| JWANL |
Rating:      |
2023-02-24 | |
| A great radio that survives a long time |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I bought this radio around 1996… 1997. Used it extensively while traveling, hiking, backpacking, biking, outdoors and more civIlized on business trips. Bad weather with lots of rain, humidity and cold in a small tent in Iceland, extreme heat in Turkey, humidity in China, it survives it all.
It has a few scratches, little dents in the speaker grille, recently I discovered a non critical crack in the back case near the antenna. I had to glue the speaker grille back on. The foam in the battery box detoriated over time.
Overall, nothing too bad.
I love the Sony design of the nineties. (Sorry, way better than the GR version) The buttons are organized in a way that you can find them in the dark. The size is such that you can take it with you backpacking. The speaker is ok, I do not expect hifi from the shortwave after all.
Recently I worried about the AM performance and checked the inside. This radio is very servicable. I am impressed about the quality of the pcb.
All capacitors are through hole, no SMDs, all by Rubycon. There are 21 caps, I measured about half of them and they measure above their rating still. No needs to worry.
But what about AM? Once I took it on a walk in the fields, everything proved OK again. I realized that almost every device nowadays has a switching power supply, even the LED lights. Their switching frequency is in the hundreds of kHz, so it effectively spoils reception in the LW, MW and lower SW bands.
Mostly I have used the radio to listen to major broadcasters like BBC, Deutsche Welle, Dutch world service and so on. That is, when they were still broadcasting… It was the way to stay informed in more difficult places like Russia and China.
What could Sony have done better? A sturdier case, make the plastic shelves a millimeter thicker. The usage of self tapping screws is always a sin. The Sony power plug with the plus on the outside and the minus on the pin is another sin.
For the future? Shortwave stations disappear, the smartphone and ubiquitous internet have taken over. Within a couple of years even FM analog broadcast might end. Gradually the unit becomes less relevant and more of a reminder of the past.
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| N0TLD |
Rating:     |
2017-12-17 | |
| Good, not great |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I used one of these for a few years, and put it through its paces quite thoroughly... and I just never quite found it very satisfying.
It IS a good radio, no doubt about it, and obviously a lot of people think it's a great radio. I just happen to disagree, is all.
For one thing, the audio is so pedestrian. It's not necessarily worse than other portables its size, and is in fact better than many, I am sure, but it's still raw and tinny no matter which tone setting you use, and even on FM (which IS stereo through headphones) it sounds a bit too trebly. With headphones, the audio is certainly better, but otherwise, it's mediocre.
Another thing, tuning is a bit non-standard and even if it's easy to learn and use, it never stops feeling counterintuitive.
Its synch detector is okay as far as it goes, but is no match for Sony's synch detector in the *truly* great ICF-2010. In fact, the 2010 is lightyears better than the 7600G in almost every respect but that's another review.
SSB is pretty solid, not drifty, but it has a bandwidth that sometimes seems the size of a barn door, and even with the narrow setting there is bleedover from nearby signals. And then, of course, setting the bandwidth to narrow makes the audio that much muddier.
The one thing I do have to say it has in common with the ICF-2010 is the useless display backlight. Even brand new and with fresh batteries or on wallwart power, it barely illuminates anything and unless you are in total darkness it's pretty pointless.
That all sounds like I'm really ragging on it but honestly I do think it is a *good* portable radio, perhaps a little below Sony standards to my likes but a good receiver, just with its flaws like many other portables in its class.
It's just that it seems we're constantly being told this is one of the great portables, and I just don't quite get it. It's good, but not great. |
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| KC0EKQ |
Rating:    |
2017-01-26 | |
| Update to my previous review |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Over the last ten days or so, I've had occasion to use a like-new 7600G (made in 2007 I believe, so 'newer' than my first 7600G by quite a few years) and while I certainly enjoyed playing with a decent radio (which it surely is), I found more issues with which to contend.
It performs about as well as my earlier unit, perhaps a little quieter in the noise department, and that is a good thing.
But it isn't much of an improvement in any other regard, I feel.
It still exhibits overload on stronger signals in all bands, signals which are normally handled with ease on most of my other portables (though there *are* some glaring exceptions!).
SSB performance is even more fatiguing than on my previous unit. The SSB filter is as wide as a barn-door for even a mildly busy band, and no amount of fiddling around with any feature can cure the heterodynes and desensitization from close signals above and below the desired one. I don't recall my first 7600G being quite so wide open on SSB.
The synch is still pedestrian; like its predecessor, it works but doesn't lock as well as it ought to even on moderately solid signals, and growls and whines until it locks again. Of course, the 7600G's synch has nothing on its big brother the 2010's dynamite synch detection.
Audio is marginally warmer but still typical for its size and quality, nothing bad, nothing great.
