[Fisherdude]

After using it for a while, there's no doubt that the design goals, including designing the features for the intended user, were met.

The thing is flat gorgeous. I've never seen one with the silver trim rings before, and the paint on the front panel is perfect. The radio was intended for the "gentleman SWL'er", sitting in his paneled den, radio on a table next to his favorite chair, satin smoking jacket, briar pipe evenly lit, (Dunhill, of course!), tuning in the stations of the world.

Pulling tough stations out of the QRM...no. Obviously without bandspread tuning is tough already, and the problem isn't that it's drifty, it really settles down nicely after it's warmed up, the problem is that the tuning is so imprecise. I'll give it the standard treatment that helps as much as is possible for string slippage. Get some violin bow rosin from a music store. It comes as a hard amber-colored solid, like hard candy. Put it in a ziplock bag and give it a few light wacks with a hammer, and small pieces shatter off. Use a small pea-sized piece and dissolve it in denatured alcohol. Using a q-tip, apply the alcohol/rosin solution on the dial string. After it dries, no more slippage.

The audio is incredible. It has so much oomph. The bass is terrific. Even sports/talk radio on AM is a pleasure to listen to. When you get a good station tuned in, something like CRI, you can sit and listen to it like it was a local station. It sounds that good!