Rating: 
Summary: Adequate but not exceptional
Review: I own a Sony ICF-2010, Grundig YB400 and just purchased the ATS-909. Of the three I would give the ATS-909 the lowest score. It definitely lacks the sensitivity of the other two. (Though connecting an external antenna helps greatly but defeats the purpose of a portable radio.) And I find the audio quality to be muddled and tiring to listen to. If you're looking for a good portable I would also recommend the Grundig YB400 or the new Sony ICF-7600GR.
Rating: 
Summary: THE BEST SHORTWAVE RADIO EVER FOR THE MONEY !!!
Review: I own all the others, Kenwood, Grundig, etc. but SANGEAN ROCKS. I own 3 of these ATS-909's and I love everything about it: the layout of the buttons and knobs, the display is FANTASTIC, and the sound is AWESOME. For the money, you get it all. If you don't like the factory presets of all the SW Frequencies, program it the way YOU want it. The RDS is great! You can lable the stations with the call sign or whatever you like. Buy it, use it, learn to operate it like a pro, and you with respect this radio for the rest of your life.
Rating:
Summary: Very Nice Multi-Purpose Radio
Review: I spent much time researching various makes and models of SW radios before making purchase of the Sangean ATS-909. I have had and/or currently own several radios, ranging from portable Sony's, to very low cost China export models, to full blown Ham radios such as the desktop Yaesu 847. In short, I rate the Sangean ATS-909 5-Stars! It is uncomplicated and very easy to use after reading the brief manual and spending some time getting to know the radio. I simply love the 306 memories and the alpha-numeric tagging of stations. This is the primary reason I purchased the radio ' I want pushbutton convenience to the stations I listen to the most ' and I want to see the name of the station (which you can easily create). Performance wise, I rate the Sangean ATS-909 as follows: FM = 5-Stars. I live in the sticks, but even 30-mile away FM stations come in with relative ease (even with the antenna collapsed, although the antenna should be extended for clearest reception). AM = 4.5 Stars. All of the MW stations come in fine, and you should have no problem hearing all of your favorite stations, although there may be some noise on the weaker stations. As with ALL radios, for SW listening, you WILL need to steer clear of electrical noise sources such as lamp dimmers, motors, and other man-made sources of noise. Keep in mind that there will be very limited reception when indoors. This is true with all radios. When I moved outdoors and connected the included wire antenna, reception was strong on all SW bands. In fact, the wire antenna outperforms the whip antenna by a slight margin (it should, too, being 30-feet long!!!). The Sangean preloaded memories really make listening for a particular county or station a pleasure; it's really cool to select which country you wish to listen to, and to further select from a list of stations from that country. The tonal quality and volume are more than adequate. The overall features of the Sangean ATS-909, compared with other radios, are simply superb. The overall build quality is excellent. This is a fine looking radio with a big, informative LCD display and great features. I have read on how this radio will quickly drain batteries, so I simply keep it connected to the wall transformer ' no big deal.
Rating:
Summary: Very Nice Multi-Purpose Radio
Review: I spent much time researching various makes and models of SW radios before making purchase of the Sangean ATS-909. I have had and/or currently own several radios, ranging from portable Sony�s, to very low cost China export models, to full blown Ham radios such as the desktop Yaesu 847. In short, I rate the Sangean ATS-909 5-Stars! It is uncomplicated and very easy to use after reading the brief manual and spending some time getting to know the radio. I simply love the 306 memories and the alpha-numeric tagging of stations. This is the primary reason I purchased the radio � I want pushbutton convenience to the stations I listen to the most � and I want to see the name of the station (which you can easily create). Performance wise, I rate the Sangean ATS-909 as follows: FM = 5-Stars. I live in the sticks, but even 30-mile away FM stations come in with relative ease (even with the antenna collapsed, although the antenna should be extended for clearest reception). AM = 4.5 Stars. All of the MW stations come in fine, and you should have no problem hearing all of your favorite stations, although there may be some noise on the weaker stations. As with ALL radios, for SW listening, you WILL need to steer clear of electrical noise sources such as lamp dimmers, motors, and other man-made sources of noise. Keep in mind that there will be very limited reception when indoors. This is true with all radios. When I moved outdoors and connected the included wire antenna, reception was strong on all SW bands. In fact, the wire antenna outperforms the whip antenna by a slight margin (it should, too, being 30-feet long!!!). The Sangean preloaded memories really make listening for a particular county or station a pleasure; it�s really cool to select which country you wish to listen to, and to further select from a list of stations from that country. The tonal quality and volume are more than adequate. The overall features of the Sangean ATS-909, compared with other radios, are simply superb. The overall build quality is excellent. This is a fine looking radio with a big, informative LCD display and great features. I have read on how this radio will quickly drain batteries, so I simply keep it connected to the wall transformer � no big deal.
