Sony ICF-SW7600GR World Radio

I don't think I have ever been so impressed with any of my radios over the past 30 years as I am with this little gem! I have to admit I would not have bought it were it not for its synchronous detector as I consider it an essential feature for broadcast band listening. Fading I can cope with and my experience of sync detectors is that they can not eliminate this. But they can be very effective at reducing the effects of fading such as distortion - that all too familiar whooshing sound that distorts speech and particularly music and is very hard on the ears, not to mention the nerves. Even if I'm listening to a good, solid, single-hop, daytime-path signal a few deep fades will badly distort the sound and soon have me reaching for the off button. The sync detectors on the AR7030 and Lowe HF150 were excellent but I didn't like either radio and eventually sold both. But I was worried that the sync on the considerably better-priced Sony SW7600GR would be less effective and not smooth out the distortion as I had hoped. But this is not the case at all and it is, in fact, highly effective. Folk music from Radio Romania, Spanish Classical music from REE, the whole hour of China Drive on CRI are all a total joy to listen to now without a hint of distortion. Other things I love about this radio are its excellent build-quality. It's got all the hallmarks of quality I've come to associate with Sony. Its inclusion of FM for those moments I want to listen to Radio 3 for a change. And its keypad for direct frequency input, enabling me to jump freely and effortlessly around the bands. Its speaker may be a little on the quiet side, and not as rich and bassy as my Sangean ATS803A or DX-394, but its inclusion of a sync detector far out way any negligible disadvantage here. This radio has returned the joy to broadcast band listening and I am proud to own it.

Hi, Some time back, a friend of mine gave me an Lexitronic E5 radio, I didn't spend much time playing with it because I figured it would be limited in performance in quite a few important areas. The E5 in question is also marketed by Grundig known as the 'G5' and also by Eton the 'E5'.I have owned a Lowe HF 225 for about 15 years or so, which is regarded as a good receiver.The latter receiver has a dynamic range of about 85dB. Before buying the ICF 7600GR, I attempted to find out some radio performance figures/specs but unfortunately there was nothing except reviewers doing side by side listening tests which is essentially flawed because broadcast stations audio quality vary from station to station, and in general is inconsistent, in the past I have found quite a few radio stations that were badly calibrated. Of course, the subjective reviewer would blame his or her radio receiver for this when in fact the receiver is innocent. There are 3 important figures which determine how good a receiver actually is which are: Dynamic range, sensitivity and image rejection. The latter can be dramatically improved by up converting the first I.F., the higher it is the better, both the Sony and the Tecsun have first I.F.'s of 55.845MHz, this is good so only minimal front end filtering are required to give at least 60 dB image rejection across shortwave. Next up, sensitivity, the Sony gives 20dB s/n for 1uV rms whilst the Tecsun rolls in at 25dB s/n for 1uv rms(both AM modulated at 50%) making both receivers very very sensitive indeed and in fact this is exceptional, the lowe HF 225 is about 10dB for 1uV. Dynamic range for the Tecsun comes in at a usable 55dB whilst the Sony equals 78dB, both receivers were switched to dx mode during tests i.e., no attenuation.With the Tecsun, front mixer overloads at around 600uV r.m.s.,which is lousy, however the signal can be attenuated by way way of a 3 position switch,max= -15dB. Some more important facts to consider: The Tecsun PL660 price varies between about £85~£110, so shop around. The Sony 7600GR has no price variation and sells for a fixed £110.00 no matter what. The Tecsun supply you with a 6V/300mA mains adapter and 1000mA/hr AA x4 rechargable batteries plus a set of earphones. Both have good AM sync detectors, I think the Tecsun is slightly better here. The Tecsun includes air band which I have tested and it works well. The Sony has 100 memories whilst the Tecsun has 2000. Okay, I'm impressed by both, the Tecsun gives a lot of radio for your money. Can you go effective dx hunting with either radio, of course you can, I now know why there are fewer and fewer new table top receivers available on the market?,i.e., they just can't compete. 3/7/2014: Update: Having now spent a considerable listening time with both radio's I have found that the Tecsun PL660, switched to ssb(amateur bands) sometimes does not sound too good, it's rather distorted particularly when the signal seems to fade into noise. Just to check it wasn't poor transmissions I listened to the Sony on the same channel and it was crystal clear. So Japanese quality actually means something,eh? In every other receiving mode, the Tecsun PL660 is good, particularly AM broadcast listening. Little people know it(including myself, until recently, I would not have given these radios time of day) but these two radios are just as good(if not better) as table top £500+ receivers. Both these receivers are very capable dx listening radios.Get one. Cheers Commie

