Sony ICF-SW7600GR World Radio

I don't think I have ever been so impressed with any of my radios over the past 30 years as I am with this little gem! I have to admit I would not have bought it were it not for its synchronous detector as I consider it an essential feature for broadcast band listening. Fading I can cope with and my experience of sync detectors is that they can not eliminate this. But they can be very effective at reducing the effects of fading such as distortion - that all too familiar whooshing sound that distorts speech and particularly music and is very hard on the ears, not to mention the nerves. Even if I'm listening to a good, solid, single-hop, daytime-path signal a few deep fades will badly distort the sound and soon have me reaching for the off button. The sync detectors on the AR7030 and Lowe HF150 were excellent but I didn't like either radio and eventually sold both. But I was worried that the sync on the considerably better-priced Sony SW7600GR would be less effective and not smooth out the distortion as I had hoped. But this is not the case at all and it is, in fact, highly effective. Folk music from Radio Romania, Spanish Classical music from REE, the whole hour of China Drive on CRI are all a total joy to listen to now without a hint of distortion. Other things I love about this radio are its excellent build-quality. It's got all the hallmarks of quality I've come to associate with Sony. Its inclusion of FM for those moments I want to listen to Radio 3 for a change. And its keypad for direct frequency input, enabling me to jump freely and effortlessly around the bands. Its speaker may be a little on the quiet side, and not as rich and bassy as my Sangean ATS803A or DX-394, but its inclusion of a sync detector far out way any negligible disadvantage here. This radio has returned the joy to broadcast band listening and I am proud to own it.

Hi, Some time back, a friend of mine gave me an Lexitronic E5 radio, I didn't spend much time playing with it because I figured it would be limited in performance in quite a few important areas. The E5 in question is also marketed by Grundig known as the 'G5' and also by Eton the 'E5'.I have owned a Lowe HF 225 for about 15 years or so, which is regarded as a good receiver.The latter receiver has a dynamic range of about 85dB. Before buying the ICF 7600GR, I attempted to find out some radio performance figures/specs but unfortunately there was nothing except reviewers doing side by side listening tests which is essentially flawed because broadcast stations audio quality vary from station to station, and in general is inconsistent, in the past I have found quite a few radio stations that were badly calibrated. Of course, the subjective reviewer would blame his or her radio receiver for this when in fact the receiver is innocent. There are 3 important figures which determine how good a receiver actually is which are: Dynamic range, sensitivity and image rejection. The latter can be dramatically improved by up converting the first I.F., the higher it is the better, both the Sony and the Tecsun have first I.F.'s of 55.845MHz, this is good so only minimal front end filtering are required to give at least 60 dB image rejection across shortwave. Next up, sensitivity, the Sony gives 20dB s/n for 1uV rms whilst the Tecsun rolls in at 25dB s/n for 1uv rms(both AM modulated at 50%) making both receivers very very sensitive indeed and in fact this is exceptional, the lowe HF 225 is about 10dB for 1uV. Dynamic range for the Tecsun comes in at a usable 55dB whilst the Sony equals 78dB, both receivers were switched to dx mode during tests i.e., no attenuation.With the Tecsun, front mixer overloads at around 600uV r.m.s.,which is lousy, however the signal can be attenuated by way way of a 3 position switch,max= -15dB. Some more important facts to consider: The Tecsun PL660 price varies between about £85~£110, so shop around. The Sony 7600GR has no price variation and sells for a fixed £110.00 no matter what. The Tecsun supply you with a 6V/300mA mains adapter and 1000mA/hr AA x4 rechargable batteries plus a set of earphones. Both have good AM sync detectors, I think the Tecsun is slightly better here. The Tecsun includes air band which I have tested and it works well. The Sony has 100 memories whilst the Tecsun has 2000. Okay, I'm impressed by both, the Tecsun gives a lot of radio for your money. Can you go effective dx hunting with either radio, of course you can, I now know why there are fewer and fewer new table top receivers available on the market?,i.e., they just can't compete. 3/7/2014: Update: Having now spent a considerable listening time with both radio's I have found that the Tecsun PL660, switched to ssb(amateur bands) sometimes does not sound too good, it's rather distorted particularly when the signal seems to fade into noise. Just to check it wasn't poor transmissions I listened to the Sony on the same channel and it was crystal clear. So Japanese quality actually means something,eh? In every other receiving mode, the Tecsun PL660 is good, particularly AM broadcast listening. Little people know it(including myself, until recently, I would not have given these radios time of day) but these two radios are just as good(if not better) as table top £500+ receivers. Both these receivers are very capable dx listening radios.Get one. Cheers Commie

