Sangean PR-D4W Portable Radio

This may just be one of Sangean's most underrated radios. If reception quality is paramount, this is the radio for you. I will have had this radio for three years come July, and I have no regrets with my choice. FM reception is nothing short of amazing. The radio needs just a little signal for quality reception, and once you have it, you're set. It's extremely sensitive and very selective. In my area, I receive most stations from three distinct markets, ranging 20, 30, and 60 miles away, along with some signals from two other markets (70 and 80 mi away), and with the built-in whip antenna, it's quite easy to receive all of them. The 20 and 30 mi stations can be received just about anywhere you put it, though the distant markets can be a bit finicky depending on placement. FM tunes in 100 or 50 kHz steps, which is initially annoying if you're used to tuning in standard US 200 kHz steps, though you quickly get used to it. Stereo requires a stronger signals than many tuners, though if you're listening to it with the built-in speaker this is a moot point as it's a mono speaker. Stereo only applies when listening through headphones, which provides for a quality audio experience. Be sure to extend the antenna fully though--the best reception is received only when it's fully extended. When it is fully retracted and resting, it's quite bad. AM reception is also outstanding. This radio receives stations I don't get on any other radio--for instance, outdoors I'm able to pick up a highway information radio station about 4.7 miles away on the narrowest filter. The radio has a number of bandwidth filters, from 1 kHz to 6 kHz, with six being the widest and providing the best sound but the most susceptible to noise. Personally, I'd recommend 2.5-4 kHz for talk radio, and 4-6 for music. Weather radio is useful to have along with an auxiliary input. Reception on weather is similar to AM/FM--excellent. I get my local radio station (20 mi), along with one 30 mi away, and in some spots, some from 50-60-70 mi away; impressive for 1kW stations. Battery life can be months on D batteries when used sparingly off of battery power. Overall, the only area where I can complain somewhat is the speaker--it sounds great until you compare it to something else. It lacks in lows and highs; it's definitely a mid-only speaker. Don't let this deter you though--this is a five star radio by all means. Highly recommended!

A medium wave/AM radio that is top of the range in terms of sensitivity, audio performance with FM like quality on better processed AM stations (eg Manx radio,1368khz, Isle of Man, BBC Radio 4 756kHz, Cornwall, BBC Radio 5 Live 909/693, UK TalkSport 1089 and many others) on its 6kHz setting and narrower bandwidth options 1,2,2.5,3,4kHz are available for crowded conditons and some very weak signals. Excellent filtering with the 6kHz setting working well, even under crowded night time European conditions. Also the radio is free of internal hets on all frequencies and has very low internal noise enabling the best reception possible with greater clarity and the lowest distortion of any AM radio I have used.Unlike some other dsp based radios it works well with passive loops across the AM band to bring up the weakest signals. The radio also has excellent agc, handling fading skywave signals very well, better than some other dsp based radios that have soft muting, maintaining audio quality better than some more expensive AM/FM portables and easily outperforms the AM ranges of any other top range multiband radio I have used. The radio can be used in Europe with a 9kHz step option and also for transatlantic dx with 10kHz steps. In a recent test it performed very well eg WINS 1010, VOCM 590, WBBR 1130, WBZ 1030 were received with ease using a passive tecsun loop in the early morning here in the south of Ireland.With the narrower bandwidth settings it is possible to dig out weaker stations that are more closely spaced to high power European stations. The FM section is less good, about average sensitivity and the audio quality on FM is less than other similar makes and has no rds. On the plus side the selectable bandwidths 40, 60, 85,110 are useful for crowded conditions and works well and is an unusual feature on a radio in this price range. The FM telescopic is well made unlike some competitors which use flimsy telescopics which can break easily. The outstanding aspect is AM/MW performance and performs better than a well known top of the range larger AM/FM portable, that retails at more than twice the price. To compare the two I did side by side tests on a wide range of frequencies in a low noise environment under both day and night time conditions which is best for sensitivity tests to ensure that man made interference is not the limiting factor. While both radios had similar sensitivity, the Sangean PR- D4W received AM/MW stations with better clarity, brighter, higher fidelity audio and handled fading skywave signals better than the bigger radio. I found this to be the case on a wide range of frequencies across the AM band. The larger radio performed better on FM in terms of sensitivity and audio performance. As a weather band alert service is unavailable in the region where I live I was unable to test this aspect on both radios. The build quality of the Sangean PR-D4W is excellent and the use of 4 x D cells ensures long battery life. One minor drawback is that there is no option for the back light to stay on and the radio defaults to the clock setting after approximately 10 seconds following tuning rather than displaying the station frequency and there appears to be no setting to change this. A peculiar feature for a device that is primarily a radio! The absence of a carrying handle, mentioned by other reviewers is not an issue for me. I find the radio easy to carry with a projecting section at the back helpful to prevent the radio from slipping. Treble and bass tone controls would be a nice addition although the audio set up seems particularly suitable for AM reception and the 3 inch speaker is powerful, providing room filling volume. In summary if you listen to local AM stations or you are a dxer interested in listening to distant stations day or night and you want to hear them with the best quality possible then I have no hesitation recommending this radio - the best performing current production AM/MW portable radio in my opinion. If your interest is primarily FM I suggest you look elsewhere.

