Sony ICF-SW7600GR AM/FM Shortwave World Band Receiver with Single Side Band Reception

If you want an AM/FM/Shortwave (plus Longwave) radio which is a superb performer yet won't break the bank, this is the one.I can flatly state that this radio Sony ICF-SW7600GR AM/FM Shortwave World Band Receiver with Single Side Band Reception is positively the finest compact portable shortwave, longwave (and AM/FM) receiver currently on the market. I believe that it is the finest compact portable shortwave receiver ever designed.To get anything more capable, you will have to spend a LOT more money - and it is possible that, unless you research the market VERY carefully, you may get something which is not as good!This receiver is simple to operate after reading the owner's manual. JUST MAKE SURE THAT YOU READ IT! Also make sure you UNDERSTAND it! If you do not, or are not sure, then re-read it! Re-read it as often as necessary. You need not be embarrassed - no one else will know how many times you have read the instructions! (It shouldn't take more than one or two CAREFUL readings of the instructions to fully understand them.)You must realize that this is NOT an ordinary analog AM/FM radio where all you do is turn it on, select AM or FM, and maybe change the stations with a knob.This is in fact a sophisticated portable communications receiver and thus requires a learning curve if you are not familiar with shortwave reception. (I have read some reviews here on Amazon's site which clearly demonstrate that the writer[s] did NOT read the instructions! You'll be able to easily spot those for yourself.)If you do read and follow those instructions, this radio is quite easy to use and, by following these instructions (and also by reading some basic books about shortwave listening such as Passport to World Band Radio, 2008 Edition (Passport to World Band Radio) and World Radio TV Handbook 2008: The Directory of Global Broadcasting (World Radio TV Handbook)), you will derive maximum benefit from the radio. Once you have learned how to operate this receiver, you will find that using it becomes very intuitive and VERY rewarding! (Please note that the two books mentioned above introduce new editions each year; you can check for them here on Amazon.)This receiver contains just the controls necessary to bring in signals clearly, thereby eliminating much complication that can cause difficulty in use.Its main claim to shortwave fame, in addition to its overall superb design, is its inclusion of a synchronous detection circuit (as well as full single sideband [SSB] reception), available on no other currently available new receiver in its size- and/or price-class. This circuit can make the difference between hearing a station or not hearing it. It can almost totally eliminate interference from a close-by frequency. The circuit also works on the AM band and eliminates selective fading distortion, commonly heard around dawn, dusk, or evenings when listening to distant stations. (The skywave comes in slightly behind the groundwave, or the skywave itself comes in out-of-phase, and causes distortion on other radios which makes an announcer sound as though he/she has a VERY bad cold! This annoyance will not occur on this Sony.)For shortwave listening, it is quite sensitive off its whip antenna yet is robust enough to handle a significant external antenna, should the owner decide to use one.With this radio, the user can easily and conveniently hear, at appropriate times of the day, English-language broadcasts from England (of course!), China, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Russia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Viet Nam, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Jordan, Egypt, Israel, Argentina (with some GREAT tango music), India, and many, many more. Also, for those conversant in various foreign languages, there is no shortage of those as well. It is fascinating to listen to news and commentaries from these various countries and to compare equivalent news items. It is particularly interesting to see how some countries will emphasize or de-emphasize certain items and, of course, the varying opinions expressed in their commentaries are of great interest to us here in the United States.A Sangean ANT-60 Short Wave Antenna can improve shortwave reception but is not truly necessary. (The Sangean can be plugged into the radio's antenna socket; the wind-up antenna Sony supplies with the radio cannot. It must be clipped to the whip antenna.)Regarding AM performance, this radio is superb. If desired, its AM reception can be improved by means of a Terk Technology AM-1000 Advantage Passive AM Indoor Antenna, used inductively, but this too is not really necessary. Local stations come in, as expected, extremely well, both day and night (especially with use of the synchronous circuit) but what is unexpected is how well this relatively small radio receives long distance stations. At my location, Canada, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic often come in like locals! Other stations from around the country do so likewise. These signals come in loud and VERY clear. One would not expect such high quality performance from a radio this size. And while some other radios in this category may be as sensitive as this Sony, not one of them has the synchronous detection circuit which "cleans up" the received AM signal and makes