Sangean ATS-405 FM-Stereo/AM/Short Wave World Band Receiver, Silver

Excellent FM reception; great sensitivity and selectivity. I can clearly pick up a 10 watt LPFM station that is located about 17 miles away (I live about 100 feet above average terrain, so it's almost a straight shot from that transmitter to where I live). Good AM reception, but in my experience using the radio over the last few weeks, you won't be pulling in distant AM stations with clear reception. I live in a semi-rural area about 25 miles West of Portland, Ore., and all but the most powerful/close AM stations have a fair amount of static. However, this is a small radio, and it's probably unrealistic to expect any radio of this size to pull in weaker AM stations without much static. I have not tried an external AM loop antenna.The sound reproduction from this radio is amazing. Keep in mind that it's a small radio, so you won't be filling a large room with sound (but it will easily fill a bedroom, small office, master bathroom, or small garage with sound)-- the "sound reproduction" I speak of refers to the quality of the sound, not to the volume produced by the speaker. FM stations that are not over-modulated sound incredible, with clear bass, airy treble, and a warm midrange. When it comes to AM sound reproduction, it's difficult to overstate how fantastic this radio is! If you've never heard AM radio on a wideband tuner such as this, you are in for a treat! I also own a GE Superadio III, and while it probably sounds a tad wider on AM than this Sangean, in all but the most ideal circumstances, the tradeoff with the GE is that you hear monkey chatter and whistles from adjacent AM stations. There are three AM music stations I can tune in where I live, and they all sound amazing on this Sangean. The three bandwidth options, (adjustable) auto gain control, three tone settings, "fine tuning" setting, and local/DX option give you many possible configurations for tuning in and massaging the sound of AM stations. The widest bandwidth setting is listed by Sangean as being 6 KHZ, but this is somewhat misleading because in reality the audio is gently rolled off *starting* at about 6 KHZ (according to my iPhone Frequensee App), plus most AM music stations add audio pre-emphasis in this range, so in reality you are simply hearing "all of the music"; the treble is airy and delightful, and all harmonics are reproduced without audible artifacts. For those less geeky than myself, I'll simply put it this way: You'll hear all of the high notes in AM music, without that "muffled echo" sound that is so common on most modern AM tuners. I did not buy this radio for its shortwave tuner, and I really can't comment in that aspect of it.In summary, this is a great radio for personal use at home, at work, or when traveling, but is not the right radio for playing loud, boomy music-- it's simply too small to do that. FM will not disappoint, and when you have a strong signal, AM sounds absolutely incredible. Highly recommended.

I was pleasantly surprised with all options this is compact radio offers . Gorgeous , bright display with several back light options . Easily readable with a good symbol's size . I didn't read a manual to learn how to operate the radio . Just got an idea from one review before I received a unit . Radio works good on AM and FM . It is good on SW either . I didn't compare side by side with other radios on SW . During several nights I had good reception of short wave stations from US , Cuba , Brazil , Australia . I think I get more when propagation improves . ATS-405 is prefect bedtime radio . Don't expect DX capabilities from this unit but it is decent everyday (news, talk show, music ) performer . Radio sounds very loud and clear . I got 2500 mA re-chargeable batteries to use with receiver . I use radio most of the time with power supply . Now Sangean ships radio with switching power supply instead of old transformer type . It is requirements of FCC . New power supply has 100-230 input voltage , so you can use it every where , just don't forget wall outlet adapter ($1-3) . I don't hear any interferences due to new type of power supply . My Comast modem creates more noise than any other electronic gadget . It would be the best compact SW radio on the market if it had external antenna connector and SSB option .

My 20 year old Realistic multi band portable had come to it's end time due to an analog tuner that was worn out and a lot of dust that had worked its way down into all the switch buttons which were on top.This replacement was a perfect choice and I like everything about it. Halfway down its description page, it lists size as 9.6x8.7x3.1 in. Keep in mind that is the size of the BOX and not the radio which is a perfect 6in wide, 4in tall and 1.5 in from front to back. About the size of a paperback book. You also get a power adapter that will RECHARGE a set of NiMh in radio in about 4 hours or power direct with no batteries.The carry case is nice soft material. The operations booklet is small and well written and can travel to remind you of all you can do with it's dual function keypad. One of the first settings I tried was to scan the FM band in a mode that sorted all frequencies from strongest to weakest and auto set them for one button recall. Saves a lot of manual tuning and scanning when travelling. Sensitivity and reception on all bands is very good as is the quality of the speaker. Local/DX switch works good and you can use full stereo earphones. Radio looks like buffed aluminum but is plastic and will need much care to keep from dropping on a hard surface. Keep it away from sand and water and you'll enjoy this great little radio for a long time.