Main use - AM radio. News, traffic, weather, talk, ballgames. + AM Reception - Beats my other portable radios on AM. Good sensitivity & selectivity. + AM Bandwidth - 1.0, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 4.0, 6.0 + FM Bandwidth - 40, 60, 85, 110 + Quality - looks and feels quality. Substantial weight for its size with 4 D cell batteries. + Display - easy to see/read. + Batteries - 4 D cells should last, not odd like 3 cells. Battery compartment door is hinged. + Audio - Clear voice. Low noise floor. + Volume Knob - smooth, feels and works of quality. + Face plate buttons - good feel. Not the hard click. Sized & spaced nicely for easy fingertip operation, or thumb. + Scan Button - location easy to find & operate by feel (not looking). Just a light press with the right thumb and it goes to next station with display illumination, pause about 5-6 seconds, then scan resumes to next station. Press scan again to stop & hold on a station. Scan seems to catch most weak/fringe stations when my other radios will skip those stations for a stronger signal. Without looking, with my right thumb, feel for the up/down tuning rocker and the scan button is recessed on its left side - easy. I like its location and how well it does. /~/ Am Auto Tracking - I don't know how it works and what its doing but when I hit a station on AM, the station will come in then fade with a drop in signal strength momentarily then jumps right back up along with a signal strength increase. So it seems to be doing something, just don't know what but seems effective. - Would be nice to have a carry handle but not a deal breaker for me. My bigger CCrane's, Sony low cost ICF-38, and Sangean PR-D15 have handles making easy carry. - No built in charger but that's fine with me as I have & prefer using my separate chargers for NiMh. - No external AM antenna connections. I'm finding myself using this radio a lot. ~ 90% of the time I use earbuds/headphones. Clean clear audio and no hiss/noise. Good audio when using the built in speaker also. Been using the sleep timer and low volume on the night stand. Used today in the garage with built in speaker while doing an oil change. Good volume & clear audio across the garage. I don't use the FM or weather feature, I have other means for those, but testing FM with headphones the audio was clear, and receive a couple WX stations easily. I have various other portable radios: CCRadio-EP (recent Amazon purchase) CCRadio-2E (display no longer working) 2 - CCRadio-SW (volume knobs shorts out on one, display out on another) CCrane CC-Skywave Sangean PR-D7 Sangean PR-D15 (recent purchase - good close field low level FM) Sony ICF-38 (recent purchase inexpensive AA cell analog - new fishing radio). Various other Sony, Grundig, Tecsun, Kaito, and various pocket radios. I don't know why my CCRadio's been going out on me, so I bought their analog CCRadio-EP and have been adding some current Sangean label radios lately and really like these PR series radios. Been getting some on/off rain, so when the winter really kicks in and don't feel like TV or doing much else I'll waist time on AM radio if not sitting a spell on Ham radio and this PR-D4W is quickly becoming my favorite. Hits more listenable AM stations than my CCrane CCRadio-EP I just compared against which impressed me for a smaller size radio. Also beats my recent purchase Sangean PR-D15 on AM but I think the D15 is better FM for close field low level listening - dual speaker prove some stereo effect, so the wife can have the D15. Also like the user interface most on the PR-D4W. Add (3/9/18) - Still working like the day I received it. Pair it up to an AM loop antenna and a little patience and get some good DX. Makes a fine package. Nice to have when I was laid up with the flu and not much else I could do.