Excellent Shortwave radio. Sony 'made in Japan' quality, with a model history dating back to the 1980s. Initially put off by two aspects; the lack of a tuning dial, and no supplied power adapter. Don't let that put you off, batteries are safer than power, with no electrical 'noise'. I use rechargeable's, but also have a set of alkaline's on standby when charging is required. No tuning dial is not as bad as thought, keep the inner tuning button pressed, (1Khz step) and you get a reasonable tuning speed, with no 'muting', it's the best way to tune on SSB. On Shortwave broadcast, keep the outer button pressed, (5Khz step) initially to start automatic searching, although in this mode, there is a tendency for it to stop 5Khz short of the actual frequency. Selectable USB/LSB is a good feature, as is the synchronous detection. Shortwave sensitivity is up there with the best in the portable catagory, but LW and MW is especially sensitive. It would have been ideal if the buttons were backlit. Build quality is top-notch; The speaker grille is metal, and the the LCD window is extremely solid. Sony items should last the distance. Best to buy quality from the start, and as far as radio's go, your looking at it. Highly recommended.

I started with the iconic IC2001 and have many Sony short wave radios since. This one is the best all rounder yet and has the quality and design touches you would expect from Sony. Sensitivity and station grabbing on SW are excellent especially if you give it half a chance with almost any aerial. It doesn't eat batteries. Its solidly built - I agree the aerial needs a bit of care but its a big long aerial for the case and double jointed. Controls are smooth and effective. The only thing I don't like is the case, a little 'cheap' for the radio.

I purchased this radio thinking it would be a top quality world band receiver. I'd been persuaded in no small part to customer reviews here. It was received in double quick time, less than 24 hrs thanks to my free trial of Amazon Prime. It was also well packed and I was given excellent tracking info to my smartphone via the courier DPD. Sadly thats where the good new ended. I opened the package to find dirt on the base of the radio as if had been used-and it had. All the tell-tale signs of a returned and repackaged order were there. Off to a very bad start indeed. But could it get any worse? Oh yes? Immediate impressions were bad. the bodywork felt cheap and plasticky, the display wasn't really clear, there was no RDS (Radio Display System). Now some could say "Well it's a World Radio so what do you expect?" And my answer "RDS for UK Stations". A radio unless it's CB is IMHO useless without it. Unfortunatly it didn't get any better. Tuning and storing stations proved awkward, the illumination for the display was weak and uneven and the sound quality was AWFUL-tinny and lacking any bass. I've heard better sounding radios off a Kellogs 'Variety' Cereal pack. So with all of this added together I have had to activate the Amazon Returns for the first time. This has proved superb so far with a prompt call to discuss my concerns from a lady called Roshelle. I've also printed out the returns label from Yodel and booked collection for tomorrow. The whole process was easy and quick to do. Two good things have come out of this: 1) The outstanding Amazon 'Prime' delivery service which in this instance was ABCD (Above and Beyond the Call of Duty). 2) The Amazon Returns proceedure. At least I'm aware of how good Amazon are when there's a problem. The supplier Appods out to be struck off for supplying used goods as new. And Sony should hang their heads in shame over this one. A very rare thing indeed for them-a dud. No wonder they've discontinued it, their worst radio ever!

I'm unable to get hardly any SW stations even when using the supplied earial and it takes ages to scan accross frequencies using the push buttons. LW and FM are pretty good and the large number of presets available is useful.

Yes a good radio I had the previous version (smaller one) of this and it was superb except the battery holder was very very badly designed and broke once with the otiginal radio and again when I had it replaced by Sony with a brand new one. Much bigger than the one I had before but very intuitive and very effective except if one wants to listen to good quality music the speakers are not up to it. But as a short wave SSB USB etc. and Medium wave radio it is very good indeed.

This product was a real disappointment. I also thought the new look cheap. I had had an earlier Sony ICF-SW7600 (the black one) which travelled around the world with me untill it gave up the ghost a couple years ago. That radio lasted a good 10-15 years, this new one lasted less than one year before it started dying on me. I still need a world travel radio and I'm on the market for another one. I might just have been unlucky with that latest Sony.....

J'ai déjà acheté le même il y a une dizaine d'années. C'est un excellent appareil qui permet beaucoup de préréglages faciles à atteindre. Je ne lui connais que deux points faibles : l'antenne et les jacks femelles d'écouteurs et du chargeur. En voyage et en écoute de nuit... l'appareil glisse... il marche toujours, mais les jacks cassent et l'antenne branle un peu. Mon réparateur n'a pas pu trouver de jacks de remplacement. Sony ne fournit plus, hélas. Je m'en suis tiré par des fils extérieurs assez disgracieux. L'appareil marche comme à ses débuts. Je le laisse sur ma table de nuit et je suis content d'avoir retrouvé le même. Attention aux deux points faibles, mais quelle radio !

Best buy for all interested in SW listening.Been using it for a few weeks only.Tuning and memory settings become very easy within a week.SW tuning is very good and sensitive with built in antenna. SSB, ATT and CW are additional feathers in its cap. Yet to try an outdoor antenna - should give better performance with out-door SW antenna. Sony has indeed designed this set with love for SW listeners.FM and MW listening also is very nice.Seems a bit over priced.

