Rating: 
Summary: Great Shortwave Radio
Review: It's small and light and has great reception.The synch detector, on signals that are not weak, is wonderful, in reducing what's called selective fading (where the carrier fades but the sidebands do not, causing overmodulation and distortion, on shortwave and twilight AM broadcast band), and in rejecting a nearby strong station - you just pick the other sideband and listen in the clear. The synch detector does not work on very weak signals however. You have to go up to the venerable and clunky Sony 2010 at $360 for that. With the addition of a one foot diamater MW loop antenna, say Select-a-tenna, the Terk loop, or the new Radio Shack MW loop ($30), it's a formidible daytime distance AM radio. The audio is not great but not awful. It has a ``fast'' AGC, which means you can tune a MW loop easily. The Grundig Yacht Boy YB400, for the same price, has better audio and equal sensitivity, but no synch detector, so it falls victim to interference more often. The YB400 has a ``slow'' AGC, which makes it almost impossible to use with a MW loop because you can't tune the loop, if AM daytime distance listening is important. Either of these two radios is a fine choice.
Rating:
Summary: Great friend for the traveler
Review: This, along with the Grundig YB-400 are the best shortwave radios offered on Amazon at the moment. Both have their advantages and it is up to the user to decide which are more important. The advantage of the Sony is its synch. detector which helps you get rid of interference from adjacent stations. This can be very helpful when trying to listen to a station on the crowded bands at peak times. The Grundig doesn't have this feature but does have much better audio which makes listening more pleasant over the long haul. Both are great buys and will make great companions on those overseas trips. If you travel to Europe or eastern North America go with the Sony due the high number of strong stations, otherwise go for the Grundig and enjoy the best audio of any portable on the market.
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