ETON 960 Classic AM/FM Shortwave Radio by Eton
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List Price: Our Price: $123.45 You Save: $76.54 (38%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more digital camera details and other models |
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Digital camera reviews of ETON 960 Classic AM/FM Shortwave Radio
Digital camera Review: Beware
Summary: 1 Stars
This radio is not a replica of the 960. In fact nearly every claim made for it is false. Reception is marginal on local stations, sound is so-so, shortwave tuning is hit-and-miss. The cabinet material does have some wood origin, but one has just to compare this radio with the real 960 pictured on the carton to see how pitiful this one is. I can't believe I fell for it. A great shame on the Grundig name...Digital camera Review: Chinese copy!
Summary: 4 Stars
Hey It Works!
For $30 what can you expect?
It sounds OK!
Digital camera Review: Classic styling ain't everything
Summary: 1 Stars
Classic styling is fine, but if the radio doesn't get acceptable reception, it means squat! AM or FM reception on this was mediocre at best, & forget any shortwave programming. I added a Terk powered antenna, which didn't help. I bought this radio used on Ebay for my Mom, and I just sold it back on Ebay for a $20.00 loss, but at least it won't be wasting space anymore! By the way, $180.00 list price for this POS?? That is a total joke. You can get 10X the radio brand new for 2/3 the price by buying a Sangean or Roberts Radio unit.Digital camera Review: Comments on Grundig 960 Classic Radio
Summary: 3 Stars
I remember when these radios first came out in the early '90's, also remember the not too positive comments the radio's first version received. When I recently ran across the listing for the radio on Amazon, my interest was brought back because the price that some sellers were offering the radio for was far less than the original selling price (and it was my birthday!). I purchased the radio from one of the lower priced seller who had reasonable shipping rates - arrived in about a week.
First comments on performance: From the description of the sales carton and the tuning dial, I received the first version of the radio. The AC hum that this radio was noted for is not present (see below), but the audio amp is not quiet. The tuning knob is stiff with acceptable backlash. The audio quality from the inboard speakers is very pleasant and acceptable (perhaps filtering somewhat the AC hum), but I understand now why this radio does not come with a headphone jack - the audio amplifier background hiss would quickly make listening tiring on quality headphones. I live in a remote area so the receiver was not subjected to overload and received the local AM and FM stations just fine. I purchased the radio to take the place of a pair of cheap computer speakers I have on my work desk to play a Sirius-XM Stiletto 2 receiver. This Grundig will work just fine for this purpose, but as others said you need to turn up the volume from the aux input to the maximum. As for the SW, all I can say is that if you are old enough to have tuned a low-end, consumer shortwave radio in the early '70's, this one will bring back that experience, especially the airplane propeller sounds every 100 kHz. I have a Realistic (Radio Shack) DX-120 Star Patrol single conversion analog receiver and it does slightly better than this Grundig. If anyone is seriously thinking of using this radio as a SW receiver, a less than $100 digitally tuned radio by Eton or Kaito would be a much better choice.
Now for quality issues I have with the radio I received. Although the radio was listed by the seller as "Original packaging," the cabinet's trim was not painted (one of the things that made this radio unique), nor were there any stickers with a serial number, quality control progress or date of manufacture. Opening up the radio, it is really obvious that someone did an amateurish job of modifying the power supply to reduce the AC hum. Nowhere inside the cabinet was any indication of the date of manufacture. The cheaply photocopied Instruction Book (not anything like that was included with the other Grundig radios I own) indicates that accessories included in the box are an external antenna and a Shortwave Listener's Guide, but neither of them was found.
I emailed the seller and asked if s/he knew of the history of her/his supply of radios, but have not received a reply. So what's to follow is purely my speculation, your mileage may vary. From the modifications inside the radio, the lack of serial number or identification, the non-Grundig-like Instruction Book and the lack of mentioned accessories accompanying the radio, I suspect that I received would be called a "refurbished" item in the computer trade. Grundig must have had a fair number of returns of these radios (that did not include the accessories or original instruction manual) and passed on the returned sets to their Asian manufacturer or some other third party. These returned radios could have been electrically modified with some cabinet repairs and repackaged for sale.
For the price I paid and what I want this radio to do, I have no complaints. However, I would suggest if you want to purchase something akin to the original version(s) of the model that you contact the seller and ask questions about the painting of the cabinet, the serial number and if it includes the original accessories. You are going to get what you pay for.
Digital camera Review: Ersatz Style/Mediocre performance
Summary: 1 Stars
Grundig's Classic is designed to call to mind the wonderful days of sitting around the radio listening to Fibber McGee and Molly, but most of the materials used in this presentation weren't even invented then. then it was labor, now its injection molding. It looks cheap as a result.And, it doesn't perform as well as a portable battery powered Sony. With the exception of AM broadcasts. If you need to hear a ballgame in the middle of nowhere, this is for you. If not look again.