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in an extremely strong signal area, and at my location I have one problem station: a 20KW transmitter at 4.9
miles distance. Both radios suffer mild overload and desense with the 20KW station at full daytime (20KW)
power in the wide filter setting, though dramatically less in the narrow filter setting. This is not a defect in
either radio at signals of this magnitude with standard filtering (non-DSP), considering their price point. My
problem station drops its power to 500 watts at night, so further testing was done at that time.
Continuing on after dark, the wide filter feels slightly wider than my Kaito 1103, and a little extra slopover is
heard on the PL-600 at +/-10 KHz either side of a strong station. The PL-600 wide filter setting introduces a
bit of treble hiss into the audio, more than the 1103. This is natural of its own right, regardless of the radio,
though I attribute this on the PL-600 to the audio curve tending much more towards the treble end of the
spectrum than the 1103.
The narrow filter is very close in performance to the 1103's. Adjacent channel slop is minimal on strong
stations and about the same as the 1103. In an additional bonus, I found the narrow filter on the PL-600 to be
lengths ahead in audio intelligibility as opposed to the 1103's. To me, the 1103's narrow filter sounds muffled.
Not so on the PL-600. Signals are crisp and intelligible like tube sets used to be. Old timers will remember this
sound, almost a feeling of being out there in the "ether", a third-dimensional feeling. Which brings us to
audio....
AUDIO
Audio seems to be the sticking point for
most critics of this radio. The complaints I
have read indicate that it sounds harsh or
distorted. It definitely tends towards the
treble end of the spectrum, both with the
wide and narrow filters, which is not to the
taste of many people. I found YouTube to
be a great source when pre-screening a
radio for purchase, as you can not only
SEE, but HEAR it in actual use.
So check out the video reviews on
YouTube. They give you a pretty good idea
of the audio quality. Some will like it and
some will not. I actually like my audio a bit
harsh, skewed to the treble side. I think it aids in intelligibility with identifying DX. Many sets have too much
injected bass, which muddies the signal. I always felt the renowned Sony 2010 was the worst offender here -
great audio in the wide filter position, but total unintelligible mush in the narrow position, like someone
speaking through a pillow. Why have a narrow filter if the audio is so unintelligible it's not usable? Another
tip - use headphones. Audio is always better in headphones.
Lastly, the PL-600 does not incorporate a Line-Out jack, where the Kaito 1103 does. This would have been
helpful.
IMAGES
Both the PL-600 and the Kaito 1103 do have some image problems (what radio in this price range doesn't?). I
found my PL-600 images to be about the same number and strength as my 1103 on each filter setting. A good
way to tell? Tune your radio down in the long wave area between 100 KHz and 520 KHz and look for AM
broadcast band signals 2 times (2X) the IF frequency down (910 KHz for the PL-600, and 900 KHz for the
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8/9/2009 7:53 AM
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