C Crane CCRadio-SW (Model CSW-TCF)
by C. Crane
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List Price: Our Price: $114.95 You Save: $35.00 (23%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $73.92 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of C Crane CCRadio-SW (Model CSW-TCF)
Customer Review: A great radio, but....
Summary: 4 Stars
I originally purchased this radio about a month ago from C. Crane. The positives of this radio are:
1) Excellent AM reception, nearly equal to the legendary Panasonic RF-2200, which I also own. Hum and tuning are best adjusted by turning the radio. This radio probably has the nearly the best if not the best AM reception (internal antenna) of any current production portable radio made. I do not classify an 8 lb desk top radio as 'portable' for this comparison. Commenters have compared to the Sangean PR-D5, which some say has better AM reception. I don't have this particular Sangean radio, but it is much better than the Sangean 818, which I do have.
2) Outstanding FM reception. Better than any other current production portable FM radio off the whip. Better than Sangean (I have the 818), except maybe a modified 909. But I do not classify a modifed 909 as a production model. Better than the Kaito 1103 (I have this unit) which is legendary in its own right, and most likely the best for its size. Better than Eton/Grundig. Have that too. You most likely will not even have to raise the whip for stations located within 30 - 50 miles of your location depending on the initial FM station signal strength (50 k watts vs. 100 k watts).
3) Shortwave reception. Much better than than the Sangean 818, and even somewhat better than the venerable Panasonic RF-2200.
4) Outstanding sound. The speaker sound is better than any portable that I have heard except maybe for the GE Superadio III (now RCA), which I also have. The sound is rich and warm and very 'listenable' for extended periods. Much better than the Sangean 818, which is a similarly sized radio and speaker. Do not underestimate sound quality when buying a shortwave or AM dx radio primarily for talk. Even though you may not be using it primarily for music, a poor sounding radio will gradually get 'tiresome' to listen to after a while. The Sangean 818 fit this category for me, and got tiring to listen to after a while. Note this comparison is to similarly sized radios. For example, a Kaito 1103 sounds great for its size, but will not sound as good as the C. Crane by any means. Again the Sangean PD-R5 is praised for its sound, but it doesn't have shortwave, an essential in this category.
Dissappointments:
The production of this radio clearly has some QA/QC problems. The first unit I received had a sticking on/off power button. It would inadvertently send you into sleep mode. For the price of the radio, this should not be happening, and I sent it back. On the replacement unit, the AM tuner (fast speed) was about 1 khz off. This was also a deal breaker because though 1 khz doesn't sound like much, it directly affected the sound and tuning strength of the stations. I did not feel like switching it to 'slow' everytime I wanted to tune an AM station. I tried to switch the 9 khz/10 khz switch in the back several times and reset the radio to no avail. This radio was also returned. However, I was determined because of the positives listed above. My persistence paid off. The 3rd one was perfect without issues. You may wish to purchase directly from C. Crane due to the QA/QC problems as they will readily work with you in getting good working unit to you if you have problems. Request that the unit be fully tested before it is sent to you. Also, it may be easier in getting warranty work done as noted elsewhere if you have problems later on.
In conclusion, if you want a top notch performing portable radio, and by 'top notch' I mean one that has class leading reception capability and sounds great too, then this is it. Yes, there may be ergonomic issues with key pad entry, memories, and lack of SSB tuning (BFO switch), but these are secondary to me. The big tuning knob with fast/slow speed tuning makes this not much of an issue at all. Stations can be accessed very quickly without the use of memories on AM and FM; memories are available (though not as plentiful as other digital units) for shortwave. It is analogous to a cell phone. If a cell phone can play mp3's, take pictures, etc, that is fine, but if it isn't able to place a call (good rf capability), it is essentially useless. Likewise with a radio. If it has all the ergonomic features like key pad entry, lots of memories, but doesn't have great reception and/or great sound, it is essentially useless; ergonomics or not.
Customer Review: CCradio-SW, a good choice.
Summary: 4 Stars
CCRadio-SW
I have used an old `CCRadio Plus' for years and also enjoy listening to shortwave broadcasts on occasion. I finally decided to simplify my life and get a CCRadio-SW.
I only use the built in antenna and do not have any test equipment, so this review and comparison will not be too scientific. I will use my favorite receivers, a Sony ICF-SW7600GR and the older CCRadio Plus, for relative comparison.
