The station you used for your wide/normal AM bandwidth comparison on the Superadio III was transmitting HD Radio (a.k.a. IBOC), which means their audio bandwidth is limited to only 5 kHz -- that's why there was very little difference with wide bandwidth reception (except for more hiss from the digital sidebands). Regular analog AM stations can transmit an audio bandwidth of up to 10 kHz, in which case you can really tell the difference between normal and wide bandwidth.
Love these radios. Been a bcbdxer for over 65 years. I might mention that on AM turning the radio to orient the antenna will make a BIG difference. You don't have them parallel so reception will be different. Also keeping them close to each other will change things too. Great video. Thanks for sharing. I only have the 3 myself. 👍👍👍👍👍
I found a Superadio III at an estate sale this past weekend. Only $4.00, it was covered with a few hundred white paint spots. A damp paper towel got a lot of the paint spots off, but the stubborn ones I got off with rubbing alcohol. It sounds great and works really well, but now it looks a lot nicer. Regards, Tom
I have the SR III. Mine is over 10 years old and works very well. On my SR III, I can pick up an FM station from Glen Rose, Texas that is 78 miles from my location with the AFC off and with the AFC on, it comes in loud and clear! It's a great radio to own!
I have the SR, SR-II and SR-III. In my opinion, the SR-II looks the best of the lot, and the SR-III is totally hideous and cheapsy looking... HOWEVER... the SR-III simply blows the other two away with performance and sound quality (especially on AM wide). I don't think there is a better sounding AM radio made. We still have three or four music stations (top 40 and classic hits) on AM, and what you state is exactly true, the sound in AM wide rivals FM. If someone walked into the room and didn't look at the band selector on the radio when the SR-III is playing on AM wide, an FM station would be assumed.
@@TREEHUGGAH1 The SR-III radios I have (factory, unmodified) do not seem to be as good for DX sensitivity and selectivity as the SR-II, which seems to be the best of the lot, even though there is no IF band switch.
On my SR 3, under the letters Superadio, it is written "AM/FM Long Range Hi Performance Radio" It really says "Hi performance" You'll find on my channel how to fix the 'noisy' switches/knobs and also how to open the unit
Couldn’t find a reasonably priced l, or ll, but found a near perfect lll. It does exceptionally well. It compares to my C.Crane C.C.SW. Perhaps I just got blessed with a good one. The sound is fantastic. ..... and I don’t mind the looks either. There are a ton of the R.C.A. versions out there. They are the ones people have troubles with. ( but the G.E. Is fine).
Pretty sure I heard Zoomer Radio 740am from Toronto, as you were passing the station by it went "canada .." that station is one of the most powerful AM stations in the country, covers most of the Northeast in the daytime! Let alone in the evening.
My Superadio II I just got today from my mum has a "Headset Capable" sticker on it, so the II has support for headphones (I tested). My II is from the early 90s and it has the external antenna inputs. It looks like the antenna connectors on the III. Mine is probably in near-mint condition, no scratches or scuffs, and it also has the tip of the antenna (there's nothing special about it, it's just your normal tip), but there's just one problem-- the band switch is very touchy and hard to move from FM to AM. You have to jiggle it around the AM part sometimes so you can get it to work. But what do you expect for a radio that's been sitting around for a decade or two?Also, one question. What is AFC? When I flip the switch on it seems to increase the signal.
I bought a Superadio II at the Salvation Army around a week ago. Mine is missing the battery door. I tweaked the FM IF's. The AFC setting is awesome on mine. I have a sweet spot where a 50 K watt FM station is located around 100 miles away. It could be heard with considerable static with the antenna down making it better than average. I so wish I had the battery door.
I think there was a "cousin" machine in the G.E. Superadio family with a cassette recorder in it, but I've never seen one. I bet the G.E. radio engineers weren't too keen on it competing with their pure radios.
There were several unofficial Superadio models, including the smaller "Superadio Cub" (7-2881) and the "Superadio Plus" with digital tuning (7-2882). Neither of these were officially called a Superadio but their model numbers are in the same range as the official Superadios. There were also several other GE radios claimed to have SR-like performance, especially the 3-5280, often called the "Superadio Cassette" because it's like a Superadio with a built-in cassette recorder. Radio Shack also made a clone of the SR III, the Optimus 12-603. It's not an exact copy, but a close imitation.
You cant compare radios like that when it comes to sensitivity or selectivity. There too close and both powered on. The oscillator throws off rf that can desensitize one radio from another, also with AM you must aim the bar antenna toward the station. Both radios are too close together and pointed in different directions. When comparing shut the other radio off not turn the volume down.
