[R-390] R-390 vs R-392?

[Mike Peace]

Hi Andy,

Here's the technical analysis comparison between the R390 and R392, see
link:

https://vk6ada.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/R390_vs_R392_Technical_Analysis.pdf

Mike
VK6ADA

On Tue, Mar 3, 2026 at 4:16 PM James A. (Andy) Moorer <
jamminpower at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Has anybody done a comparison between the R-390 and R-392 performance? I
> know the 392 is de-featured (one audio output, fewer BW choices), but
> has anyone just compared apples to apples? That is, set the 390 and the
> 392 to the same station, using the same antenna, same settings? I have
> gone over the schematics pretty carefully and I don't see any difference
> in the core signal handling. The 26A6 tubes have perfectly reasonable
> behavior and have equivalent bias, screen grid, noise figure, and so on.
> So, do they sound any different?
>
> I noticed two other things - the IF output for the 392 is a wreck. Seems
> to be half-wave rectified. Lot of nonlinearity there. And the audio
> output stage is quite different from the 390. That all-important IF
> stage appears to be identical to the 390.
>
> So - what's the story?
>
> -A
>
> --
> James A. (Andy) Moorer
> www.jamminpower.org
>
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