anyone who has had them all care to list Nationals or other receivers in the order of best audio quality?
I am interested in shortwave
not Ham only. I have plenty of those receivers.

Thanks

Ken

I have many (probably too many) boat anchors mostly from Hallicrafters, National and Hammarlund. My Hallicrafters SX-42 is the clear winner for audio quality when I open up the IF passband control to "broad" and set the tone switch to "hi fi". My SX-28 is a close second which, of course, is where the SX-42 has it's roots.

The Hammarlund SP-600 has excellent wideband response when the IF is set to 8 or 13 kc. However, the main purpose of this radio was to drive an additional amplifier or distribution system so it is somewhat lacking when asked to drive a full range speaker system by itself.

The National's like my NC-183D sound fine but, unfortunately, there is no way to broaden the fixed IF passband to allow wideband reproduction from those stations who transmit it. Yes, you can widen the IF's with staggered alignment or lower the Q with resistors, but that's cheating. As a brand group, I find that Nationals seem to have the most pleasing audio response overall, even in their entry and mid-level models.

Dave

Don't have a working example of either right now, but a SX-62 is the SW version of the SX-42 and should sound as good. Not easy restorations, but both cover the commercial FM band also (alas mono), which is rather rare for boat anchors. You'll need more of a hi-fi vs communications speaker, in any case.

My National NC-173 and my NC-183 are both pleasing to my ear.
Sandy

The pre-SP-600 Super Pros (SP-100, 110, 120, 400, BC-779, BC-1004) by far.

Just to put in 2 cents, the NC-183 I once had was the best sounding audio of any I have owned or ever listened too. Now to be fair, that probably doesn't represent as large a sample as others here and my hearing isn't what it once was.

arnie

I define best audio as something beyond a single ended audio stage with "communications" response that can drive even a 15" speaker and rattle the windows which means in normal use its nowhere near into noticable distortion.

I certainly would not put a SP-600 on that list But I agree about its predecessors of which I have SP-100, 200, and 400 examples. The sad thing is Hammarlund never had a decent speaker and I use Hallicrafters, National and a few home entertainment models. A LS-12 sits in the attic as I dont have a place to mount it in the basement.

OTOH all of the PP audio Nationals from the 1936 NC-100 to the last run of the HRO-60 in 1968 certainly qualify. While I realize a few have restricted bandwidth however they also do better when the QRM is heavy. I have most of them including the NC-46 with its PP 25L6's which is a very nice BCB radio plus nice for monitoring 160-40AM during the day. A sleeper National is the NBS-1 which is a NC-183 variant with a 3rd IF stage plus variable IF selectivity. W3JN and I have a bit of history with that model but he forgave me when he got one There are a few other ARF members who have since picked one up; they usually go on Fleabay for much less than a regular 183.

For Hallicrafters the SX-17, 25, 28/28A, 32, 42, 62/62A all have PP audio and all sound good. I have all except a SX-62 but I made up for that with a pair of SX-62A's I had a SX-88 until 1998.

There are a few oddball brands out there with PP audio but they arent often seen except by Roger, WQ9E.

Carl

I through my 2 cents in and say a Hallicrafters SX-99 - this set comes with a very large separate speaker - and nice wideband. Makes some BC stations sound like FM!

So now I am a collector of oddballs

My very first boat anchor was a SX-62A I used for learning the code and as the station receiver for my first week of novice operation. Back then (middle 1970s) WLS out of Chicago was music instead of talk and put a great signal down to the MS gulf coast by middle afternoon during the winter and it sounded great on the SX-62A driving a large Pioneer speaker system. Like Carl stated, a lot of the Hallicrafters receivers provided nice push/pull audio sections with fairly wide IF bandwidth. The SX-11, SX-16, SX-17 and SX-28 are great looking producers of nice audio as are the SX-42/62 family. On my want list is a decent wireless re-broadcaster so that I can provide some decent program material for my SX-88, I got it several years too late for the heyday of AM and SW broadcast listening and with its push pull output and selectable bandwidth up to 10 Khz. it sounds nice. I am starting to develop a taste for bluegrass largely because WSM is one of the very few stations with music programming and decent audio.

Although the bandwidth of National receivers is generally more restrictive a lot of them sound very nice. The NC-100X and NC-240-D are my favorites of the bunch but for ham band purists there is the NC-101X which I believe is the only ham band only receiver with push pull audio output. The NC-183 also has very nice sound. I have quite a few Hallicrafters and Hammarlund receivers but Nationals are my favorites of the major brand players.