it fully listenable.FM sensitivity, selectivity, and capture ratio are all excellent.This radio has been manufactured unchanged since 2001; its predecessor model (from which there were only minor changes) dates back to 1994. Incredibly, in all this time, no other manufacturer has been able to design a radio even equal to this Sony, much less superior.Its construction quality is absolutely first-rate. It is still manufactured in Japan (for Sony by Towada Audio Corporation, a company located in Kosaka, a town in the Kazuno District, Akita, Japan; they actually developed the radio), unlike all other compact shortwave portables which are manufactured in China (or, rarely, in Taiwan). Japanese build quality has long been noted for it excellence and this difference really shows. Believe me, just a cursory hands-on examination or comparison between this one and any other receiver in its class will confirm that its construction quality is second-to-none (and is even better than some tabletop communications receivers).In order to buy something "better," you would have to spend at least three times the price of this radio and what you would get (the Eton E1, for example) would not be anywhere nearly as portable as this one. (Nor will its construction quality match that of this Sony.)Some people have complained about the whip antenna being somewhat delicate. In fact, all whip antennas can be damaged relatively easily. In that regard, this Sony radio is no better nor worse than any other. In any case, however, the exact replacement antenna is available from PartStore<dot>com. The antenna takes less than one minute to replace.Sound quality is pretty good - great for news/talk, somewhat less so for music on FM. But even this can easily and inexpensively be corrected by means of a cable available from your local Radio Shack that will connect the radio, via its line output jack, to your stereo system. Or, should you wish to use powered auxiliary speakers, this Logitech Compact Speaker System Z320 for Notebooks is inexpensive and works extremely well. Of course, there are also much more expensive powered computer speakers which may (or may not!) provide better sound than the Logitechs. The choice, as always, is yours. I really like the Logitech Z320s.This receiver can be powered by four 'AA' batteries - either by standard alkalines or, better and far more economically, by rechargeable 'NiMH' types. The radio is very efficient with batteries; a set lasts a very long time and, of course, rechargeable ones can be recharged over and over again.The radio has over 100 memories (100 "regular" memories, 2 more memories for the alarm clock function, and one each for the bottom of each shortwave frequency band). These memories do NOT disappear when changing or even removing the batteries. They are totally non-volatile and will remain essentially "forever," until you manually change or delete them. Even the clock remains for several minutes while changing the batteries. If, however, you remove the batteries for a long time, then you will have to reset the clock. This is very easy to do and is the only thing necessary to reset. There are, in fact, two clocks, one of which can be set to your local time, and the other which can be set to any time zone you desire; I have mine set to UTC [GMT]. (When you set the local time, the other time zone is automatically set as well so you only have to set the clock once.)Sony no longer offers a suitable AC Adapter for this radio. However, Radio Shack does. And the Radio Shack AC Adapter (Cat. # 273-025; the appropriate Adapt-A-Plug [free with purchase of the adapter] is Cat. # 273-1705) is not only better than Sony's original, it is smaller and lighter in weight, and less expensive, costing only $12.99. This adapter and plug can be bought at any local Radio Shack store as well as online if you wish. (It is too bad that Amazon does not sell this adapter!)All in all, this radio, especially at Amazon's current price, just cannot be beaten in terms of value for money.It is, in my opinion, the best value in a shortwave receiver currently on the market and, in a world full of often ephemeral electronic "gizmos," one of the few genuine electronic bargains.This is a radio that the owner will never outgrow!================================================================================================================Update: May 16, 2008To improve shortwave reception at home or when traveling, I recommend the Sony AN-LP1 Active Antenna in addition to the Sangean ANT-60 mentioned above. The AN-LP1 is powered by two AA batteries, folds neatly, and fits into a convenient storage bag. While it is for indoor use only (it mounts in a window) or outdoor use only on days on which there is no wind blowing, it is an extremely useful addition to the owner's armamentarium.If you wish to purchase one (it sells for about $115.00 including the shipping) there is an advantage and a disadvantage - and they are both the same! Currently this antenna is being sold ONLY by an eB@y dealer in Japan (just Google "Buyfromjapan" and then enter "AN-LP1" in his search box) -- but he is absolutely reliable and FAST - you'll have your antenna in less than a week by Express Mail - and he takes the usual major credit cards as well as PayPal.I believe that using an AN-LP1 with an ICF-SW7600GR results in an almost "perfect" portable shortwave reception center.