Excellent Shortwave radio. Sony 'made in Japan' quality, with a model history dating back to the 1980s. Initially put off by two aspects; the lack of a tuning dial, and no supplied power adapter. Don't let that put you off, batteries are safer than power, with no electrical 'noise'. I use rechargeable's, but also have a set of alkaline's on standby when charging is required. No tuning dial is not as bad as thought, keep the inner tuning button pressed, (1Khz step) and you get a reasonable tuning speed, with no 'muting', it's the best way to tune on SSB. On Shortwave broadcast, keep the outer button pressed, (5Khz step) initially to start automatic searching, although in this mode, there is a tendency for it to stop 5Khz short of the actual frequency. Selectable USB/LSB is a good feature, as is the synchronous detection. Shortwave sensitivity is up there with the best in the portable catagory, but LW and MW is especially sensitive. It would have been ideal if the buttons were backlit. Build quality is top-notch; The speaker grille is metal, and the the LCD window is extremely solid. Sony items should last the distance. Best to buy quality from the start, and as far as radio's go, your looking at it. Highly recommended.

I started with the iconic IC2001 and have many Sony short wave radios since. This one is the best all rounder yet and has the quality and design touches you would expect from Sony. Sensitivity and station grabbing on SW are excellent especially if you give it half a chance with almost any aerial. It doesn't eat batteries. Its solidly built - I agree the aerial needs a bit of care but its a big long aerial for the case and double jointed. Controls are smooth and effective. The only thing I don't like is the case, a little 'cheap' for the radio.

I purchased this radio thinking it would be a top quality world band receiver. I'd been persuaded in no small part to customer reviews here. It was received in double quick time, less than 24 hrs thanks to my free trial of Amazon Prime. It was also well packed and I was given excellent tracking info to my smartphone via the courier DPD. Sadly thats where the good new ended. I opened the package to find dirt on the base of the radio as if had been used-and it had. All the tell-tale signs of a returned and repackaged order were there. Off to a very bad start indeed. But could it get any worse? Oh yes? Immediate impressions were bad. the bodywork felt cheap and plasticky, the display wasn't really clear, there was no RDS (Radio Display System). Now some could say "Well it's a World Radio so what do you expect?" And my answer "RDS for UK Stations". A radio unless it's CB is IMHO useless without it. Unfortunatly it didn't get any better. Tuning and storing stations proved awkward, the illumination for the display was weak and uneven and the sound quality was AWFUL-tinny and lacking any bass. I've heard better sounding radios off a Kellogs 'Variety' Cereal pack. So with all of this added together I have had to activate the Amazon Returns for the first time. This has proved superb so far with a prompt call to discuss my concerns from a lady called Roshelle. I've also printed out the returns label from Yodel and booked collection for tomorrow. The whole process was easy and quick to do. Two good things have come out of this: 1) The outstanding Amazon 'Prime' delivery service which in this instance was ABCD (Above and Beyond the Call of Duty). 2) The Amazon Returns proceedure. At least I'm aware of how good Amazon are when there's a problem. The supplier Appods out to be struck off for supplying used goods as new. And Sony should hang their heads in shame over this one. A very rare thing indeed for them-a dud. No wonder they've discontinued it, their worst radio ever!

I'm unable to get hardly any SW stations even when using the supplied earial and it takes ages to scan accross frequencies using the push buttons. LW and FM are pretty good and the large number of presets available is useful.

