Sangean PR-D15 Digital Portable Stereo RDS Receiver Gray and Sangean ANT-60 Short Wave Antenna

I'm taking a different tack with this review compared to the other reviews of the PR-D15 here.I'm going to do a direct side by side comparison to the radio it succeeded and replaced, the PR-D5, which I also own and reviewed almost two years ago:http://www.amazon.com/review/R20OHQ1QCHCTQ8/Here are the feature differences between the PR-D15 over and above the PR-D5:* Digital signal processing on both AM and FM* A seven-position signal strength meter* The ability to adjust treble and bass, done electronically* The ability to recharge NiMH C-size batteries* The ability to fine tune the frequency to 1 kHz increments in AM and 0.01 MHz increments in FM, and to change between European and American coarse frequency steps on both AM and FM* A handle (which I expect to last about as long as a snowball in hell)* A different color (D15 is gray only, D5 gives you a choice between black or white)* Different audio power outputs for different power sources. On electricity, you get 2W/ch. On alkaline batteries, you get 1W/ch. On NiMH rechargeable batteries, you get 0.7W/ch. Contrast to the D5 which gives you 0.8 W/ch no matter what power source you use.* The ability to set the month, day and year along with the time* The ability, using the Menu-Info button, (the name of that button has changed from CT-Display on the D5), while you're in FM, and if the station you're listening to does RDS, to choose among many modes of either RDS display, date, time, or frequency.Other than that, it and the PR-D5 are the same, including the same 200 mm AM ferrite bar antenna, and the same 70 hours of battery life for a good new brand name set of alkaline batteries.All the new features make the PR-D15 a little bit more difficult to grok than the PR-D5. Keep the manual, that's all I'm saying. Also, I suggest finding whatever treble/bass setting you like and leaving it there, because the way to adjust treble and bass isn't done with their own separate wheels, but electronically by holding down the volume button and waiting for the menus for treble then bass to appear, then you can adjust each anywhere from -5 to +5.You cannot charge rechargeable batteries (NiMH is the only permissible chemistry) and listen to the unit at the same time with batteries in and adapter plugged in to the wall. My suggestion is to load up the batteries, make sure the internal switch is set to NiMH instead of alkaline, plug it in and let it charge. I estimate the internal charger charges at a rate of 500 mAh/hour, because my 5000 mAh rechargeables took 10 hours to charge from empty to full. Also, the printed manual I got made a mistake by telling you to use AA-size rechargeable batteries, when C is the only size that it can take.While it lasts about 70 hours on alkalines, it will only last about 45 hours on rechargeables.Now, here's the biggie. How is the reception compared to the great PR-D5? A comparison that is easy for me because I have both and can and have run both at the same time in the same place under the same conditions. And by "reception," I mean fringe daytime AM reception and fringe FM reception at any time.Answer: Slightly less sensitive but just as selective on AM, and slightly more sensitive but just as selective on FM.The difference between the D15 and the D5 on AM sensitivity takes a really trained ear to hear, and it's hardly so much that you should cry if you can no longer buy the D5, which at the time of this writing you still can.One more note: Since I reviewed the D5, a local St. Louis AM whose TX is not far from my QTH, that being 1430 KZQZ, got daytime authorization for 50kW up from 5kw, though it remains 5 at night. It causes +/- 30 kHz adjacent channel slop on the D5, but the D15 is better at rejecting it.UPDATEThe more I use the D15, especially next to the D5, the more I realize that the difference in daytime AM sensitivity is more pronounced than I first thought.Doing the acid test I wrote about in my D5 review, fishing out WVLN between KWRE and WEW, the D15 can do it, but not quite as well as the D5. And in order for WVLN to be intelligible, you have to crank the volume to the max.Another acid test I have is daytime reading WGGH (1150 AM, 5kw, Marion IL) when good ole KMOX is right there at 1120. Again, the D15 can do it, but not quite as well as the D5. WGGH's TX is 95 miles from my QTH, but it's not quite in the direction of its daytime directional signal. By contrast, KMOX's TX is 16 miles away. According to Radio Locator's theoretical map of WGGH's signal, I'm just beyond fringe. Yet, the D5 can give me WGGH moderately intelligibly with some KMOX splatter, but not too bad. The D15 gives me WGGH less intelligibly but with no KMOX splatter.Yet another relatively mild acid test I have for almost all non-junk radios I own, I call the "Part of Nines." Scanning between 900-990 khz for the non-locals (WGNU is the only local in that range). Except for 910 and 990, there is a receivable station at every spot on the dial in that range. Here is Radio Locator's results for my QTH:http://goo.gl/39o2GaHow good the radio is is incumbent on whether it can receive the signal and how well it can. In addition, receiving 930 when 920 is right there is a great test of the radio's selectivity and nulling ability. Again, comparing the D15 to the D5, the D5 is just plain hotter. The D15 can receive them all, but the D5 receives them better. Even though the D15's nulling ability is better, probably for the DSP.By all rights, the D15 should be just as sensitive as the D5. I'm logically thinking, ceteris paribus, DSP makes AM daytime sensitivity less good but overall selectivity and spurious signal rejection and sideband slop a lot better. (Since the now 50kw daytime KZQZ TX is only 4.9 miles from my QTH, good thing.) I'm conspiratorially thinking that Sangean did something else to make the D15 less sensitive so that it doesn't undercut the market for the much more expensive CCRadio, which Sangean also makes.That said, I hope my D5 lasts a very long time. Perhaps I should add another D5 to my Amazon shopping cart now just in case, while I can still get one?