A radio on my troll list, they can demand crazy money,, I won't pay the ransom tho! The price you paid is great! SRII is the radio for me, albeit I could be happy with SRI vB. I can't remember completely but I believe either these were also rebadged as Radio Shack branded or the boards were in Radio Shack radios, radios that could be had for much cheaper than the GE's. However, a great video and was excited to watch it!
I used to have a superadio 1 when i was a kid. had to abandon it after my house got infested with bed bugs and my mom wouldn't let me take it. i miss it so much!
that radio can still be had on ebay used of course i have 2 of them but lost am or fm i forget got hit with a ground strike there still fb radio...73'' victor'' k3vay
Hi Dan. Just picked up a III today for five bucks. Are you familiar with what the date codes mean? I can just barely make it out. 25280. Serial # 495408. Thanks, John
No, because the radios counting up to Superadio #3 were a General Electric named series, so a Crane radio wouldn't be added as #4. Other manufacturers made radios that had reputations as being "superadios" including Crane which I've never owned. There's a good page to read about the G.E. Superadio series here: earmark.net/gesr/
I did a quick comparison on the EP and a SR I. They have very similar sensitivity, but the SR 1 sounds deeper(its bigger). The EP was able to achieve better readability because of its fine tune on the ferrite antenna. I would call the EP a super radio, and C Crane is starting to use that phrase. "The portable CCRadio-EP PRO could be considered a super radio" from their website.
British Hong Kong was a colony and British Dependent Territory of the United Kingdom from 1841 to 1997, apart from a brief period under Japanese occupation from 1941 to 1945. The colonial period began with the occupation of Hong Kong Island in 1841 during the First Opium War. During the mid 1980's British banks and companies began working toward plans to exit, transfer ownership, etc.
The station you used for your wide/normal AM bandwidth comparison on the Superadio III was transmitting HD Radio (a.k.a. IBOC), which means their audio bandwidth is limited to only 5 kHz -- that's why there was very little difference with wide bandwidth reception (except for more hiss from the digital sidebands). Regular analog AM stations can transmit an audio bandwidth of up to 10 kHz, in which case you can really tell the difference between normal and wide bandwidth.
I learned something. Thanks!
Love these radios. Been a bcbdxer for over 65 years. I might mention that on AM turning the radio to orient the antenna will make a BIG difference. You don't have them parallel so reception will be different. Also keeping them close to each other will change things too. Great video. Thanks for sharing. I only have the 3 myself. 👍👍👍👍👍
I found a Superadio III at an estate sale this past weekend. Only $4.00, it was covered with a few hundred white paint spots. A damp paper towel got a lot of the paint spots off, but the stubborn ones I got off with rubbing alcohol. It sounds great and works really well, but now it looks a lot nicer.
Regards, Tom
I have the SR III. Mine is over 10 years old and works very well. On my SR III, I can pick up an FM station from Glen Rose, Texas that is 78 miles from my location with the AFC off and with the AFC on, it comes in loud and clear! It's a great radio to own!
They're considered "Super Radios" for their ability to reach long distance AM radio, which uses the internal Ferrite Bar, not the external antenna.
I have the SR, SR-II and SR-III. In my opinion, the SR-II looks the best of the lot, and the SR-III is totally hideous and cheapsy looking... HOWEVER... the SR-III simply blows the other two away with performance and sound quality (especially on AM wide). I don't think there is a better sounding AM radio made. We still have three or four music stations (top 40 and classic hits) on AM, and what you state is exactly true, the sound in AM wide rivals FM. If someone walked into the room and didn't look at the band selector on the radio when the SR-III is playing on AM wide, an FM station would be assumed.
How is the III for AM DX.?
@@TREEHUGGAH1 The SR-III radios I have (factory, unmodified) do not seem to be as good for DX sensitivity and selectivity as the SR-II, which seems to be the best of the lot, even though there is no IF band switch.
I agree Ge 111sounds great on FM.
the 3 sounds the best and the 1 sounds better than the 2. i currently own the 3, i used to own the 1 back in the 80s.
On my SR 3, under the letters Superadio, it is written "AM/FM Long Range Hi Performance Radio" It really says "Hi performance"
You'll find on my channel how to fix the 'noisy' switches/knobs and also how to open the unit
They'll be fantastic DXer's in an area with low RF noise.
Couldn’t find a reasonably priced l, or ll, but found a near perfect lll. It does exceptionally well.
It compares to my C.Crane C.C.SW.
Perhaps I just got blessed with a good one. The sound is fantastic. ..... and I don’t mind the looks either.
There are a ton of the R.C.A. versions out there. They are the ones people have troubles with. ( but the G.E. Is fine).
Pretty sure I heard Zoomer Radio 740am from Toronto, as you were passing the station by it went "canada .." that station is one of the most powerful AM stations in the country, covers most of the Northeast in the daytime! Let alone in the evening.
