Sony ICF-SW7600GR Review
In spite of the fact that all the glory frequently goes to the Italian innovator Guglielmo Marconi, the origin of the radio does a reversal into the 1800's, when the creators, for example, Michael Faraday, Thomas Edison, William Henry Ward and Heinrich Hertz all dealt with early remote transmissions. The work by these designers made ready for Nikola Tesla who gave the main remote radio transmission exhibit in 1891.Since then radio has been evolved too as the manufacturers found new and new functionalities to be introduced in it.
Rating: 4.1 / 5.0
Sony ICF-SW7600GR may seem like a tiny little device but this little device gives you the world. It comes with an owner’s manual, and a few other books. The most recent model in the 7600 family, you can say that this successor is a revised version of the 7600G, and a very robust model at that.
Features
Look and feel
It’s quite heavy for it size. It could be because it’s ruggedly built and the feel is good. The finish is good. The key presses feel good and tactical. It does not have a tuning wheel. But it does have a fine tuning wheel for Single Side Band (SSB) tuning. The tuning is actually done via buttons which is found at the bottom right corner. It does have a stand on the back. Although stiff, you can swivel the telescopic antenna to any direction that you want to. You also have a strip that is attached to the device in case you want to hang it around.
Readability
The readability on the device is good. However, the display shows the frequency, the FM station, but not a whole lot of other information. In fact, it doesn’t have an indication of the battery status, and it’s quite a small display, and could have been bigger. In some models, The controls mentioned on one side are in grey on a black finish. Now, that could have been better if it was white on black. It has a light button, but there is no way that you can keep the light continuously on, in case you need it that way. Even when you push other buttons, the light doesn’t come on like how it comes on in other radios.
Power options
It requires 6v. The surprising part – it does not come with an AC Adapter. There could be other packages that include an AC Adapter, but this one does not have one. The other capability is the batteries and it requires 4 AA’ batteries. It’s a nice strong battery case.
Tuning
As mentioned earlier, it does not have a tuning knob, instead what you have are push buttons for tuning. In case you go for a SSB mode, you can fine tune your radio with a conventional fine tuning wheel which is located at the side of the device. The direct tuning keypad is good and works quite well. You can also scan the memory channels that you have stored and tune your radio in that way as well. In these ways, you have a lot of options for tuning.
Audio Quality
On AM and FM the audio quality has been pretty good. The sound quality was also really good. Comparatively, the SW was also great on this device.
Special features
It has SSB capability. It also has the capability of using an external antenna. It’s got a jack for the external antenna and you don’t have to clip it on to the telescopic antenna. It has an on/off button for the antenna attenuation, plus it also has a thumb-o-wheel right next to the on/off button to control the antenna attenuation. That’s a very good feature. It also has a line-out which is a great feature for people who do recordings off the radio. It also has a headphones jack. It has memory bands with 100 bands of storage. It has a daylight savings time option. You can also set up a time zone other than your own. It has a sleep function like how most of the radios have. It also has an AM synchronous detector circuit. It enables the radio to lock onto signals persistently. In fact, Sony was the first one to come out with that circuitry, and it works really well compared to other radios who added this feature later on.
Reception
Compared to other radios, this radio has very good reception. With the built-in ferrite bar antenna, it is audible, but with some disturbances. However, with the antenna up, it does a pretty decent job. Especially compared to other radios.
Specifications
A 12 band reception covering FM/AM/LW/MW/SW, requiring AC power of four AA batteries (sold separately). There are 100 station presets. The device is supplied with a carrying case for enhanced portability.
Size & Weight
- Dimensions (W x H x D) [ 7 ” x 4 ” x 12/5”{190 x 118.8 x 35.3 mm}]
- Weight 1 lb 5 3/4 oz (615 g) w / batteries
Tuner Features
- FM Reception – FM:87.6-108 MHz; SW/MW/LW: 150-29,999 kHz
- Antenna (FM) – FM/SW: Telescopic Antenna
Music
- Output power – 380mW (at 10% harmonic distortion)
Functionality
- Time Display – 24 Hour system
Display
- World time, dual display
Power
- Battery Type – AA’ x 4 batteries (not included)
- Battery life – Up to 47 hours
- AC Power – 6v
Sony ICF-SW7600GR Video Review
Consumer Reviews
The consumer reviews are mostly derived based on the sound quality, features, design, and quite importantly the ease of use. While features and sound quality fared well with consumers, the design and ease of use didn’t go down well with a few. It could be a matter of getting used to the product, but personally, these points are something that Sony should work upon. Overall, the product has some good reviews, especially on Sony’s product site as well as on Amazon. It comes at $159.56 on the company’s site, and probably a few extra dollars elsewhere. It comes for $173.35 on Amazon.
The design and ease of use didn’t go down well with a few. It could be a matter of getting used to the product, but personally, these points are something that Sony should work upon. Overall, the product has some good reviews, especially on Sony’s product site as well as on Amazon. It comes at $159.56 on the company’s site, and probably a few extra dollars elsewhere. It comes for $173.35 on Amazon.
Pros
- You get 100 presets, which is better than its predecessor which had only 20 presets.
- With limited stock filters, the radio doesn’t stop 50 or more kHz apart from a stronger station.
- Noise in SSB is very low.
- If you find a station during scanning, the device with stop for about three seconds for you to decide to have it preset.
Cons
- The telescopic antenna is stiff and rather tricky to use in case you want to swivel it around.
- Sound through the little speaker is not really great, but not all that bad either. It probably won’t be room filling.
- The memory system is not very precise. Not alphabetic, so you will need to have to search your stations around.
- It does not come with an AC Adapter.
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