Yes a good radio I had the previous version (smaller one) of this and it was superb except the battery holder was very very badly designed and broke once with the otiginal radio and again when I had it replaced by Sony with a brand new one. Much bigger than the one I had before but very intuitive and very effective except if one wants to listen to good quality music the speakers are not up to it. But as a short wave SSB USB etc. and Medium wave radio it is very good indeed.

This product was a real disappointment. I also thought the new look cheap. I had had an earlier Sony ICF-SW7600 (the black one) which travelled around the world with me untill it gave up the ghost a couple years ago. That radio lasted a good 10-15 years, this new one lasted less than one year before it started dying on me. I still need a world travel radio and I'm on the market for another one. I might just have been unlucky with that latest Sony.....

J'ai déjà acheté le même il y a une dizaine d'années. C'est un excellent appareil qui permet beaucoup de préréglages faciles à atteindre. Je ne lui connais que deux points faibles : l'antenne et les jacks femelles d'écouteurs et du chargeur. En voyage et en écoute de nuit... l'appareil glisse... il marche toujours, mais les jacks cassent et l'antenne branle un peu. Mon réparateur n'a pas pu trouver de jacks de remplacement. Sony ne fournit plus, hélas. Je m'en suis tiré par des fils extérieurs assez disgracieux. L'appareil marche comme à ses débuts. Je le laisse sur ma table de nuit et je suis content d'avoir retrouvé le même. Attention aux deux points faibles, mais quelle radio !

Best buy for all interested in SW listening.Been using it for a few weeks only.Tuning and memory settings become very easy within a week.SW tuning is very good and sensitive with built in antenna. SSB, ATT and CW are additional feathers in its cap. Yet to try an outdoor antenna - should give better performance with out-door SW antenna. Sony has indeed designed this set with love for SW listeners.FM and MW listening also is very nice.Seems a bit over priced.