Here is my version of "CCRadio-SW, CCRadio Plus, and Sony ICF-SW7600GR compared". To be fair I must note that the CCRadio Plus has been replaced by a newer CCRadio-2 which has improved performance.
Audio Quality:
For listening to news radio, the older CCRadio Plus is a winner although it is a little flat on the FM band. The CCRadio-SW has a wide/narrow bandwidth switch and good bass/treble but it does not quite match the older radio's voice performance. For music and FM the CCRadio-SW's audio is superior. The Sony7600 has clear audio but is just small and is not something you would want to listen to AM on for a long time. The SSB audio of the Sony is outstanding. I have listened, comfortably, to SSB on the Sony for hours on end. The CCRadio-SW has no built in SSB capability.
AM Broadcast band:
This part was hard; my location has a good deal of electronic noise in the AM broadcast band. I tried to find the weakest stations and make a comparison from that. The CCRadio Plus seemed to have the least sensitivity of the three radios. The CCRadio-SW had the most sensitivity; I needed to use the RF-Gain control to dial it down a bit. With the Ionospheric fading and moderate RF noise, all three radios delivered understandable audio. For the marginal listening conditions, the Sony7600 would have to be my favorite. For reasonably strong/weak AM music, the CCRadio-SW wins. For reasonably strong news/talk radio the CCRadio Plus wins.
FM Broadcast band:
The CCRadio-SW had the best sensitivity and audio quality. The CCRadio Plus and the Sony7600 were about the same for sensitivity. The Sony's FM audio was poor as expected for such a small radio. The CCRadio Plus had good audio but did not match the CCRadio-SW for fidelity (audio bandwidth).
Shortwave AM bands:
For the comparison, I tried to find weaker broadcast stations across about 5-15 MHz. I also used the 5, 10 and 15 WWV time broadcasts as a relatively constant signal source. The CCRadio Plus has no shortwave band so it is not mentioned here.
To my surprise, the CCRadio-SW had, equal to or only slightly lower sensitivity, below about 10 MHz, and had slightly better sensitivity at about 14 MHz as compared to the Sony7600. I was unable to locate any stations that could not be heard by one or the other radio.
To be fair:
I want to be absolutely clear that these comparisons were all made while operating on internal battery and antenna. I say that because I have an old Grundig Satellit 800 receiver that performs poor, in the sensitivity department, along side the Sony SW7600GR, on the internal antenna. HOWEVER, when a long wire antenna is connected to the Grundig, the Sony gets demoted to the status of a toy. I did not test the CCRadio-SW with an external antenna.
My Conclusion:
The CCRadio-SW. This one awesome radio for the price. It has a dual internal battery capability of both 4-AA and 4-D cells. I like to operate on rechargeable battery power (less power line noise). The drawback of that is, rechargeable batteries tend to maintain a constant voltage right up to their end, then die. The `battery strength' meter is mostly useless, as is, for these cells. Having an option to switch over to a backup battery of AA
cells is a strong selling point.
I wish I could make your decision easy, but, it all depends on how you want to use you radio. All of these radios are good.
Ken Miller
Customer Review: Very good sounding portable radio
Summary: 4 Stars
I needed a new, digital bathroom radio, so I originally bought a Sangean PR-D5. I found the sound quality unacceptable for listening to AM talk radio. It was too boomy and muffled, making voices hard to understand.
Someone I know recommended the CCRadio-SW, so I decided to try one. I find the sound quality quite good. The well-designed bass and treble controls allow adjusting the sound to your liking. With a moderate boost in the bass, the CCR-SW is capable of a very deep and pleasing bass response. It produces a deeper and more realistic bass than does the larger GE SupeRadio III.
Some people have mentioned that the CCR-SW sounds harsh on AM. Any time I've heard any harshness, I heard the same thing on my SR III and Eton E10, so I think this was due to the AM signal, not due to the radio. I can see how the CCR-SW might sound more harsh than the PR-D5, but this is probably because the latter radio has a boosted upper bass and a greatly reduced treble.
The AM sensitivity of the CCR-SW is good, but it's definitely not as good as the PR-D5 or the SR III. This is probably not too surprising, since the PR-D5 and SR III have 8" ferrite bars, whereas the CCR-SW has a 6" ferrite bar.
The FM sensitivity of the CCR-SW is very good, and the sound quality is very nice, with good bass and crisp highs.
I tried the CCR-SW briefly on shortwave, and it seems to have very good sensitivity using just the whip antenna.