First the good points - and focus on these. I'd buy this again, knowing what I know now. It's just that I'd be aware of a couple of things that need to be known prior to purchase. The radio itself is great! It's well constructed (not some light weight, cheap, thin and brittle plastic cased wannabe short wave radio. This is relatively expensive and well worth the money. It's been on the market for a number of years, and keeps getting very high marks by such people as ham radio operators who know radios and know what to look for.Sound out of a small speaker is adequate - not worse than one might expect (and shouldn't expect much more). What's most impressive is the frequency stability - drift is almost non-existent on mine. Sideband is outstanding, particularly in this price range. We bought ours primarily for emergency purposes in case of a wide-scale or extended power outage, but it's turning out to be "fun" for this former ham radio operator that's still kind of picky.Sensitivity is quite good. CAUTION: if you aren't familiar with shortwave propagation, study up on it just a bit on the Internet or you'll be very disappointed and do what some other reviewers have apparently done. Depending on time of day, solar storm activity, and other factors, different bands have different characteristics. Sometimes you can scan up, and up, and up (or down), and never have it lock on to a single signal. There are times when some bands are simply "dead," and at other times those same bands (frequency ranges) can pull in signals from all over the world. This is NOT something that Sony has any control with. If the band's open, this radio will pick up nicely.One huge flaw is that this is OBVIOUSLY made to make men look stupid to their wives. We never need instructions for anything - just dig into the box, plug in whatever it is (or add batteries), and use it, right? That's how we men are!We just intuitively know how electronic and mechanical things work - we don't need no stinkin' manual! Guys - if you can somehow get to the instruction manual before you even let anyone know the radio's been delivered, STUDY it. There are just too many functions to be able to intuitively fit on the limited number of buttons on the front of the radio. So do your homework and you can continue your streak of brilliance in front of your kids or your honey by taking it out of the box, sticking in batteries, turning it on, and start programming the heck out of it after pulling in China, India, BBC, South America, etc.! (tongue-in-cheek switch / OFF). Seriously, in order to take full advantage of all the features, this is not entirely a do-it-yourself project. Read the manual first. That's not a criticism, just an observation. This radio is not an on-off, select your band, turn the frequency knob, and listen. There's much more, and it's part of why the radio sells for the price it does - it's head and shoulders above the price-range competition.Now for the reasons why I did not rate it 5 stars. There is no external power supply included - and you supply the batteries (all the more reason to take it out of the box before Christmas in order to "set it up properly" - there's your excuse so you can read the manual after everyone else has gone to bed). ;-) Come on, Sony - at that price, a cheap 6v plug-in power supply ought to be included.Second, and this is a BIG hit on Amazon - DO NOT buy the Sangean antenna listed as "frequently bought together" with this receiver. I got caught on that and purchased something that is IN THE BOX. It's not labeled "Sangean," but there is little doubt it's the same antenna inside, with just a minor cosmetic difference on the outside (mostly the Sangean label). It most likely came from exactly the same factory. Not only does the product description say there are only the internal ferrite bar antenna and the telescoping external antenna on the top of the receiver, with no mention of the plug-in long wire antenna, but the Amazon ad itself says many people buy the Sangean antenna along with the Sony receiver, implying you need to purchase it separately. The fact is, the external plug-in long wire antenna that appears to be the same thing as the Sangean antenna, is IN THE BOX with the receiver. Yes, I called Amazon immediately, and yes, Amazon apologized, gave me a postage-paid shipping label, and promptly credited my credit card when the Sangean antenna was received back by Amazon. In that regard, Amazon was at their usual greatness. But the ad for the radio (including the extended item description) are misleading or outright wrong.Without those two glitches (the lack of an external power supply included, and the antenna BEING included but being "pushed" by Amazon and not listed in the product description), this would otherwise have been a very solid 5-star rating. Note: we give very few 5-star ratings. The product has to be way above the competition, virtually flawless, and far more impressive than just "that's a really great [product]." So to say it's otherwise a 5-star rating says a lot about how much I like the radio.