Rating: 
Summary: Probably the best under $300 radio you'll find.
Review: If you are really interested in what shortwave radio has to offer, this is the radio to get. There are better models, but for this price, it's second to none. Good sensitivity, adequate selectivity (ability to separate signals from one another) and lots of bells and whistles. Covers all the shortwave specturm. Numerous ways to tune stations, the best of which is the keypad input. Digital readout eliminates guesswork as to what frequency you're on. FM tends to overload in urban areas with lots of FM signals. The only real downside to this radio is it can be pretty complicated to operate. Plan on spending some time going through the manual and figuring out all the features. If you live outside of Europe or the east coast of North American, you'll likely need to use an external antenna. 30 feet of wire with alligator clips on each end should do the trick.
Rating:
Summary: the best radio I ever owned
Review: it is intelligent, has a fantastic sound quality, intuitive
what does anyone wish more... for a radio
Rating: 
Summary: Features? -- Great! Performance?-- POOR!
Review: My ATS-909 is so disappointing that I cant wait to return the thing. Its a shame, because the radio is very easy to use, easy to tune, and has many nice features. So whats wrong? Its weak and the sound that comes out of it is poor.
The speaker makes everything in the SW bands sound blurry, dull, and mumbled. It doesnt matter how I tune it, where I set the gain, or whether I use the wide or narrow band. Doesnt pull in many stations either. My tiny analog Grundig Mini World 100 PE has a clearer sound and does a better job at pulling in stations. No joke. And the 100 PE only cost me .... I'm not sure I'd recommend the 100PE to anyone. Its analog, so you'd never be sure what frequency you had on. But atleast you'd be able to understand the broadcasts. My other peeve with the ATS-909 is that it chewed up my 4AA batteries --and I've only had it for two days! AM & FM work decently. But if thats all you want from a radio, why would you buy a portable shortwave receiver? You could spend you money getting an AM/FM radio thats both better AND cheaper. If you're interested in shortwave or SSB, buy something else. I am.
Rating:
Summary: No Synchronous Sideband
Review: One very nice feature that this radio lacks is Sychronous Sideband. This helps with signal fading and adjacent channel interference. If you are serious about short wave listening you may want this feature. A much lower priced Sony has Synchronous Sideband, the ICF-SW7600G. On the other hand you won't get all of the cool presets with the Sony as you do with this unit. I'd advise anyone looking for a shortwave reciever to first pick up a copy of "Passport to World Band Radio" for its product reviews.
Rating:
Summary: The best portable on the market!!!
Review: The ATS 909 is the best portable receiver available. Unlike its Grundig and Sony competitors, the ATS 909 has a wealth of features, good audio, awsome selectivity, and an advanced memory system. The negative reviews received by this product both on the internet and in publications are wrong. There's nothing wrong with the whip sensitivity and the supplied roll out antenna makes the sensitivity even better! I was able to pick up broadcasts from Bulgaria, N.Korea, Canada, Taiwan, and the VOA program broadcast to Russia. On the Grundig YB 400 PE that I had, I had trouble picking up even the stronger stations such as BBC and Radio Netherlands. If you like shortwave, get the ATS 909 but get the deluxe version from the [online store]. The deluxe version eliminates muting while tuning manually (something you can only do with Sangean, since neither the Sony 7600GR nor the Grundig have tuning knobs), this allows you to adjust the reception more precisely and to catch the weaker stations.
Rating:
Summary: Not perfect, but the best there is!
Review: The ATS-909 has a few quirks, but overall I'm quite pleased with its performance. It's easy to tune, easy to program, and pulls in stations better than other radios I've tried. If it's in your price range, definitely a good choice for shortwave!
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