I picked one of these up from an estate sale for $30 US dollars. I knew nothing about it when I bought it, but I figured I couldn't go wrong for $30. It's a great radio for commercial AM/FM radio stations in southern Ohio. (I live less than 10 miles from the 700 WLW tower) I had planned to hook up a long wire, but after this video review, I may just keep it as a dedicated AM radio for working in my shop. For a commercial FM listening radio, it worked great once I turned off stereo. I'm not sure why it even has a stereo option for a radio with a single speaker. I know people don't pay $400 to listen to AM/AM commercial stations, but for $30, I think it's a winner for my needs. Great review! I learned everything I wanted to know about this beast.

Glad to here your honest review. I get really tired of KZfaq reviews where most reviewers "never met a product they didn't like".......

Appreciate all the time, effort, and sharing of your honest opinion in reviewing this radio. Many mixed opinions on this radio. I have read many reviews that both criticize and praise it for quite a few years now. It's been on the market for 14 years now (first released in 2008) and is still a strong seller.

I have it since 2015 and I can confirm that your review is right on point. Keep up the great work.

Thank for your honesty, I'm a total newbie to shortwave listening. I bought this radio for $400.00 I'm ok with it because, well I'm new to this and have to learn things and lesson learned 😌 I'll do more research next time , but you gonna love the look. 🤣😊 of this machine

After all my years listening to broadcast SW stations nothing has ever beaten my Sony 2010 which was designed and made in the 1980s.

New to Shortwave and bought this radio as a newbie and wish I would have watched this review before buying it I appreciate the honesty you provided about it as it’s spot on even as a newbie to the shortwave I noticed these and a few other flaws in the first few days of having the radio and honestly it should be a crime to sell this thing for $400 🤷‍♂️

My favorite short wave radio 📻 I really like 100% ,no doubt. To have this brilliant radio, very proud.

Hi Gilles. Thank you for your honest reviews. We all have different opinions on any particular radio. For example, some like the Hanrongda HRD-737 and others call it junk. I have the Retekess version (TR105) and think that it's an average performing but fun radio. Have a good night.

oh man I really wanted to like this radio, it looks soooooo good! Thanks for your honesty in all your reviews, Gilles.

I hope Eton sees this review! Ouch ! noticed my 750 has the issues mentioned .That filter could be alot better .But the big sound! I listen to SW, ham, pirates , MW, and Air and still love mine (overall) ..- With a long ground ,longwire , or some coax ..since I added a mfj amplified antenna it's a beast imo. That said I got mine on sale open box last year for $349 plus tax and retail $499 IS too high imo. Honest review appreciated.

Very good review. I was considering buying one about a year ago, but the lack of published specs (filter bandwidths) quickly changed my mind. I figured it was consumer quality at best.

Im an extra class ham and had a load of radios since 1991 and this rig is WELL worth the money. Made very well and works supper great. a 1 to 10 i give it a 10+

I really love your in depth reviews.This radio was introduced around 2008, and is a little long in the tooth. I think its a little unfair to bash on it at this point.I picked up my s2000 a few years back for 2 bills, and love it.I do also love my eton elite exec, and pl880.I do notice some of the wide band issues you speak of, but i am used to tuning around them.The price right now is very high for this unit.

I agree the wide BW setting is too wide for all but the strongest MW & SW signals, so I keep mine on narrow. One thing I noticed after I bought it, the wide setting had two peaks about 4 kHz above & below centre freq (whereas narrow was right on). I discovered the PL-660 has a similar problem which is a calibration issue. There is a procedure to calibrate the 660.. I tried it on my s2000 and it worked! The other issue I found was the int/ext antenna switch was loose. Both issues are just poor quality control, but as mine is now out of warranty I've got nothing to lose by fixing things myself. The radio is very sensitive and works well on a longwire in an RF quiet location. My QTH is a beehive of noise so I only use the longwire during a blackout. I use an amplified Wellbrook loop but this connected directly via coax will overload it. However, I found what works: I built a high-pass filter to cut out MW broadcast (anything below 2 MHz). Using HPF, plus attenuator, plus the RF gain knob set low will still pull out weak dx without overloading. The other advantage this radio has over most others is the external MW/LW socket which bypasses the ferrite rod. Just about every other radio I've used on longwave gets images from strong MW broadcast stations. Using a longwire via a low-pass filter to the ext socket I can pick up very weak distant NDB's. The verdict? For how it performs straight out of the box, other receivers can perform nearly as well for a fraction of the price, such as the PL-660 (I have both). But with a bit of experimentation with antennas and filters it's still a lot of fun.