One of my best radios. AM reception is great and the price was fair for what it is.

The Sangean PR-D15 radio delivers good clean stereo sound. At high volume levels (24-30) there's some distortion, but it still sounds pretty decent.I like the AM/FM station preset buttons and how the multi-functional volume and tuning controls work smoothly and precisely.The FM digital tuner is strong and pulls in lots of stations as long as the antenna is fully extended. The tuner locks on solid to any station frequency.The AM tuner has decent sensitivity too, but the volume level sounds are quieter compared to a FM stations at the same volume level number.I had increase both the treble and bass a lot to get much better sound and voice.The radio runs on the included AC/DC wall adapter, alkaline batteries, or Ni-Mh batteries. The radio can also recharge Ni-Mh batteries.The LCD orange colored backlight provides uniform brightness and contrast across the display so the black text and numbers can be read clearly.I really like this radio, except the LCD backlight always shuts off after several seconds.The backlight should stay on in low light conditions as long as there’s information scrolling across the display. For example, when a station preset button is pushed the backlight comes to see the station frequency, but then it shuts off while song information is scrolling across the display. In my opinion, this is poor system design. So what if the backlight drains the batteries a little when running on batteries. And when running on the AC to DC adapter, the extra power drain is never an issue. The best solution is to have an optional setting saved in memory to keep the display lit all the time whenever the radio is turned on for people like me. This way, people who are satisfied (or don't care) with how the backlight works now would be satisfied.Unfortunately, even if the manufacturer was to add such an option, there’s no way I can see to update the firmware because there’s no USB port on this radio.Anyway, I tested the radio for portable use, by installing EBL brand 1.2V Ni-Mh rechargeable C batteries (I bought from Amazon). [Note: when I received the radio, the battery type switch (inside the battery compartment) was selected for alkaline batteries, so I had to switch to the Ni-Mh type position as stated in the manual]. The C batteries arrived fully charged, so I played the radio for hours and it eventually displayed a power failure warning and automatically shut off. I then connected the adapter until the radio recharged the batteries successfully(after 10+ hours). During recharging, the red LED “Charge” light on the front panel blinks on/off slowly. One thing though, recharging occurs only when the radio is off. The one advantage of using C batteries is they’re heavier making it less likely for the radio to tip over backwards while pushing a button on the front panel.Finally, despite my major disappointment with the backlight not staying on, I plan on keeping the Sangean PR-D15 radio since it delivers good sound, loud volume and has many good features for the price.