that seems committed to radios and you can buy the best ones there, the Sangean WR-2 and the C.Crane SW, to name a couple. But overall, there's not much exciting in the way of new radios. There are some blue tooth models. Some day I may buy the Sangean WR-22, which appears to be a BT version of my much liked Sangean WR-2.
Tecsun keeps churning out nice portable radios with DSP chips rendering strong FM even though their AM is nothing to write home about. Nor is their speaker sound.
I'm still eager to report on good radios, especially those with strong FM AND AM, but that is harder and harder to find. With such slim pickings, I could recycle my old posts, but I'm not up to that.
Most of my recent posts are about watches, a subject that is of no or little interest to some readers. I apologize for that. The competition to make better and better watches of higher and higher quality makes me interested.
In contrast, radio makers are into cutting corners and selling junk. It's hard for me to feign excitement over that. It's partly a market-driven situation.
As Ed and others have explained, to make a great radio, one similar to a Panasonic RF-2200 or Sony ICF-5900, radio makers would have to sell those radios for several hundred dollars (maybe even over a thousand) and they know there's not a big enough market for that.
So I consider myself lucky that I can buy a vintage mint Panny RF-2200, a GE SR II or get one of "today's" good radios, a Sangean WR-2, WR-11 or C.Crane SW. Other than that, there's not a lot that excites me.
Did somebody say radios?
Beautiful watch, solar, and radio controlled:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9uRObZiciE
Posted by: Paul | March 08, 2013 at 08:51 PM
I've got several reviews I'd like to write up sometime, including sharing my experience with my first ever purchase of a radio from Yahoo Japan (a Panasonic RF-877, still waiting to receive it), a comparison between my Grundig Satellit 700 and Satellit 2400 (as requested by a reader here), and a review of my Blaupunkt Bremen MP-76 car stereo with diversity fm reception (the same kind used on wireless microphones where you have 2 antennas and it constantly switches to whichever antenna is receiving the stronger signal while you're driving - but I can't do this review until I actually install a second antenna). If I get really motivated I may review my vintage Panasonic/Technics SA-5270 AM/FM/integrated amp.
Posted by: brandon | March 09, 2013 at 05:15 AM
I read your blog because of the radios. Yes, I've noticed that it is more and more about watches, which I have only a passing interest in. I own 42 radios and three watches (one of which I recently bought because of a recommendation on your blog).
Yet, I enjoy reading about the watches, so I don't have a problem with the direction of the blog. And it's true, there is really not much happening right now in radio or radios. In fact, when I retired a couple of years ago, one thing I thought I'd be doing a lot more of is AM DXing, yet I've done very little of it.
Sad to say, radio (as we know it) seems to be dying. I myself, when I want to listen to music, either listen to one of the free music services or my own mp3s or CDs. Hardly ever the radio. My radio listening these days is mainly all-news WINS or all sports WFAN. Who need yet another new radio to listen to these powerhouses...
Keep up what you're doing Jeff, watches are fine, and if there is news on the radio front, I'm sure you'll clue us in.
Thanks for the past 5 years or so, and looking forward to many more.
--Ken
Posted by: Ken K. in NJ | March 09, 2013 at 06:51 AM
Ken, thanks for that. Like you said, if radio were thriving, not dying, I'd have more posts about all the great radios coming out. Thankfully, readers can get full reviews of radios on Jay Allen's site.
Posted by: herculodge | March 09, 2013 at 06:56 AM
Yeah, sad to say Jeff, but the focus on watches ( do they do anything but reflect the owner's status or lack thereof? They certainly aren't necessary anymore to know the time) has helped to turn me off to this blog. That, and the ridiculous injection of rightwing politics into every possible discussion, from potty training to the price of tea in China. Just my two cents.
Radios and other hi tech devices are not in short supply for discussion, just checkout AVSforum.com, my favorite place these days.
Posted by: Ed | March 09, 2013 at 11:11 AM
Ed, I've known you for a long time, so I should respond.
I don't have the manpower or infrastructure to be like AVSforum. My posts are from personal obsessions and concerns. I don't have rightwing politics in me, but I know some readers do. I don't censor unless comments are really crazy. I look at watches as more than status symbols, but I understand your being turned off by that because a lot of people use watches as such.
Posted by: herculodge | March 09, 2013 at 11:22 AM
Hi. I think the doom and gloom talk about the death of radio is premature...I expect terrestrial broadcasting will be with us for some time into the future. Yes, I'm biased because I've been a broadcaster since 1967 and I've loved radio and radios my whole life. And I do think many of today's radios are miserable on AM which is why I keep my vintage radios and antennas for serious AM listening. But here in New England teh AM dial is still full of signals and i enjoy AM radio every day. So if you love AM radio, enjoy it...I think it will be around for a while yet.
Jay
http://radiojayallen.com
Posted by: Jay Allen | March 10, 2013 at 03:52 AM
You should add the Sangean WR-3 to the list of worthwhile radios. Excellent AM and FM reception, flexible tone controls plus CD and memory stick playback. More expensive than the other models, but a good investment in the long run (mine has been running daily for four years now).
Posted by: JD | April 28, 2013 at 06:08 AM
Have you tried Blaupunkt? They have a great speaker and the tuning is one of the best:
http://www.blaupunkt-wr.com
Posted by: vito | September 17, 2013 at 06:56 AM