Sangean PR-D4W Portable Radio

A medium wave/AM radio that is top of the range in terms of sensitivity, audio performance with FM like quality on better processed AM stations (eg Manx radio,1368khz, Isle of Man, BBC Radio 4 756kHz, Cornwall, BBC Radio 5 Live 909/693, UK TalkSport 1089 and many others) on its 6kHz setting and narrower bandwidth options 1,2,2.5,3,4kHz are available for crowded conditons and some very weak signals. Excellent filtering with the 6kHz setting working well, even under crowded night time European conditions. Also the radio is free of internal hets on all frequencies and has very low internal noise enabling the best reception possible with greater clarity and the lowest distortion of any AM radio I have used.Unlike some other dsp based radios it works well with passive loops across the AM band to bring up the weakest signals. The radio also has excellent agc, handling fading skywave signals very well, better than some other dsp based radios that have soft muting, maintaining audio quality better than some more expensive AM/FM portables and easily outperforms the AM ranges of any other top range multiband radio I have used. The radio can be used in Europe with a 9kHz step option and also for transatlantic dx with 10kHz steps. In a recent test it performed very well eg WINS 1010, VOCM 590, WBBR 1130, WBZ 1030 were received with ease using a passive tecsun loop in the early morning here in the south of Ireland.With the narrower bandwidth settings it is possible to dig out weaker stations that are more closely spaced to high power European stations.The FM section is less good, about average sensitivity and the audio quality on FM is less than other similar makes and has no rds. On the plus side the selectable bandwidths 40, 60, 85,110 are useful for crowded conditions and works well and is an unusual feature on a radio in this price range. The FM telescopic is well made unlike some competitors which use flimsy telescopics which can break easily.The outstanding aspect is AM/MW performance and performs better than a well known top of the range larger AM/FM portable, that retails at more than twice the price. To compare the two I did side by side tests on a wide range of frequencies in a low noise environment under both day and night time conditions which is best for sensitivity tests to ensure that man made interference is not the limiting factor. While both radios had similar sensitivity, the Sangean PR- D4W received AM/MW stations with better clarity, brighter, higher fidelity audio and handled fading skywave signals better than the bigger radio. I found this to be the case on a wide range of frequencies across the AM band.The larger radio performed better on FM in terms of sensitivity and audio performance.As a weather band alert service is unavailable in the region where I live I was unable to test this aspect on both radios.The build quality of the Sangean PR-D4W is excellent and the use of 4 x D cells ensures long battery life.One minor drawback is that there is no option for the back light to stay on and the radio defaults to the clock setting after approximately 10 seconds following tuning rather than displaying the station frequency and there appears to be no setting to change this. A peculiar feature for a device that is primarily a radio!The absence of a carrying handle, mentioned by other reviewers is not an issue for me. I find the radio easy to carry with a projecting section at the back helpful to prevent the radio from slipping.Treble and bass tone controls would be a nice addition although the audio set up seems particularly suitable for AM reception and the 3 inch speaker is powerful, providing room filling volume.In summary if you listen to local AM stations or you are a dxer interested in listening to distant stations day or night and you want to hear them with the best quality possible then I have no hesitation recommending this radio - the best performing current production AM/MW portable radio in my opinion. If your interest is primarily FM I suggest you look elsewhere.

Fantastic sound qualityAM stations come in nice and clearWeather alerts ….. perfect addition

This is a nice radio. A bit heavy, considering there is no handle for carrying this "portable" radio. It has 20 presets with 10 am and 10 fm (each has two bands). Reception seems quite good although a bit staticky in my area. Delivery was on time and Amazon included my recent order for batteries in the same package. Works with 4 D batteries and/or electrical connection (the adaptor comes with the radio which makes me wonder why Amazon shows a separate adaptor as a suggested additional purchase). Overall, I am pleased with this radio.

Main use - AM radio. News, traffic, weather, talk, ballgames.+ AM Reception - Beats my other portable radios on AM. Good sensitivity & selectivity.+ AM Bandwidth - 1.0, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 4.0, 6.0+ FM Bandwidth - 40, 60, 85, 110+ Quality - looks and feels quality. Substantial weight for its size with 4 D cell batteries.+ Display - easy to see/read.+ Batteries - 4 D cells should last, not odd like 3 cells. Battery compartment door is hinged.+ Audio - Clear voice. Low noise floor.+ Volume Knob - smooth, feels and works of quality.+ Face plate buttons - good feel. Not the hard click. Sized & spaced nicely for easy fingertip operation, or thumb.+ Scan Button - location easy to find & operate by feel (not looking). Just a light press with the right thumb and it goes to next station with display illumination, pause about 5-6 seconds, then scan resumes to next station. Press scan again to stop & hold on a station. Scan seems to catch most weak/fringe stations when my other radios will skip those stations for a stronger signal. Without looking, with my right thumb, feel for the up/down tuning rocker and the scan button is recessed on its left side - easy. I like its location and how well it does./~/ Am Auto Tracking - I don't know how it works and what its doing but when I hit a station on AM, the station will come in then fade with a drop in signal strength momentarily then jumps right back up along with a signal strength increase. So it seems to be doing something, just don't know what but seems effective.- Would be nice to have a carry handle but not a deal breaker for me. My bigger CCrane's, Sony low cost ICF-38, and Sangean PR-D15 have handles making easy carry.- No built in charger but that's fine with me as I have & prefer using my separate chargers for NiMh.- No external AM antenna connections.I'm finding myself using this radio a lot. ~ 90% of the time I use earbuds/headphones. Clean clear audio and no hiss/noise. Good audio when using the built in speaker also. Been using the sleep timer and low volume on the night stand. Used today in the garage with built in speaker while doing an oil change. Good volume & clear audio across the garage.I don't use the FM or weather feature, I have other means for those, but testing FM with headphones the audio was clear, and receive a couple WX stations easily.I have various other portable radios:CCRadio-EP (recent Amazon purchase)CCRadio-2E (display no longer working)2 - CCRadio-SW (volume knobs shorts out on one, display out on another)CCrane CC-SkywaveSangean PR-D7Sangean PR-D15 (recent purchase - good close field low level FM)Sony ICF-38 (recent purchase inexpensive AA cell analog - new fishing radio).Various other Sony, Grundig, Tecsun, Kaito, and various pocket radios.I don't know why my CCRadio's been going out on me, so I bought their analog CCRadio-EP and have been adding some current Sangean label radios lately and really like these PR series radios.Been getting some on/off rain, so when the winter really kicks in and don't feel like TV or doing much else I'll waist time on AM radio if not sitting a spell on Ham radio and this PR-D4W is quickly becoming my favorite. Hits more listenable AM stations than my CCrane CCRadio-EP I just compared against which impressed me for a smaller size radio. Also beats my recent purchase Sangean PR-D15 on AM but I think the D15 is better FM for close field low level listening - dual speaker prove some stereo effect, so the wife can have the D15. Also like the user interface most on the PR-D4W.Add (3/9/18) - Still working like the day I received it.Pair it up to an AM loop antenna and a little patience and get some good DX. Makes a fine package.Nice to have when I was laid up with the flu and not much else I could do.

The manufacturer claims good tuner sensitivity and reception.This has not been my experience.Your mileage may vary.