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Reviews For: Sony ICF-6700L

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : Sony ICF-6700L
Reviews: 2MSRP:
Description:
FM/AM Multi Band Receiver
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0024.5
GRAVEDODGER Rating: 2020-02-23
A vintage delight Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I'm normally just a review reader but I really felt I had to add this beauty to the review list.
I,ve been a SWL for about 15 years starting with a Sony 2001, quickly got hooked and have had a few rigs including Grundig Sat1400SL Pro, Sat700, YB400, YB500, Sang818, Yup7100, Sony SW55 and probably a few more I've forgot but after being out of the scene for the last 5 years or so I have to start again and have always loved the older models so thought I'd start there.
Now, I've always had a confidence in Sony and Grundig but had never seen nor heard of the 6700L but was intrigued when I saw one on e-bay here in the UK with only a few bidders so I had a flutter in the blind almost and was well pleased to win it, well worth a look I thought.
How right I was !
I found few details on the net about it and was eager to see what arrived and what a delight the 6700L is.

It arrived very clean with just the normal scratchy sounding volume, bass and treble pots which were sorted very quickly with some switch cleaner and a few turns, now good as new and clean.
The build quality is extremely good, very solid, positive switches, nothing flimsy here and the tuning knob has a lovely big heavy fly-wheel on the inside giving a very smooth balanced response.
The whip is top quality too, very long and positive, no falling over no matter what angle you set it at.

I was delighted to find that the LED tuner is spot on.
This model does not have or need a seperate BFO, the normal tuning wheel does the job brilliantly as long as you've got a light touch.

I've tried it on it's own whip and a 7 metre wire and it really can perform, very sensitive on SW and has the lowest noise floor I've had on any portable receiver.
I listen to MW alot and was quite excited to see the ferrite rod held on plastic holders well away from the rest of the internal workings to the back of the housing and it pays of big time, the MW reception comes in clear with next to no drift or fade and with the audio quality and great speaker it sounds almost like FM, no kidding !

I believe this model is from around 1978 and I highly recommend this receiver.

I'd like to mod it very slightly by placing 2 or 3 LED's in for lighting, the bulbs no longer work but that's not suprising for the age.

Thanks for reading
JB



KC0EKQ Rating: 2015-12-10
Vintage goodness Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
A clean, working 6700L is a good thing, if you are into the analog-with-digital-readout era of receivers -- mid '70s to early/mid '80s -- and if you are a Sony lover, you will be pleased with the addition to your collection.

It sports FM, MW and SW coverage, with a red LED readout that works for every band, not just one (some other sets of the time only displayed frequency on SW bands, or only on FM, etc.).

Audio is big and warm, and the tone knobs (Bass/Treble) function well and noticeably, unlike some of the modern receivers like the Grundig 750, where the Bass sounds more like a gain control, and the Treble is almost a fixed value. The audio will fill a room, easily.

It is easy to tune around -- with the slide-rule dial and LED readout as well as a real flywheel tuning knob, band scanning is a real pleasure.

The FM band is as sensitive as most quality receivers of that time, but it is less selective than I'd prefer. I can separate stations on 97.1, 97.3, 97.5, 97.7, and 97.9 in my hometown on my Panasonic RF 2200, and even more distinctly on the Panasonic RF 2600 (which is my go-to/reference portable for analog FM listening and comparison), but the 6700 has a more difficult time with the same stations and never quite pulls each of those stations out clearly. Close, but not pure.

On MW/AM, a good external antenna -- a loop is always a great idea -- is needed to really shine. It is not as sensitive on that band as I'd prefer, but again, I have been spoiled by the RF 2200 and 2600 I mentioned above. It is not necessarily your best bet for real MW DXing but the right antenna can bring it to the discussion, certainly.

SW is interesting, as it hears quite well and has an added feature of a built in preselector to peak signals across the entire band. Using a good antenna, the preselector and judicious use of the RF Gain control, some pretty clean, bright and strong SW listening can be enjoyed.

Amateur/SSB listening is hit-and-miss, for me anyway -- it doesn't drift much after it's been running for a little while, but there's no fine tuning control, and the flywheel can slop over if you're not slow and precise, so SSB listening can be a bit fatiguing if you aren't into lots of 'knobulation'... and really, I suppose, if you're *not* into playing with controls and knobs, *why* would you be wanting this receiver anyway?!?

But it's an all-around GOOD receiver, with great looks and quality, and is iconic of an era in radio manufacturing and SWLing, and would be worth the average $175 to $250 for which I've been seeing it sell on forums and auction sites, especially for a Sony fan.