[Premium-Rx] Best Premium Receiver?

[Don]

-----Original Message-----
>From: premium-rx-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:premium-rx->bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Clemens Paul
>Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2007 1:17 PM
>To: Premium-Rx at mailman.qth.net
>Subject: [Premium-Rx] Best Premium Receiver?

 
> In German ham magazine "Funkamateur" the IC-9500  received exceptional
> high marks in any respect from the testers which were Christoph Ratzer >
(ratzer.at),
> a European top BC DXer, who did extensive on-the air tests with crucial bc
>stations
(see his recorded files)
>and a professional rf engineer (which also ham) who did the benchmark
>tests.


Just today received my copy of Passport 2008 with their review of the
9500....and read it with interest this evening.

(with credit to Passport 2008, covering R9500): "Yet, synchronous sideband
performance is mediocre...   Even ECSS- manually tuned selectable sideband
-- isn't an alternative as it introduces dropouts.....  ... Unfortunately
there are numerous audio dropouts with ECSS...solution would be to attach a
Sherwood SE-3.....can be done on WJ8711A and TT RX-340..(not on
9500).....this triple whammy of mediocre built-sync, flawed ECSS, and no
ability to use (SE-3) keeps the R9500 from rising to the apex of our ratings
heap." <Apex being, year-after-year, the WJ8711A with SE-3>

See Passport 2008 for the good things (as well as other bad) that this
remarkable 9500 gets in its Passport review.  Good to see a receiver that is
close to the weight of the venerable R-390A's!  And I do like it warm with
my WJ's (and their SE-3's)...but there is the promising note that I can
retire a flock of them(and their SE-3's) and purchase just one 9500 to keep
the shack warm in winter (...9500 "..slurps power like an Eisenhower-era
refrigerator..." )   

So why didn't the reviewers in the German magazine cite similar findings????

Maybe Crucial BC stations not so weak in Europe as the States? Test setup
not as complete?  Only they know.

And can anyone tell me if the receiver in the 9500 is the same circuit as
the 7800? Sorry but I don't have the 9500 circuit diagram to compare with
the diagram of the 7800.

Best regards
Don
AC7ZG