If you're like me you want a nice rig that will give you goose bumps all over just from pulling it out of the box for the 1st time and (as quickly as you can without damaging anything like the radio or the desk!) firing it up on your favorite frequency to let your local noblemen know you're back, and now with a serious new classy-radio altitude!
All radios can have 'great audio' ...on TX that is, but it's the receiver which separates the Men from the Cobras...
No offence, Uniden.
Kenwoods have that characteristically 'smooth-as-silk' receive audio. Icom typically has a more aggressive, up-front, immediate and detailed audio, which is some of the clearest I've heard.
For the newer 746 series the audio got a lot deeper, almost muddy at times depending, of course, on the external speaker and received station's audio characteristics.
Yaesus have a more soft & suble audio on RX, sometimes even dull & 'boring', which is based on the fact I currently own an FT-900, and have had 4 FT-100Ds, along with having used both an FT-990 and an FT-1000D for a good number of days.
Nice stuff all, though, and these are just my opinions based on a fairly decent memory and a good amount of experience as a Novice- Extra Class.
Ultimately you should either spend six or eight thousand dollars to buy one of everything, used or reasonably priced new, then pick your favorite and resell the rest...
or
Find the rigs you like, make a large list, read all about them, cross out those which have known problems or are lacking either the performance or features you want, then roll the dice & look around for the best price on any that are still left on your (hopefully) SHORT list.
Being you're a CBer heading toward Ham I would think it's not a big stretch of the imagination to expect that you've grown rather accustomed to an analog meter, I know I have, so I would recommend you narrow your search to those rigs which sport one, such as iCOM IC-751A / IC-761 / IC-765 / IC-756, Kenwood TS-930S / TS-940S, Yaesu FT-890 / FT-990 / FT-107M.
These are my personal favorites in each line, plus a few inmentioned others which are similar enough to warrant my 'short-list'.
I have a real affinity for that old WHITE Yaesu FT-107M, just LOVE that meter, but those old relays have to be replaced as they are weak and tend to stop functioning.
It's also a wonderful idea to add the 2.8kHz INRAD filter set for that wider, richer audio as, like most Yaesus, it came from the factory with a 2.4kHz filter set. - Same thing with the TS-940 series, the 2.8kHz TS-930 filters are, I believe, a direct replacement and one of the reasons most people tend to prefer the sound of the TS-930 over the TS-940.
- But remember, narrower filtering means better RX selectivity & more TX punch.
If you get one of my fav's, the IC-751A / IC-761 you'll want to make sure they have the PLL caps replaced, and on the IC-751A you should spring for the newer design $55 RAM board from MTS repair in Washington State.
If the battery in the factory board goes dead it will leave the radio without a brain and will need to be reprogramed.
Just grabb a newer $55 RAM board, replace the caps and have IMHO one of the best 12v rigs ever.
No Auto tuner, no internal power supply (just another source of unnecessary heat IMO) but it has the same adored filters & basically the same board as the IC-761 and they are both awesome rigs. They come factory selectable 2.5 or 2.9kHz wide.
Now, if you prefer it be a newer, non-analog, menu-driven, mostly plastic rig, then there's a ton more to sort through. Good luck with that.
If you can find an ICOM IC-761 / IC-751A in A-1 condition you'll be one lucky bastage and a seriously happy camper, for FM & SSB that is, but as incredibly awesome as the AM RX is, the AM TX is 'poopy' at best.
73
All radios can have 'great audio' ...on TX that is, but it's the receiver which separates the Men from the Cobras...
No offence, Uniden.
Kenwoods have that characteristically 'smooth-as-silk' receive audio. Icom typically has a more aggressive, up-front, immediate and detailed audio, which is some of the clearest I've heard.
For the newer 746 series the audio got a lot deeper, almost muddy at times depending, of course, on the external speaker and received station's audio characteristics.
Yaesus have a more soft & suble audio on RX, sometimes even dull & 'boring', which is based on the fact I currently own an FT-900, and have had 4 FT-100Ds, along with having used both an FT-990 and an FT-1000D for a good number of days.
Nice stuff all, though, and these are just my opinions based on a fairly decent memory and a good amount of experience as a Novice- Extra Class.
Ultimately you should either spend six or eight thousand dollars to buy one of everything, used or reasonably priced new, then pick your favorite and resell the rest...
or
Find the rigs you like, make a large list, read all about them, cross out those which have known problems or are lacking either the performance or features you want, then roll the dice & look around for the best price on any that are still left on your (hopefully) SHORT list.
Being you're a CBer heading toward Ham I would think it's not a big stretch of the imagination to expect that you've grown rather accustomed to an analog meter, I know I have, so I would recommend you narrow your search to those rigs which sport one, such as iCOM IC-751A / IC-761 / IC-765 / IC-756, Kenwood TS-930S / TS-940S, Yaesu FT-890 / FT-990 / FT-107M.
These are my personal favorites in each line, plus a few inmentioned others which are similar enough to warrant my 'short-list'.
I have a real affinity for that old WHITE Yaesu FT-107M, just LOVE that meter, but those old relays have to be replaced as they are weak and tend to stop functioning.
It's also a wonderful idea to add the 2.8kHz INRAD filter set for that wider, richer audio as, like most Yaesus, it came from the factory with a 2.4kHz filter set. - Same thing with the TS-940 series, the 2.8kHz TS-930 filters are, I believe, a direct replacement and one of the reasons most people tend to prefer the sound of the TS-930 over the TS-940.
- But remember, narrower filtering means better RX selectivity & more TX punch.
If you get one of my fav's, the IC-751A / IC-761 you'll want to make sure they have the PLL caps replaced, and on the IC-751A you should spring for the newer design $55 RAM board from MTS repair in Washington State.
If the battery in the factory board goes dead it will leave the radio without a brain and will need to be reprogramed.
Just grabb a newer $55 RAM board, replace the caps and have IMHO one of the best 12v rigs ever.
No Auto tuner, no internal power supply (just another source of unnecessary heat IMO) but it has the same adored filters & basically the same board as the IC-761 and they are both awesome rigs. They come factory selectable 2.5 or 2.9kHz wide.
Now, if you prefer it be a newer, non-analog, menu-driven, mostly plastic rig, then there's a ton more to sort through. Good luck with that.
If you can find an ICOM IC-761 / IC-751A in A-1 condition you'll be one lucky bastage and a seriously happy camper, for FM & SSB that is, but as incredibly awesome as the AM RX is, the AM TX is 'poopy' at best.
73