Hello I have had this radio for 3yrs. The tecsun s 2000 and the wide filter is much to wide to really be of use. That's my opinion and I have 96 different receivers to compare to. So this man is correct in his assessment. Best regards. Ron z. The north American shortwave radio and toy robot museum. WA3090SWL.

The S 2000 best radio I have ever used, mine can easily adjust and cope with major stations and power stations, best buy I have ever made.

Tecsun is about to launch S-2200 with very similar appearance but equipped with DSP. Hopefully your concern on the bandwidth can be fixed!

Thank you for this great confirmation. I had my eyes on this radio but heard other reviews against it. So it looks like I made the right decision going with the Tecsun H-501 X.

Many many thanks for this in-depth review.

Thank you for your honest, as usual, review, of the good and unfortunately 😕 problems.

I have the Tecsun version of this. I don't really agree with this assessment . Of course it's not fair to compare it with mega expensive Japanese radios but it really does perform well . Having FM , AM and airband is a big plus . FM performance is excellent . AM broadcast too . Even on its internal antennas general performance is really good . I have non of the issues described with audio quality and having to detune on AM for a clear signal . I have had many receivers over my long life and this is up there with the best . Careful use of the controls for me eliminates and tendancies to overload . An extra setting for bandwidth might be helpful at times but nothing in life is perfect . Mine is the latest incarnation of this model so maybe some issues have been updated . All in all , for what it is it's a great all rounder . As a bonus it looks great too !

Best radio I had was the Drake sw8.Very sensitive but kept noise from other stations way down.Would pick up pirates on weekends on 6995 in Mid Missouri very well.The display on this one looks very similar to the SW8.Tnx for video.

Your reviews help me buy great radios. My PL 660 is the best thing since sliced bread with the MLA 30+. I do enjoy playing with the 750. I thank you for your honest opinion and it will help me with future purchasing of radios. Thank you for your time and sharing with us.

I think people want to love this radio because of what they may have spent on it, and because of how it looks. And they end up embellishing and overlooking its flaws.

Thanks for the honest opinion Gilles. Unfortunately, there are other radios that are way overpriced!

i think if you buy it knowing exactly what you're getting and you're not a total noob looking for that all star glorious radio that does all things wonderfully.. then its not so good points get drowned out a bit by its positives.. i'm an SDR guy with old retro 70s Grundig's and more modern radios like the PL330, i still bought this regardless.. and i must say i do like it (at what it does well.. plus it looks cool)

Very good and helpful review Gilles. It is a beautiful radio, seems like it would be fun to operate, but the performance issues you describe would definitely be unacceptable to me. One thing I noticed right off is the lack of digits on the main display; seems odd in a modern portable not having at least the 100 Hz digit. Price point is definitely too high for something with poor strong signal handling and lack of appropriate filtering. It would be nice to pair that nice user interface (knobs and controls, layout, S-meter) with a very high quality radio, preferably with a waterfall display option of some sort. Seems like nobody is really knocking it out of the park with a really great new portable. (I see in other comments that this radio was released almost 20 years ago; given that, I suppose one has to adjust expectations; still price ought to be discounted for that).

'I'm gonna give it a pass - BARELY'. Nice. Yes, I have the Tecsun S-2000, and can confirm all of the flaws that you mention. I paid about $300 for mine. I was disappointed in the filtering as well.

I have to say the pl 600 is the worst radio I ever bought overloads just a terrible radio so this radio to me is much better than the Tecsun pl 600

Found your review refreshing. Have seen videos about this praising it and assumed I must have picked up a faulty one. The sound is awful. The detuning does work to an extent. Found using headphones or plugging into an external speaker the only way around it that kind of works. The telescopic antenna is very good which is just as well because on mine any kind of amplified antenna overloads it not only with other stations but a phenomenal amount to spurious noise.

Thanks for a great review. Your reviews are always the most credible and that is appreciated by anyone who is a serious SW listener. My thoughts.

