Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I chose this radio over the Sangean U3 based on size, weight, and price. The U3 is larger, weighs about 12 lbs (I don't want to carry that extra 5 lbs up a ladder if I don't have to), and is about $30 more expensive (at the time of this writing). Everything about this radio is great except...the antennas. I'll explain. You'll see lots of reviews complaining about the sound distorting above about 75% max volume. It doesn't. This is the 2nd of these radios I've had. I returned the first one immediately when my favorite, and one of the hottest (meaning strongest signal) AM talk stations crackled on low volume. I thought the speaker was bad. It sounded blown. My replacement TB-100 sounded exactly the same. Doubtful I'd get 2 factory duds in a row so I spent some time playing with the radio. I tuned the radio to a hot FM station that I know comes in 5x5. I heard NO crackles or pops whatsoever. Still, I was getting distortion above 50% to 75% max volume while I was on battery power. When I plugged the radio into AC power, I was able to crank the volume 100% full blast with NO distortion. So with a 5 watt speaker it's a bit of a power hog for C batteries. Sangean probably should have designed this to run on D batteries or a big 6 volt battery (but then the radio would be heavier). That aside, what people have been perceiving as a bad speaker or mismatched speaker/amp combo is really the fact that the antennas in this radio are too small which causes less than perfect reception. The external FM antenna is ALMOST 6 inches tall?! Ridiculous! The antenna is flexible and rubber coated and the unit is about 12 inches wide. So there's no reason Sangean couldn't fit a flexible 12 inch antenna in the box! My cheap Sony pocket radio had a 17 inch (telescopic) antenna. This should have come with a 12 inch FM antenna--period. The internal ferrite AM antenna is only 3 inches. THREE inches?! Seriously?! Come on, Sangean! As a general rule of thumb, when building a radio, you should try to put the longest ferrite antenna in it that will fit in the cabinet. Have you heard of the legendary GE Superradio III? It's renown for amazing AM reception. The ferrite antenna in it is nearly 8 inches long! Size matters with antennas. Sangean should have put in a longer ferrite. As long as possible, in my opinion. Please take into account that I'm a former professional radio DJ, former CB'er, and an overall radio enthusiast so I'm pretty critical and picky about my radio gear. To its credit, even with the 3 inch ferrite, this radio picked up AM stations 141 miles away while indoors, under a 150 watt halogen light, during the DAYTIME (AM reception is usually better at night on all AM radios). This radio is about 7 lbs and made of very thick, sturdy plastic. You can knock the antlers off a moose with it while still hearing your favorite song. The display is large and easy to read and backlit for a few seconds. You can adjust the tuning steps to adhere to either USA or European increments (instructions are included with the radio). Some have complained about the tone. Personally, I like the tone. I've tested this on many genres. Talk, jazz, contemporary Christian, alternative rock, bluegrass, 80's pop, country. It sounds good with all of them. It's not too bass-heavy for Talk. Sound full and rich but clear. Using the Aux input, I tested my iTunes library. Using the iPhone Settings for Music, I was able to select any of the EQ presets and control the tone. As a general rule, I found Acoustic and Jazz to be two settings that worked well with most stuff. The factory tuning for this cabinet is a bit prominent is the low-mid range so it sounds better if you use an EQ that pulls those frequencies down a bit. I do recommend this radio and I'm happy with it for the most part, by I'm disappointed in the antennas Sangean included. They could have done better. I may decide after the warranty expires to crack it open and put a longer ferrite antenna in it. Any increase in size will help. If one were industrious and handy with tools, one could get ahold of a whip antenna (from a car or old CB radio set), cut it to a reasonable length, affix it to a threaded male end of the appropriate fit for the antenna port, and make yourself a longer FM antenna for this. Boy! A 2 or 3 foot whip on this would pull in the FM very well, I'd think! I whine about the antennas and the reception but many customers seem happy with them, so they aren't bad enough to that the radio doesn't work. It works well. I'm just very picky about my radios. Small antennas aside, it's a good, durable, outdoor radio. Get it!