[Icom] Decision time and request for advice (long)

[George, W5YR]

No offense intended and none taken, Steve. You know me better than that!

Guess it is a matter of one's hearing and personal choice as to what
"sounds good."  <:}

My point is not that the PRO *needs* anything extra - it is "acceptable" as
is, and sounds much better than most other rigs through anything other than
the little top-lid speaker. 

But, the original post was regarding the audio as compared to the Mk-V.
Since I do not know how the person was listening to the Mk-V, I posted to
point out that the PRO audio output could be improved markedly by (a)
taking receive audio from ACC1 and (b) using a quality external power amp
and speaker system.

This does not have to be a super hi-fi expensive setup. I use an old stereo
receiver that has a bad tuner chip but still makes plenty of clean audio.
Cost $99 new about 1991. The speaker system is a 40+ year old Zenith
cabinet stereo system that happens to have excellent woofers and mid-range
horns. The electronics is all shot but the speakers still work great. Don't
need tweeters as I lost that frequency range years ago!  <:}

I recommended to one new PRO user a simple little PA amp and speaker at
Radio Shack for about $100 that he claims sounds like a million and is much
superior to what he was using. It has an 8" speaker and probably a 10-watt
amp and a couple of "tone controls." He has posted several times about how
much he likes the sound of the PRO now.

So, Steve, "need" is a tough one to define, much less justify. Let's just
say that I enjoy the sound of *my* PRO much more now than when I was
listening to the speaker output on an SP-20 when I first got it (and
missing at least two octaves off the bottom end and gaining several
percentage points of distortion and noise that can be avoided).

It is still one of the best sounding radios right out of the box of any
that I have ever used. But, it can be improved by those who might care to .
. .

As far as I know the PRO and PRO II share identical analog audio output
circuitry, but Adam Farson VA7OJ would be a better source on this than am
I. Considering the drawbacks to the PRO circuitry, I certainly hope that
you are correct that some changes have been made.

73/72/oo, George W5YR - the Yellow Rose of Texas         
Fairview, TX 30 mi NE of Dallas in Collin county EM13qe   
Amateur Radio W5YR, in the 56th year and it just keeps getting better!
QRP-L 1373 NETXQRP 6 SOC 262 COG 8 FPQRP 404 TEN-X 11771 I-LINK 11735
Icom IC-756PRO #02121  Kachina 505 DSP  #91900556  Icom IC-765 #02437


Steve Jones wrote:
> 
> Might be the Pro's but not the Pro II. I listen through an SP5 Yaesu speaker
> and I don't know what more you would want unless you invest in all the stuff
> George has that would make any audio source sound better...not just the Pro.
> No offense George but it doesn't need all that stuff to sound good. 73,
> Steve