And here I thought my feelings toward a Collins 651 were misplaced but I swear it sounds like you were talking about the shortcomings of that HF rcvr that I used for 18 of my 20 years as a radioman. But I have the "Grundig" model and personally like it. I've learned to embrace it's shortcomings. I also have a Eton - Elite Executive that IMO was a total waist of money. Though I live in SE Michigan, not a great place for DX'ng, it's workable. 73's

I have been disappointed in my Grundig 750 since I bought it. The wide filter issue is the primary reason. Even on medium wave, stations sound bad if you tune to their frequency. You can improve things somewhat by detuning for the best audio, but that is truly a crazy thing to have to do. AM audio, on any band, is unpleasant and tiring. FM is OK. I bought a Panasonic RF-2200 new in about 1980. I know how a good portable shortwave radio should perform. This model falls so far short of that. Thanks for an honest review.

For my use case, the wide filter hasn't been an issue so far. Nor has overloading. The ergonomics of this radio are excellent, as is the tone quality and LCD display. On the down side, I find the air band to sorely lack sensitivity; it's not even close to my scanner or Sony 2010. Lighted buttons would have been nice. Having squelch is a nice touch, as is the rotating AM antenna. I didn't pay anything close to $300 for mine, and I'm keeping it!

Awesome review. Thank you. You doing a service to people who already spent too much on radios.

I almost pulled the trigger and bought this one. Learn as we go. Thank You very much :)

well let first thank you for your review on this particular radio i enjoy listening to you and your advised but still i must say that i really want to perchas one because of the zone where i live there not much of strong stations around here much more the stations that i pick up are merely from Colombia south America especially at nights in the day time i mostly listen to air band i was never lucky to pick up any of the ssb signals on my radio even when it has a bfo nub on it so this is one more reason i want to try this one

If you are patient with far away stations you will use the step for adjacent powerful frequencies, antenna attenuator depending on how powerful the station is and bandwidth on top of turning the rotating antenna. Use every resource at your fingertips

Good Day & Good Review. Looks Great, like good real SW radios of "the past". I've been listening to SW since about 1961. I do miss the old days of SW. I do have a 100 foot outside wire antenna. I would love to love this radio, but it is seriously over price IMO for what it is. However, you can still "live joyfully in the past" if you have the budget to afford one of the older great quality SW radios. Thanks & Best Regards

I have had one for a while, picked up an S-2000 model around $250. Although I enjoy it you're certainly right about the flaws. Most annoying things to me about it are the SSB BFO knob is WAY too sensitive and when using auto-scan it doesn't stay on a station long enough to determine much . . . unless you connect an external speaker. Weird delay on the internal speaker.

It's still chugging along after 20 years. I know it hasn't aged well compared to the modern radios of today from Tecsun, but how would you grade it compared to the offerings of 2002?????

Thank you, was about to get one, what would be a better alternative ? Thanks

Is it possible this radio is optimized for the built in telescopic antenna and NOT for a high power external add-on? Could that explain why it is so over sensitive as the radio is designed as a portable and aimed at the beginner that doesn't want or need extra wires draped all over their living room? The reviewers all seem to like the match up between the included antenna and the reception it provides. They only complain for the most part once they hook up to a high power antenna. I don't want an external antenna and have a window this radio sits alongside. No problems here. Just wondering.

Just found one of these left outside at the curb for someone to grab. Currently it doesn't say anything other than "lo" I'm guessing that's because it doesn't have batteries in it. Maybe it's faulty, who knows.

They say," you don't know what you don't know" I thought I was getting a radio that looked great and preformed exceptional. But truly I did not know about the radio hobby and what I was experiencing. As I watched this video I was hearing you describe everything I been experiencing. I just didn't know what was happening wasn't normal or if they were flaws or issues. Expensive first lesson for a new to radio hobby. I wish I could get some guidance, somehow, now I have l to start the radio search over again. Can I use this radio for any type of decoding or listening in on ham radio things? Not sure what DX ING is but sounds interesting. I would like to decode cw, and digital signals, basically create a listening post, like granny did with a scanner in the old days lol anyway thank you for the video and awareness!

I’m really glad you said about the back of the radio we you could put the earplugs it’s a compartment for electrical and was an electrical thing I was wondering what that was I’m glad you did not send about that you do a great review on all the Radio‘s Apple Watch of you often and I listen to you on Sunday mornings

6 PUNTOS DE 10? ESTOY TOTALMENTE EN DESACUERDO. UNA BUENA ANTENA EXTERIOR Y LA RADIO ES OTRA. ES UNA GRAN RAFIO 10 SOBRE 10.