In the oddball category, my Breting 12 and 14AX receivers produce very nice AM audio and I expect my yet to be restored Breting 40 will be another nice sounding receiver. The Pierson KP-81 has a nice audio output section but the IF bandwidth is a bit sharp because of the large number of IF transformers used so I wouldn't put it in the great audio category. Both the Patterson PR-15 and PR-16 (related to the Pierson through engineer Karl Pierson) have much nicer audio than the KP-81 but don't do as well in heavy QRM. The RCA ACR-111 is still awaiting restoration but I expect it will also produce nice sound.

At the opposite extreme, my TMC GPR-90, when using the GSB-1 in AM mode, produces audio so restricted that it makes the old Apollo space mission audio sound good by comparison. It uses a 17 Khz. IF with a rated bandwidth of 2.5 Khz. @6db down and 3.5 Khz. @ 50db down. I often use selectable sideband receivers on AM to work through interference so I am used to, and don't mind, restricted audio but I don't think I could listen to AM through the GSB-1 for very long. It is passable using the local BFO for AM operation but still trying.

Rodger WQ9E

The SP-600 is my first choice in sound quality when used with an old wood open back wall mount jukebox speaker with 10" driver inside. The two coupling capacitors one before the volume control and one coupling to the 6V6 control grid do need to be upgraded to a higher value to get better bass response.

The R-390 is a close second only because of its lower audio output power. I use a vintage 15" Jensen Concert Series speaker with it and as with the Hammarlund a couple audio coupling caps do need to be increased in value for better bass response.



If you are interested in building a re-broadcaster Here's one I built viewtopic.php?f=12&t=190336

Not my own design though. I of course added a few bells and whistles to mine namely the VU meter circuit (provides visual indication of modulation level) and the pi net antenna tuner which was originally a single variable capacitor. Can be built in most any enclosure. Can connect to most any audio device although I recommend connecting to your computer and using Winamp with the stereo tools plugin for best audio quality as the stereo tools plugin has a nice AM transmitter setting that makes the audio sound much like a commercial AM station.

If you're interested let me know and I can email you the schematic which is a bit larger than what is shown in that post.

I knew you would reply Roger!

The best requires two radios, one for wide bandwidth and the other for battle conditions. I prefer the NC-183/200/240C or D and HRO-50 for wide and the NC-183D, HRO-50-1 and HRO-60 for narrow. All do a good job for the bass and its the highs that get chopped BUT if the signal is strong the roll-off isnt too bad considering what is on commercial AM these days.

Carl

Carl,

I am glad you clearly pointed out the difference between the HRO-50 and the HRO-50-1 to others because I learned the hard way. When I first got my Ranger/Desk KW I set it up with a HRO-50 as shown in the early Johnson advertisements. The first time I used it while acting as net control on the regional 3885 net I gave up part way through and patched in a Drake R-7 instead because of too much interference from nearby.

The HRO-50-1 was a huge improvement but now I am using a SX-88 with the Ranger/Desk KW and the HRO-50-1 is paired with a Globe Champion 350 while the HRO-50 is paired with a Navigator. The crystal filter in the HRO-50 makes it a fine CW receiver.

Rodger WQ9E

how about the Hammerlunds such as the 120x 140x??

I'd have to agree with the Guys who suggest different receivers for AM or SSB modes.
I love Hammarlunds but it takes two different models to cover the bases...IMHO

Pete

Very very nice! Why a 120x rather than 140 x? Is that a 160 or 180 on the left? Have a great day!

Thank You. The one on the left is a 180-A and the one on the right is the 129-X I just
finished repairing and refurbishing. The 129-X has wonderful warm audio and the 180-A is
great for CW.
The Valiant was in storage at an old hams house since 1957 and his relatives sold it when
he went to the rest home. I just re-capped it and put it on the air.
The Ranger has been an ongoing resto and is now in perfect physical and electrical condition.
I use it for CW.
The pix below is on the other side of the room. In keeping with the thread, I wanted to mention
that I also have a Hallicrafters SX96 paired with a DX 100 and a Johnson Invader paired with a
Hammarlund HQ 170-A/VHF with Lamb noise blanker. The 180 and 170-A's are outstanding
SSB rigs but the 129-X wins hands down in AM quality. I would imagine the 120 and 140 would be
on a par but can't say for sure. These, I can.
The rigs in the background are another 170-A with noise blanker paired with a Ranger ll.
Can never have enough Rangers or Valiants. LOL

Pete

Yes, that's an ART processor. I use it with the D 104. I hadn't noticed the white marker missing on
the band switch. Thank you. I've got a white plastic dowel I've chopped up for the others so I have
enough to make a new one.
The others are all epoxied in but there are a few I didn't "repair".

Do you have an "R" in your call? I might already know.....LOL.

Pete