[okmrbh]

I just picked one up from The Source for half price ($29).
Excellent FM reception, It easily beats some much bigger radios I have.

As one example I can listen to Buffalo's 107.7 without Hamilton's 107.9 interfering with it from home in the north west GTA.

The little radio uses a Silicon Laboratories (SILABS) Si4734 chip for its receiver function. I think it maybe similar to the chip used in the Sony XDR, although without the HD functions.

 

[BGY11]

I am quite happy with my G8 as well. I don't think it's the best for DX'ing (my G5 frequently gets Red Deer stations here in Calgary whereas the G8 doesn't,but the G8 wins out in the selectivity department. I like that the G8 has the signal strength indicator for FM as well as AM. Sound quality is also great for this little guy.

The only thing I don't like about this tuner is how it deals with weak AM signals. Due to the DSP it uses to help reduce adjacent channel interference (i think) it can often cause weak AM stations to fade in and out more often than other tuners like the G5. That really impacts shortwave reception but that's why I have my G5 as well.

I know CamDAB also has this radio and will probably chime in as well. Overall for the price you'll be hard pressed to find a better radio - let alone a pocketable one like the G8.

 

[CamDAB]

Chime in? Would I do that?

Great little piece of electronics.
Phenomenal battery life.
Phenomenal selectivity on all bands.
Correct on the DSP effects. They are always present on all bands, really annoying. Wish the DSP was defeatable.
Front end is very quiet also.
The greatest weakness is the flip-down stand on the back. Mine broke easily, after a couple of years of being mindful of it.
When coupled with a great set of headphones, it sounds fantastic on FM with a clarity few other radios I have can match. And all the lows are there too, not muddy either.
It also has a fine temperature sensor in it. They made Fahrenheit the default for North America and Celsius for everywhere else. Since Canada is metric I would have preferred to simply select C or F independently.

A great traveling radio that doesn't overload easily.

Cameron

 

[BGY11]

I agree about that flip-out stand; mine broke as well. Battery life is amazing as you stated.

In terms of sound quality, it really is amazing how well FM can sound on a portable device with good headphones. On the flipside, it can also show just how bad some stations can sound as well (if they are using too much compression; for example).

 

[querty-m4n]

Did any of your products loose the connection of the FM antenna? I looked inside my one of my older Grundig and the connection was really put in weird.

Other than that, I do like the capture ratio of these units.

 

[CamDAB]

BGY11, the U.S. Grundig site has for what, I think, was $5 US a package of replacement parts, and the stand was part of that. For some unknown reason, that's not on the Canadian site.... :-( I don't quite understand that... I'll have to contact my U.S. friends and see about getting a couple of repair packages...

querty, no problems with the antenna connection on mine, appears rock solid.

What does happen on mine though, is some of the more-used small buttons do tend to become intermittent. They probably need a dose of Cramolin or other contact cleaner, to fix... Not a biggy at the moment, but another annoyance.

But the sound on FM... Truly amazing when given a decent signal to work with.

FYI, CIWV-FM (94.7) comes in here at 70dbu on the meter. 94.5 WNED is there, but hey, 40KW a few KM away, clearly visible from our balcony really tests the metal of the front end.

Cameron

 

[BGY11]

The antenna doesn't stay on my G5 if I try re-orienting it but the G8 hasn't given me any issues.

 

[querty-m4n]

Okay, thanks for the replies.

 

[okmrbh]

I've been using the radio daily for a few weeks now and the batteries are still going strong!

One thing that I'd like to be able to do with it is hook up some small portable / computer speakers to it, but when ever I try, the reception seems to drop off by more than half.

Is there a way around this, or are there certain speakers that are better for this type of use?

 

[querty-m4n]

Finally got myself one! This is almost 3 years from when this topic was started.

I may have bought the last 3 of the remaining stock in Lethbridge. The Source site says "Product is on back-order with no ETA at this time".

The design is nice, antenna doesn't feel cheap. I like the display on it shows a lot of information. Shortwave is kind of iffy since I'm in a concrete building.

Picks up KDBR, KBBZ and KHNK from Kalispell when I'm near the balcony window. QR77 comes in clear near the computer as well as 1060.

Sound is great on my JVC headphones.

Nice to have a PLL-synthesized tuner as my Grundig Mini 400 doesn't like to lock on stations. It either drifts or just doesn't stay tuned.

Downloaded the Tescun PL-300WT manual as this is the same radio with a Grundig badge on it.

 

[BGY11]

Still liking my G8 quite a bit. Great to hear you finally got one and that it's working great for you.

....By 1060, are you meaning the Classic country station based out of Calgary?

 

[querty-m4n]

Yeah, forgot to mention that it's from Calgary. Other radios just get buzzing noises from my PC when on AM. Just shows what quality build this radio is.

One thing I did notice on SW (as mentioned before), is that the DSP messes with weak or sub standard signals. WHRI for instance was getting hammered by the sensitivity of the DSP. Still listenable though.

I wish I could change the temperature reading to Celsius. I'm not versed in the Fahrenheit scale.

I almost had a 70dbµ lock on on one of my local FM stations. 68dbµ was the highest it would go.