Yes. However, I am (luckily) way out in the mid- Pacific.NOT stuck on the eastern seabord. For your location, I understand what you say. I like stations that seem interesting and do not compete for the same wavelength necessarily. Sitting outside on Kauai, I guess I get just too too relaxed. 😉 By the way, I too paid far less than you.😊

Now I am curious to know. What is your favorite shortwave receiver? This has been a good review. Thank you for sharing.

Good luck finding one I’ve been looking for three months and everybody sold out

Use a Bearcat is the best on VHF air

i was about to purchase as a newbie due to other reviews. I just got my first pl330 last week and still learning, also ordered a cheap ast 25plus from china ali express due in any day, for the price i figured i would have another table top toy. Can you recommend a desk top Giles. thanks brother.

👍 I agree, I will do a filter modification adding a quality filter in addition to what it has and see what results I get (keep you posted) may be as late as the end of the year. Maybe Ill run into a schematic or Service Manual for it. Also take pictures and maybe a video of it. Tecsun should have done upgrades to this radio in the years. This radio been running 24 hours a day for about a year and working fine, love this radio.

Gilles I like your utube videos are awesome 👍👍🎊🎊🎊😎😎🎊

The RF Gain control should not be at its max all the time. It should be at its max when searching for stations, then, when you find a station, it should be lowered to an amount just above intelligibility and signal loss. When used in this way you reduce noise and adjacent signal splatter. The RF Gain control's primary function is to reduce overload!

great review you know your radio stuff

Wonder what would you consider a good radio ??

Looking for a radio to do all these things and I was focused on this radio that was reviewed but now I'm back to square one looking to find the right one. Any input would be helpful. Thanks,

It seems like selectivity isn't very great on it then, from what you're saying here about interference and RF filters, but that it has good sensitivity. Seems like a nice radio overall, but a shame it's lacking in that regard. Cheers.

Can you do a video of top picks of the older units we might be able to pick up? Looking for the diamond in the rough.

Eton750/Tecsun s2000, basically the same radio' arent they?

Nice looking. IF out is great for using SDR or DRM decoders & cleaning up audio & its 12 KHz for DRM using DREAM which also has AM & SSB & ESS. The 20 KHz filter is too wide & will allow splatter plus or minus 10 KHz.The reason for the filter bandwidth being so wide will be for wider better for IF out because a DRM station & low deff TV at 72 KBPS needs 20 KHz bandwidth, so thats maybe why its so wide... Im a ham & tapped ny Kenwood TS2000 12 KHz IF & use SDR & decode DRM & filters on wide is best & most of this SDR software controls the radios tuning, but not for this Eton model but IF sould work.

My biggest complaint with my Tecsun S-2000 are the bandwidths. Wide is way too wide.

When these first came out as a Grundig, they were average performance. The large size, buttons & knobs, along with the build quality, do make it a good choice for ease of accessibility or introducing kids to world band. I still have a working Realistic DX394 table top or I would buy the Tecsun version.

Thank you for the fact-based, honest review. I live outside of Los Angeles and want to get a good SW receiver where i can listen to shortwave broadcasts around the world. What table top radio would you recommend? I've watched so many KZfaq videos and am confused

Which radio do you recommend ?

As you said, this is not for the serious shortwave listener, and surely not for a utility station chaser! - more for granpa that wants to have a grand radio, and listen to old jazz like "The Glenn Miller orchestra" in the evening ;D

I possess the S2000 and PL880. Honestly, I prefer using the PL880 as I prefer the bandwidth choices. I am using around 150 foot long wire as an external antenna and see no advantage of the S2000 over the PL880. 73 from the other side of the pond.

Maybe a good fix would be switching out the main filter?

Hi, which antenna would be used for the airband on this radio (ie: FM,AM,SW OR MW. sorry I am not very familar with electronics

Hi my dad died a couple of years ago, and he was tec mad. Ive got one of these from clearing his house , with box, but have absolutely no idea what this does ? Ive looked online at price and it says about £800 uk What is it ? Just a radio ?

Thank you for your review. I was tempted to buy one but you've just saved me from making a mistake. Looks nice, but it has to work well too. Disappointed but relieved. Can you recommend an alternative receiver Gilles?