I still find the display light to be far too dim for use in any environment short of pitch blackness.
It *is* a good radio, and mostly hits the right targets in features for its price, but it's just not the home run receiver it sometimes seems other hobbyists want me to believe it is.
If you are a Sony collector or just have a thing for Sony receivers, it will be a decent addition to your radio room.
But simply put, there are just plain better receivers available for about the same price point, and in some cases even less, especially on the used market. |
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| AK9S |
Rating:      |
2014-03-05 | |
| Amazing... |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I hate this little radio, as it resulted in a rather embarrassing finding.
After pouring money and time erecting an EF-SWL outdoor antenna coupled to my Drake R8 receiver, the Sony provided equivalent intelligibility on SW with its built-in vertical telescoping antenna.
And to add insult to injury, the Sony is of higher build quality than my Drake.
That said, the Sony has a dramatically sensitive receiver and a decent sync detector to combat distortional fading, amazing for its price point. But you do not get QRM fighting filters, which are required for SSB and sometimes for good AM reception.
There are a few minor problems with the Sony that everyone should be aware about:
1) With an outdoor antenna, the Sony's front end will easily overload and images of local MW broadcasters will be spread throughout the SW spectrum, making listening nearly impossible.
2) The ergonomics of the radio are poor. Important controls are placed on one side and utilize tiny switches, the display light is inadequate and there is no signal strength meter.
3) The internal speaker is not very loud and offers no bass response, but performs very well. Best to use a quality external speaker.
Thats said, I highly recommend this little Sony unless you plan to use an outdoor antenna and live within 100 miles of any AM MW broadcaster.
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| W2WP |
Rating:      |
2013-04-12 | |
| I'd give it a 6 if I could |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I recently purchased this after selling my AOR 8200 MK3. I purchased the AOR a few months back hoping to be able to listen to the HF bands. It was a bust! I've heard more in the first 10 minutes of owning the IFC-SW7600GR than a month of AOR listening. It's about 80% of if I went into my mobile and fired up the ICOM 7000. Yes, it hears that well. I'm still shocked. The only band I have not heard any chatter is 160m. I haven't even tried the included wind up wire antenna. I haven't needed it. This is one off those purchases that far exceeded my expectations. GREAT JOB SONY 6 STARS! |
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| W8GND |
Rating:     |
2011-11-03 | |
| Odd Antenna Plug |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I write only because about a year ago, I discovered that the antenna connection on the radio isn't a 2 wire connection, but a 3 wire.
The article that I read said that the extra ring on the external ring wire was there to power an active antenna.
I have noticed that the thing is very odd in the way it handles external antennas.
Still it's a very good radio. I think the Sangean 909X is probably more complex, and has things like the RDS system.
I comment on this only because someone noted the odd connector in a previous reviews.
Apart from that, it's a dandy radio. I may buy another one. I just wish that Sony sold that odd plug.
73 Jerry W8GND
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| SAILCAT |
Rating:      |
2011-03-22 | |
| Very Good Radio |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
The Sony ICF-SW7600GR is a fine radio. Construction quality is quite good as it is still made in Japan. This is in stark contrast to the quite variable quality of Chinese-made radios of similar price and/or features. It is very sensitive in FM and AM, and I have been pleased with the reception of signals in SW and side band, as well. Its audio quality is only fair, however, and I recommend careful reading of the instructions to master the Sony's inexplicably Byzantine controls.
Overall, it performs very well as compared to my Grundig YB 400PE and Kaito KA 1103, audio quality notwithstanding. I give the 7600GR five stars despite the controls due to its superior performance to cost ratio. Two thumbs, way up! |
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| K1NW |
Rating:   |
2010-08-25 | |
| Lots of Problems |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I have had this radio about 5 years. I always found it difficult to program and almost impossible to tune (so sick of the beeps...). In the last year the volume started to go - suddenly louder or fading away. Then last week the tuning went - searching for stations, just flitting across the bands and would not stay on the programmed frequency. I would not recommend this radio to anyone based on my experiences. |
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| PHO1NL |
Rating:      |
2010-01-21 | |
| top of the bill radio |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I bought mine 15 years back,and i'ts the best radio i have,the gr that I have has cheap pot's and a instable ssb walble specially on higher frequenties. but i'm glad I bought a spare one. |
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| M5AEO |
Rating:     |
2009-09-28 | |
| Excellent, but... |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
This is the best portable receiver I have ever used. I've had mine for about 12 years. Last week the speaker grill fell off, so I glued it back on! The AM-sync works. I would have given it 5 points, but it doesn't have a tuning knob, just UP and DOWN buttons: I prefer to be able to tune with a knob. Apart from that: excellent.
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