Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Grundig S350 AM/FM/SW World Receiver

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Grundig S350 AM/FM/SW World Receiver
Reviews: 72MSRP: 100.00
Description:
Continuous coverage from 2.3 to 27.41 mHz shortwave; medium wave band; FM band
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.grundigradio.com/asp/Product.asp?productname=s350&function=overview
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00723.6
KE6PID Rating: 2003-03-06
S-350 Intermod express Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The S-350 is one of the new non-grundig grundigs, produced in China by Tecsun and private labeled for Grundig. It may be available on other parts of the world as a Tecsun BCL-2000.

The radio is nothing state of the art. It’s a basic analog tuned radio with a frequency counter type frequency display. Like the GE super radio the S-350 has no memories. It has four bands, standard broadcast, 3 shortwave bands covering from 120 through 10 meters (2.3 to 27.41 MHz) and the FM broadcast band. Features include dual bandwidth RF filters for AM and SW, low pass filter, bass and treble controls, non-defeatable sleep timer, clock with radio wake alarm. Grundig (Tecsun?) has also included an RF gain control, dual speed concentric tuning knob, non calibrated S-meter, illuminated LCD display, a battery condition indicator and a nice nylon web strap that folds up nicely into a leatherette soft-touch caring handle. The FM tuner has the ability to receive FM stations in stereo providing an external amplifier is connected to the two line output jacks. The headphone jack is monaural. A PAL type coaxial antenna connector is on the rear panel for FM, a second set of fan stock type connectors are available fro ground and a second MW/HF antenna if desired.

OOBE (Out Of Box Experience)

The radio is straight forward; most of the users looking at this mini-report will have no trouble using all of it’s features immediately. For those new to shortwave of high performance type radios(?) Grundig provides a comprehensive instruction book with many helpful tips to enjoy the radio. Once I removed the radio from the box I noted several scratches and nicks in the cabinet. Nothing serious here, but a scratch on the display window is quite obvious. The radio comes with a wall-wart type AC adaptor, which was included along with a short wave guide and warranty booklet. It’s nicely packaged in a glossy full color box.

Using it.

First, the S-350 falls into the low cost range of wannabe high performance radios. It’s a good value for the money, I’ve seen far worse for far more. First off there is no conventional on-off switch, just a sleep timer. A gentle press on the button turns on the radio for 90 minutes, subsequent presses reduces the times to 75,60,45,30,15 and 10 minutes. That’s right; the longest the radio will play is 90 minutes without interaction. Feature or flaw, you decide.

There are a few control issues; the dual speed concentric tuning knob feels very rough and imprecise. The knob center is geared down to allow for more precise tuning, put when the outer knob is rotated the inner knob spins rapidly. The knob is connected to the tuning capacitors through a dial cord, there is quite a bit of mechanical lash.
Precise tuning is a bit tiring, additionally the outer tuning rig is very shallow and is uncomfortable to grasp, you will scratch the look-of-real-metal “plate” with you fingers, unless you are very careful.

I started my unscientific listening tests on AM, first I tuned in 770, KKOB in Albuquerque Nm (I am in the San Francisco bay area) which is normally very loud and clear here in the late afternoon. The S-350 was overloaded by both 50 KW 810 and 50 KW KCBS, 770 was impossible to copy through the monkey chatter. I then tried out my CC Radio, it was also overloaded, but to a lesser degree; copy was possible, my GE SR-3 received 770 KKOB clearly with only slight ‘monkey chatter” from the other stations. The Grundig S-700 and Icom R-71 heard the station perfectly. With the exception of the Icom all radios were using the internal loopstick antennas. But wait! Remember the RF gain control? In the event of KKOB at 770 I was able to reduce overload and clear up reception by decreasing the gain on the S-350, I could not get it as well as the GE did, but I was able to improve the reception greatly. I tried tuning other distant stations among strong local stations with varied success. The GE SR-3 beat my Grundig S-350 every time. On shortwave the radio performed quite well considering it’s popular price point. All the SW stations I received clearly were broadcasts directed to the US, with only the whip antenna in use. The Grundig S-700 performed a great deal better, pulling in stations the S-350 could not hear at all. Please note though, the signals the S-700 received were extremely weak and not all that listenable but good enough to get you a QSL card, let’s just say the S-350 isn’t the SWL DXers dream.

The radio sounds good. Isn’t that what it’s all about? IMHO it’s sound is clearer and more musical than the CC radio and GE on AM, FM sounded very good on some non commercial stations, but on commercial stations the radio was too revealing of the source material. (okay, the stations in the SF bay area sound like crap; but that’s not a fault of the radio!) It has plenty of undistorted volume. I took a pair of amplified computer speakers with sub-woofer and connected them up to the line outputs and switched to the S-350 to stereo, no, it’s not as good as a high quality FM tuner, but not all that bad. It seemed as though I had to fiddle with the antenna more than usual to get FM stations clearly.

So what’s the bottom line?

Design flaws aside....

If you are a metropolitan AM dx’er with many strong local stations this may not be a good choice. The radio always got the strong local stations clearly, and some DX stations came in too, but due to overload considerations DX stations will most likely be drowned out by the strong local signals and ghost images created within the radio. That said, users that live away from powerful stations will most likely find the S-350 quite competent performer. For the price it’s not a bad deal considering you get short wave reception too. You get good sound in a portable package; it’s ideal for a casual listener who wants to explore radio.
RADIOLOGIST Rating: 2003-03-03
What a performer!!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am complete disagreement with the bad review posted about this radio. I have one of the original Chinese versions, sold as the Tecsun BCL-2000. And unlike the Grundig's boring gray color scheme, mine is a beautiful cherry-apple red metallic! But otherwise, the two models are identical.

Sure, the tuning is a bit quirky, but I have never owned a radio that offered as good sensitivity and listenability as this radio. And I am comparing it with the Sangean 909, Sony 2010, Grundig YB 400, GE SRIII, CCRadio, and any other radio I can find to test it against. The sound quality of the BCL2000/S350 is second only to the SRIII, but in sensitivity, it blows all the others out of the water. Because of its incredible sensitivity (thanks in part to its nine-inch ferrite bar and a very nice whip) I see no reason to hook it to an external antenna, even though it offers me that option. And despite the previous reviewer's experience, I have not heard any stray harmonic signals anywhere on this radio. Plus, this is the only radio I own with ZERO digital noise. All the others have some, but this one, having a true analog tuner, is very quiet and noise-free.

In my opinion, this $100 radio is an incredible bargain for an old radio lover like me. I'm 44 and have dxed for 30 years. And for my purposes, this is the best radio I have ever owned!