Bad modern cheap radios with really bad performance

[centralradio]

The problem with any cheap radio made in the past 2 plus decades sucks.
Selectivity,Sensitivity is in the toilet.Stereo separation is in the toilet if the radio is stereo FM.

I rather have a radio with 8 to 10 transistors then a radio with 100 plus in a chip.

My 1970's Kmart or Barkers 6 transistor specials or my 1970's Realistic AM/FM handheld will do better then any crap from today.

Speaking of cheap all in the one radios.I have a Totes crank up radio.It sucks big time on picking up stations even with batteries.I got it at Big Lots for $5 bucks.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by centralradio

The problem with any cheap radio made in the past 2 plus decades sucks.
Selectivity,Sensitivity is in the toilet.Stereo separation is in the toilet if the radio is stereo FM.

You said it! Those cheap AM-FM-FM stereo radios have almost no stereo separation whatsoever because the speakers are so close to each other. (In fact, the word "stereo" used to describe these sets means nothing; it is probably more of a selling point than anything else--and the stereo decoder, almost certainly a cheap integrated circuit, is probably as BOTL as you can get.) The only way you could hope to get anywhere near decent stereo separation from these sets is if you used them with headphones, and even then I'd have my doubts about the sound quality. I presently own two AM/FM/stereo FM radios that don't sound bad (the FM on one quit about ten years ago), but the radios are still nowhere near large enough to provide adequate separation. My Panasonic boom box is perhaps a foot or so long, but I am sure the stereo separation leaves an awful lot to be desired. I owned a Sanyo AM-FM-stereo FM boom box in the '80s which had the same problem, only the speakers were even closer to each other than my Panasonic's are--mainly because the Sanyo was in a squarish-shaped box, and the Panasonic boom box is in a much longer cabinet. I still wouldn't call the Panasonic box hi-fi, though.

[centralradio]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

You said it! Those cheap AM-FM-FM stereo radios have almost no stereo separation whatsoever because the speakers are so close to each other. (In fact, the word "stereo" used to describe these sets means nothing; it is probably more of a selling point than anything else--and the stereo decoder, almost certainly a cheap integrated circuit, is probably as BOTL as you can get.) The only way you could hope to get anywhere near decent stereo separation from these sets is if you used them with headphones, and even then I'd have my doubts about the sound quality. I presently own two AM/FM/stereo FM radios that don't sound bad (the FM on one quit about ten years ago), but the radios are still nowhere near large enough to provide adequate separation. My Panasonic boom box is perhaps a foot or so long, but I am sure the stereo separation leaves an awful lot to be desired. I owned a Sanyo AM-FM-stereo FM boom box in the '80s which had the same problem, only the speakers were even closer to each other than my Panasonic's are--mainly because the Sanyo was in a squarish-shaped box, and the Panasonic boom box is in a much longer cabinet. I still wouldn't call the Panasonic box hi-fi, though.

Yes I agree .I think the 1980's into the mid 1990's was the last of good sounding boom boxes.I have two monster 1980's JVC boomboxes which sound great .

As I walk through BJs Wholesale or Walmart .Its sad just looking at those big oversize radios with 6 plus speakers that have no or alittle stereo separation.Nevermind adding the tuners suck too.Atlease they can add a stereo-wide switch to make it sound better.I probably have those Sanyo's and Panasonic's in my boombox collection.

Today people are now more interesting with those streamboxes or Iphone boxes which I see next to those so called stereo sets on the store shelves.

I have a sad feeling we will here in the states will end up with digital radio like Norway sooner or later.

[Captainclock]

I have a Sony Dream Machine AM/FM Clock Radio and several GE AM/FM Clock Radios all from the early to mid 1980s that have excellent tuners on them for what they are, they have nothing but line antennas for the FM Band and they are all able to pick up clearly stations that are 30-60 miles away from where I live, so I would have to say that not everything made within the past 30+ years radio wise was "cheaply made".