I don't find the memory preset system to be very useful, because the presets can only be accessed in a carousel fashion, going up in preset number. It's too bad the preset system isn't tied in with the tuning knob, to allow moving up or down to the desired preset. The tuning is very fast on AM and FM, so I don't miss the presets that much. On AM, one rotation of the tuning knob (with the fast step) moves 480 kHz, so it only takes about 2.5 rotations of the knob to get from the bottom to the top of the AM band.
The build quality of the CCR-SW seems good, except for the two switch knobs. The upper one on mine -- the AM Wide/Narrow, FM Mono/Stereo switch -- was very loose and wobbly. This is due to the quality of the switch that is used, and seems to be a common problem. I was able to fix it easily by wrapping the portion of the knob that goes through the faceplate with some tape. This "shim" made the action of the knob much more solid, with no wobble.
Overall, I really like the CCR-SW. If you need excellent AM sensitivity, then it's probably not for you. If you need good AM sensitivity and excellent sound, then it's a good choice.
Customer Review: Great Radio!
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this radio for myself as a Christmas present, and thought I'd wait until I'd used it for about a month before writing any review of it.
I've been a CCrane customer for a long time, and still own the great CCRadio. In fact, the CCRadio is still going strong after 10+ years of use, so I had no hesitation of buying the CC-SW.
I really like the CC-SW. The backlit keys are extremely easy to read and see in the dark, and the backlit LED is extremely sharp. The controls on it spin nicely, and the buttons work great. The only thing I don't like about the build quality is the carrying handle, but since I don't carry it around, it's kind of a non-issue. I liked the built in recessed handle of the CCRadio, and I like a nice firm heavy handle or a leather/strap carrying handle like Grundigs have. This is thin and feels weak, although I know that it's not and I know that it's basically that unbreakable plastic, so I'm not concerned about it. It just feels like it doesn't belong on that radio.
FM comes in great on it, even without extending the whip antenna. AM is really good, better than most portable radios, I'd say; but it's not as good as the CCRadio for AM. (Get used to that phrase). Shortwave is okay, and that has more to do with my antenna and reception than it does the radio. I've seen videos of this radio doing better things with shortwave reception than I can get at my location. It is very easy to use for SWL though. All bands (AM/FM/SW) have really good sensitivity and selectivity. The major beef I have here is that if you use the FM/SW external radio jack in the back of the radio, you'll get a slight hum on AM. Unplug it, it's gone.
The Gain/Tone/Bass/Volume controls feel really good. The overall sound quality is very nice, better than most radios, but... not as good as the CCRadio. Battery life is also excellent. I don't know how many hours I've clocked on it, but after a month I'm still on the original batteries (using 4 D's).
If you're looking for a good sized, solid performing portable with shortwave, I can't suggest a better radio than this one. If shortwave isn't what you're after, but are mainly looking at a good AM/FM radio, spend the extra $20 and grab a CCRadio 2. The CC-SW is a fantastic buy at this price though, and is worth it.
Customer Review: MY FIRST C CRANE RADIO
Summary: 4 Stars
This is my first c crane radio. I decided to buy it after hearing
about it on the COAST TO COAST AM show and i am pleased with it.
I am an avid a.m. listener and i find it hard to believe that I
paid big bucks for an expensive pioneer receiver before I
purchased this.
For a lot less money and a lot better quality this
c crane radio is far superior in tuning in those hard to reach
a.m. stations.
At night i can even hear a station all the way from IDAHO and
I live in west MICHIGAN!
There is an a.m. rf gain dial, for fine tuning your stations in
during the evening hours, in the case of those irritating night time overlaps.
This radio comes equipped with a twin coil ferrit antenna,
short wave radio,dial speed settings, lots of pre set memory,
an alarm and great f.m. reception. There is also a line out,
so you can plug this into your big expensive stereo receiver( that you may have spent too much money on ).
One of my favorite things about this radio is... you can use rechargeable batteries and recharge them in the radio itself.
This radio is simple enough to use for the normal plug in and play
person and fun enough to tinker with for the gadget persons as well.
I would suggest this for any one who lives in the city or hard to reach places out in the middle of no where.
The only reason why i did not give this radio 5 stars is because it is not AMERICAN made. How ever since nothing is ever really AMERICAN made any more i am happy to say that the company is here in the states for
customer service and sales and happy to report that you wont have to speak to any one in INDIA!
I have had this for a year now and still no problems.
I have NOT had any of the led display problems that have been talked about in regards to this radio in other reviews.