I did my research as to what kind of radio to buy , and I settled on this gem . The tuning takes a bit of getting used to , but once you play with your new toy long enough it becomes quite intuitive . This radio performs like a Tiger and is built really well ..., still made in Japan . The shipping was quick , no problems whatsoever .., a great experience .

Esta es LA RADIO MULTIBANDAS. Olvídate de copias chinas y baratas. La Sony está hecha en Japón (genuinamente Sony) y tiene una calidad excepcional. La pena es que no la haya en color negro. Una radio perfecta. La volvería a comprar una y mil veces. EDITO: Después de un año y medio de uso, he de decir que cada día que pasa estoy más contento con ella. La calidad de recepción no tiene parangón con ninguna otra de las que tengo, ni tan siquiera con una Grundig estupenda que también tengo. Si estáis pensando comprar una radio multibandas, no lo dudéis, esta es la radio.

I just recieved the Sony-ICF-SW7600GR AM/FM.This is my first dip into the shortwave world and this seems to be an excelent place to start out.According to the other reviews it seemed to get a high rating and other Sony products that I own are the best(very few misses)I did my first DXing last night and after listening to a whole lot of static I learned to adjust the controls of the right side to get it working better(and attached the wire retracting device to the whip antenna and placed it by the window)also turned off the tv and computer near by(I leave in sleep mode-technically still on-not good)and seemed to get in a few stations-but it was late(4am Eastern DST),the guide book says to start earlier-so I'm learning!I assume a better antenna-probably an active(powered)will do better and pull in farther stations(Europe,Asia-etc.)but maybe getting outdoors away from awnings,gutters,high tension wires will improve the preformance.Time will tell!!The scanning feature is nice and the memmory/page design is great-it takes a little time to get the hang of it but keep the owners manual handy for referal-I just learned to enjoy it for what it is-a portable radio with a ton of features.The only drawback was a lack of a ac/dc transformer(Sony discontinued them-also the portable antenna's also)-no problem-I ordered a ac/dc power supply from another supplier(Universal Radio has a filtered and fused unit)and while pricey it works well-although the alkaline batteries I installed should last a long time-you can use rechargeable batteries as well with an external charger unit for the NI-CAD or LI-ON you would like to use. Amazon did a great job shipping on time-price was great-and with Prime membership shipping was free-way to go Amazon!!I think my next step in shortwave will be the Grundid 750-tabletop unit-according to experienced DX-ers a knob tuner wheel in more desirable and the tuning analog strength meter is a good feature-Amazon has it for a good price but I need to save up a little(lot)more!!I think the whole secret to this shortwave stuff is a great antenna(seems the experienced users run a long wire out in the yard-usually about a 100 foot long)we'll see!!This could become a cool hobby!!The Sony radio is a great starting point-plus the FM is outstanding-the stereo feature through the earphone jack is great-I use an old headset an it sounds great!!I think if you get a set of amplified computer speakers would really turn this radio into a nice tabletop radio!although the built in speaker is'nt bad.I guess I'm old enough to remember having a tiny transister radio to my ear-I live near Motown and CKLW Windsor was the station to listen to-until FM Stereo hit it big in the middle 60s-so the Sony SW/AM/FM seems like the ultimate transistor radio to me!!!Just buy it and enjoy it-anyway I enjoy it!!haha!! Well hope this review helped-I'm a security technitian by trade and technology is changing daily at warp speed-this radio in some form has been built in Japan(not china)for about 40 years I believe-updated along the way with more features-it seems to do a great job!!Happy listening!!W.Peterson-AKA-Captain Kirk 2013 "To boldly go where no man has gone before"!!!!haha UPDATE-1 1/2 Weeks usage- I seem to be using the radio for FM more then AM shortwave-it seems that getting distant stations is harder then i thought-even after buying the Kaito AN200 passive antenna that wasn't much help(to be honest I really haven't tried very long)but looks really cool!!I need to try this radio outside away from the high tension wires and metal awnings and gutters and home electronics to see if that helps with shortwave more.But I'm satisfied with the features even for casual listning.I'm pulling in a ton of FM stations that I've never heard of before-so we'll see?So as in the first review above-its a portable radio,not a radio station,a good antenna is the secret,its still a great ultimate transistor radio with many great features!!I think the Grundig 750 is more for serious DX'ers-but more bucks-so for what this radio costs its definatly worth it!The ac/dc adapter from Universal Radio works well and saves batteries.The antenna reel that comes with it did help a little for better reception-but there again I need to put more time into the hobby!Happy Listening Sony ICF-SW7600GR AM/FM Shortwave World Band Receiver with Single Side Band Reception, plus External Plug-in Antenna