This is a nice radio. A bit heavy, considering there is no handle for carrying this "portable" radio. It has 20 presets with 10 am and 10 fm (each has two bands). Reception seems quite good although a bit staticky in my area. Delivery was on time and Amazon included my recent order for batteries in the same package. Works with 4 D batteries and/or electrical connection (the adaptor comes with the radio which makes me wonder why Amazon shows a separate adaptor as a suggested additional purchase). Overall, I am pleased with this radio.

I bought PR-D4W based on several reviews I watched and read that suggested that both the AM and FM reception were outstanding, and I have found that information to be accurate. Another important factor is build quality and the quality here is very good. Buttons feel solid, whip antenna is sturdy, display is excellent, and it feels like a quality radio. Cost was also good for what you get. I have done several AM and FM DX'ing sessions with it now and really enjoy how well it works, particularly on AM. The noise floor is quite low which allows you to hear clearly those really weak stations, even with the volume turned way up. Sound quality is good for this size radio, but not outstanding. A lack of bass and treble adjustments limits its sound ability, but it is pleasant to listen to on both music and talk shows and is more than adequate for what I use it for. While the performance is high, the features are limited - which of course helps keep this radio at such an attractive price point. I would like a way to keep the frequency display always showing. As it is the radio always goes back to the time after displaying the frequency for 10 or 15 seconds. I would also like a tuning knob rather than just a rocker switch to change stations, although the tuning button works really well. It would also be nice to have a way to keep the display light locked on, especially when using the radio at night. As it is it only stays on for 10 seconds or so and then goes back out with no other settings. But bottom line is I really like this radio and find myself using it all the time now. Excellent performance in an attractive, compact form at an excellent price.

Excellent radio for Medium Wave (or AM Broadcast Band) DXing (distance reception). This is about 95% as good as the all time leader, the Panasonic RF-2200 for picking out weak AM stations. I do not like the tracking feature as in my area there are several powerful transmitters which cause the radio to extend the time it takes for the tracking feature to stabilize. Some times, I can literally slowly count to 6 while I am waiting for the radio to "settle down" after changing stations. I did open the radio and measured the internal ferrite bar antenna at 4.7". However, it measure 12mm in diameter as opposed to the standard 10 mm rods, so there is probably the same amount of ferrite in the antenna assembly as in a 6.5 inch rod. , just in a more compact form. Some have praised the audio, but this is a 3" speaker, and I found it to be bass heavy on AM and FM and also significantly lacking in treble on FM. It is also a royal pain to dial in stations with no keypad. It also will not recharge batteries, and the display does not stay on when using AC Power. With no handle or tilt stand, handling of the radio is awkward to say the best. It all boils down to what you want the radio to use for. The Weather functions are outstanding and it has a lot of power reserve, so for a camping or travel radio it would be quite good. For MW DXing, it is also good, but can be annoying. The bandwidth narrowing feature really makes the AM audio nasty, but does help with selectivity. I found it to be useful only when trying to eliminate splash over from a neighboring powerful signal, and it did not do that good of a job. The skirts on the filter must be a little wide. For casual AM/FM listening there are much better options. As a bedside radio, it is a non-starter with no constantly illuminated display.

great radio.. good product. attractive as well.

This radio has the best reception and sound quality of all the radios that I have ever had. I typically listen to the Family Radio station, which doesn't have strong reception in the NYC area. I also use this station as my wake up alarm so sometimes when the reception is too weak especially when you live inside an apartment, that becomes a problem. But this radio solves all those problems by providing very strong reception capability. The screen even has a 7-bar indicator that shows you the current signal strength level. If you want the best radio reception no matter where you go, this is the radio to get. Sangean is basically the Apple brand in the radio industry. So if you want quality, go with this brand. The control buttons are just the right amount, very practical with 5 station presets. The WX weather forecasts work great. Sound clarity is excellent. The size is right, not too big and is easy to carry and handle. The price is not the cheapest of all, but again you are paying for its quality and durability. Volume control is located to the right side and is easy to use. This radio also provides pretty large volume while still maintaining its sound quality. Lastly, I had some questions about their products, so I called their office in California. But the technician Jimmy was very rude and seemed to be irritated. Since I didn't get the help I needed, I called their headquarter office instead in Taiwan, and the staff there were very polite and helpful. They were the reason why I came upon this model, and it worked out to be perfect and exactly what I wanted. So thanks to those staff in the Taiwan office.