I am a newbie on the multi band world. I am certainly not a newbie in AV. And understand the concept of DX’ing. Any radio worth its salt should narrow and wide selection. Alternate channel rejection like on audio FM tuners I grew up with and so on. I was following your review. Get this is a Chinese flavor or the month. I have always used a scanner for Air traffic for years. I was hoping you could highlight what would be good alternatives for me if this tarted up non performer was/is not the one. I was a Sangean dealer for a few years a long time ago. I want a good receiver, and yes I would DX like you do! So what would be good candidates for narrow DX’ing since this Eton is not the one. Thanks.

any ham radio with a blown pa that has am will be a much better receiver for swl and cost much less than this thing I've seen blown radios(no transmit) that receive excellent for as little as 50 bucks.

What low budget and high budget shortwave radios do you recommend? I teach emergency preparedness and would like to steer my clients in the right direction. Thank you for the info!

My radio was out of the box new when I opened it up. It wasn't long after that it just quit working. No power at all. Plug or battery. Any idea how to get it working. Thanks

Yes, I thank you for your opinion, I now rather look for a 70 y/o saba tube radio.

When I first came upon a description of this radio, I was suspicious. They seemed to make a big deal about the zillion memory channels, the clock, etc. That's all "fluff." What matters are selectivity, dynamic rage, sensitivity (not a big deal today, most current radios are good), and stability (ESPECIALLY important for RTTY, fairly important for SSB, not a big deal for AM).

Just saw a review on another youtube channel and the signal meter never worked on the demo.

The Air Band on the Eton Elite has the same problem....the sound is too low....I could not get airport signal 100 miles away...

This is old tech. I paid less than $200 with shipping many years ago. $450 is stupid. I still enjoy my radio. Listen to it often. I have the 330 and enjoy it too.

Spot on and I have one of these. Very disappointed in this radio. But it looks good.

Thanks for the review. Can you recommend a SW radio from $400 to $700. Thank you.

the old NATIONAL PANASONIC R3000 is still the best I have ever used

Ok I’m new to this but if this radio is not that great for the price, what you recommend?

This radio isn’t available anymore

more: If they dropped the selling price by about $100.00, I think it would be well worth it. What do you think?

Gilles see you on live chat Wednesday

Thank you for the video. I have the same radio and I loved it, but it stopped working after a few years. Actually, everything seems normal when I switch it on, but there's simply no sound. I can turn up the Volume button, nothing happens. Any idea by any chance?

Hola!!! Tengo un tecsun pl680, pero pienso comprar un otra radio como complemento a la que tengo… me recomiendas el 330???, según veo sería una buena elección para dx de onda corta… oriéntame por favor… Gracias, saludos a todos y felicidades…🎛️

What you recommend for performance?

what the best radio you even owned? what do you recommed as all band radio today?

Bummer. I'm a noob but I want a piece of kit that will both look good on my desk and perform well. Wonder what IS good in that category.

the narrow filter in this radio is 5kHz

Question - I am old school I do not see anything on the market to get other than this. So if you have a better radio share it. My Radio shack DX200 replaced my oll Hllicrafters, but it now is on its last legs. I just ordered this because I only see junk out there.

great reveiw Giles - just a quick quistion re my -pl-880. When I try to use a external antenna it will not wotk as a voltage of 2.6 v is output through the external ant socket ! - do I need to use a inline dc blocker (1uf capaciter) to allow me to use a external ant. - Thanks - Francis B.ham UK - hope alls well

Hi. I’m a new subscriber. Appreciate your honest review. I own the Tecsun PL310ET. I want to have a Tecsun upgrade. Which one do you recommend? Thanks

Can you please recommend a good SW radio from 80 meters to 70 cm with AM FM SSB? Thanks

Interesting to hear the buttons are good on it. They look like cheap contact switches through the camera. Honestly for $400 I would expect stereo speakers in that form factor. I also am surprised to see the same bandwidth choices as the pl-330 that when I picked it up was around $30. Airband seems like a waste, as you said there are scanners that can do a much better job. Really the only advantage of this radio to several ham hf all mode transceivers I own are that it can be run without an external antenna and the speaker is probably higher quality for wide bandwidth. I'll just stick with one of my 1990s era icom transceivers for swling.