The last remaining Sony shortwave radio is the miraculous ICF-SW7600GR. It is the product of decades of development and expertise. Can one radio do everything you've dreamed of (especially for under $200?) Yes, it can. My perspective includes decades of listening beginning 47 years ago in 1965. Back then, a standard shortwave radio for a casual listener was not portable. It was a five-tube desktop model that simply expanded upon tried and true AM radios found in every household. If you needed advanced features and high performance, you would need to invest in an expensive multi-tube boat anchor! Times have changed dramatically. The Sony ICFSW7600GR covers 150 kHz to 30 MHz, featuring a double conversion design with synchronous detection, along with the 76 to 108 MHz ready for FM reception worldwide. Gone are mechanical pushbuttons. The Sony challenges you to fill up 100 electronic preset memories! Included is a multi-zone clock displaying local time and UTC. You can choose regular AM reception or USB/LSB along with CW. A very useful RF gain control and a display light (for night operation) are provided, as well. The features go on and on! My smiles began early. I was extremely impressed with its operation. The controls are quite intuitive and simple to master. I entered one of my favorite frequencies, 14.060 MHz (the 20 meter CW QRP calling frequency) and immediately heard a one watt station calling CQ. The telescopic whip antenna was down with just my finger resting upon it. There was no shortage of in-the-clear shortwave broadcast stations to listen to. How do they make a portable radio this selective and sensitive? More early trials produced more amazing results. Again, with no whip antenna extended, I pulled in several time reference broadcasts from America's WWV and CHU Canada. Reverting back to my childhood, I tried aeronautical VOLMET weather frequencies and logged New York, Gander, Newfoundland and Shannon, Ireland immediately with little effort. The precision of frequency direct-entry combined with the clarity of the sideband reception was almost unnerving! Plenty was heard on 30 and 40 meter CW. All I could say was `Wow!' One transmission lives on through the decades. Radio Australia still broadcasts towards the east, covering the Pacific islands and beyond, every morning on 9580 kHz. They have ruled this frequency for decades with a dominant signal that is hard to surpass. I took the ICF-SW7600GR to work and tried to pick them up. Radio Australia locked in with full quieting while standing by a window. I walked into the building among literally tons of electronic equipment surrounded by steel and concrete. The signal could still be heard! I know Radio Australia uses a lot of power but this is miraculous. Longwave reception was also pretty remarkable. Again, with just built-in antennas, I logged NDBs (nondirectional beacons) FR 407 kHz in Farmingdale, Long Island and OGY 414 kHz near Jacob Riis Park in The Rockaways in Queens. These stations are used as navigation aids and transmit very slow AM modulated Morse Code continually. You'll never hear a station more anxious to be logged! The ICF-SW7600GR also offers synchronous detection. You can derive a full AM carrier from just one sideband. This is particularly useful if you have a very strong adjacent station or you are trying to maneuver through digital IBOC HD Radio interference. I often get clobbered by the digital sideband of KDKA 1020 Pittsburgh while trying to listen to WBZ 1030 Boston. Synchronous detection can make this noisy mess into something quite listenable. It is certainly welcomed at this listening post. This is a sophisticated radio delivered in a classy manner. It is beautifully designed and quite attractive. The ICF-SW7600GR is the size and weight of a somewhat heavy paperback book. Every button and control was found in a logical place which could be easily memorized for in-the-dark middle-of-the-night reception. The LCD display is big and easy to read. With 100 memories, you don't need to do a lot of direct tuning. Multiple frequency comparisons are a breeze. Sony even thought of every final touch. The unit comes with a very attractive black cloth case. Slip the radio into the case and a fold-over leaf covers it neatly secured with a couple of pieces of Velcro. I'm sure I have only just begun to appreciate everything this radio can do. I'm still mesmerized with direct frequency entry. There is no noticeable drift and the battery life seems endless. Sony's operations manual goes on for dozens of pages. Also included is the 128 page Sony Wave Handbook, a very comprehensive all-band guide to familiarize you with the world of shortwave and beyond. A cute self-contained reel of wire, with built-in end clips, is included as a useful portable antenna. Sony included everything you need to get started immediately. You can become a fairly sophisticated worldband listener by just opening the box. What fun! The essence of shortwave has not changed that much since 1965. All the bands are still there. You'll even find several new band allocations for broadcasters have come alive. Like visiting old neighborhoods from your childhood, often the flavor has become something completely new. Many of the old standard broadcasters are hard to find or gone entirely. The Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany and even the BBC and Voice of America are missing in action. Many religious stations have popped up along with some newly dominant Asian broadcasters. As a side note to this review, this receiver can also be used as a fairly accurate frequency counter. Maybe I need to get out a lot more, but nearly everything I use to pursue amateur radio has either inaccurate analog tuning or dubious digital tuning without reliable accuracy. With a zero-beat accurate Sony ICF-SW7600GR around, I can finally discover what frequency I am actually transmitting on! In a reality check, I am certainly aware that this wonderful receiver is really nothing new. Its direct ancestor, The Sony ICF-SW7600G, was first released in 1994 and has nearly every feature the current ICFSW7600GR offers. This Sony line of compact shortwave receivers can be traced back to 1977 with the release of the original ICF-7600 featuring an analog tuner. The current model employs all the lessons learned from this long legacy to produce a remarkable product. The Sony ICF-SW7600GR is a great deal of fun available for very little money. Get one and enjoy every minute.

I did my research as to what kind of radio to buy , and I settled on this gem . The tuning takes a bit of getting used to , but once you play with your new toy long enough it becomes quite intuitive . This radio performs like a Tiger and is built really well ..., still made in Japan . The shipping was quick , no problems whatsoever .., a great experience .

Esta es LA RADIO MULTIBANDAS. Olvídate de copias chinas y baratas. La Sony está hecha en Japón (genuinamente Sony) y tiene una calidad excepcional. La pena es que no la haya en color negro. Una radio perfecta. La volvería a comprar una y mil veces. EDITO: Después de un año y medio de uso, he de decir que cada día que pasa estoy más contento con ella. La calidad de recepción no tiene parangón con ninguna otra de las que tengo, ni tan siquiera con una Grundig estupenda que también tengo. Si estáis pensando comprar una radio multibandas, no lo dudéis, esta es la radio.