I've had the 3 for 30 years and it still works great.
My Superadio II I just got today from my mum has a "Headset Capable" sticker on it, so the II has support for headphones (I tested). My II is from the early 90s and it has the external antenna inputs. It looks like the antenna connectors on the III. Mine is probably in near-mint condition, no scratches or scuffs, and it also has the tip of the antenna (there's nothing special about it, it's just your normal tip), but there's just one problem-- the band switch is very touchy and hard to move from FM to AM. You have to jiggle it around the AM part sometimes so you can get it to work. But what do you expect for a radio that's been sitting around for a decade or two?Also, one question. What is AFC? When I flip the switch on it seems to increase the signal.
I bought a Superadio II at the Salvation Army around a week ago. Mine is missing the battery door. I tweaked the FM IF's. The AFC setting is awesome on mine. I have a sweet spot where a 50 K watt FM station is located around 100 miles away. It could be heard with considerable static with the antenna down making it better than average. I so wish I had the battery door.
Another thing, I wish they included cassette players on these models.
I think there was a "cousin" machine in the G.E. Superadio family with a cassette recorder in it, but I've never seen one. I bet the G.E. radio engineers weren't too keen on it competing with their pure radios.
There were several unofficial Superadio models, including the smaller "Superadio Cub" (7-2881) and the "Superadio Plus" with digital tuning (7-2882). Neither of these were officially called a Superadio but their model numbers are in the same range as the official Superadios. There were also several other GE radios claimed to have SR-like performance, especially the 3-5280, often called the "Superadio Cassette" because it's like a Superadio with a built-in cassette recorder. Radio Shack also made a clone of the SR III, the Optimus 12-603. It's not an exact copy, but a close imitation.
SR-1 best IMHO. I have all 3. There is also a VERY rare SR with a cassette deck. Never seen one
LFOD !
You're missing the superadio 1 mk 2 which has antenna outputs and chrome on/off switch and selector switches.
You cant compare radios like that when it comes to sensitivity or selectivity. There too close and both powered on. The oscillator throws off rf that can desensitize one radio from another, also with AM you must aim the bar antenna toward the station. Both radios are too close together and pointed in different directions. When comparing shut the other radio off not turn the volume down.
Points taken. I'll remember that. Thanks for watching and commenting.
I love my super Radio 1 bought it at Kroger in 79 don't know what happened to it best sounding radio I've owned.
A radio on my troll list, they can demand crazy money,, I won't pay the ransom tho! The price you paid is great! SRII is the radio for me, albeit I could be happy with SRI vB. I can't remember completely but I believe either these were also rebadged as Radio Shack branded or the boards were in Radio Shack radios, radios that could be had for much cheaper than the GE's. However, a great video and was excited to watch it!
I think you're right about the RS version. It might have been the Optimus something-or-other. Glad you liked it, Jack.
I used to have a superadio 1 when i was a kid. had to abandon it after my house got infested with bed bugs and my mom wouldn't let me take it. i miss it so much!
that radio can still be had on ebay used of course i have 2 of them but lost am or fm i forget got hit with a ground strike there still fb radio...73'' victor'' k3vay
i know from experience the II is an exceptional radio, id like to get the other two, i havent heard them yet.
Which of these are better sounds quality? Thanks bro
I like the original version sound best.
Nice comparison thanks for posting.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.
Hi Dan. Just picked up a III today for five bucks. Are you familiar with what the date codes mean? I can just barely make it out. 25280. Serial # 495408. Thanks, John
Sorry, it's been too long, I don't remember what those codes mean anymore. Enjoy your radio!
I have the super radio 1 wit a sticker that says "Superadio" on it.
I have the two but made in Malaysia not China!
Would you call a CCRadio-EP a Super Radio 4?
No, because the radios counting up to Superadio #3 were a General Electric named series, so a Crane radio wouldn't be added as #4. Other manufacturers made radios that had reputations as being "superadios" including Crane which I've never owned. There's a good page to read about the G.E. Superadio series here: earmark.net/gesr/
I meant that as a comparison vs the SR3. Both radio's have similar design and likely comparable reception.
I did a quick comparison on the EP and a SR I. They have very similar sensitivity, but the SR 1 sounds deeper(its bigger). The EP was able to achieve better readability because of its fine tune on the ferrite antenna. I would call the EP a super radio, and C Crane is starting to use that phrase. "The portable CCRadio-EP PRO could be considered a super radio" from their website.
Dan, reference 4:18 of your video, Hong Kong is in China!
British Hong Kong was a colony and British Dependent Territory of the United Kingdom from 1841 to 1997, apart from a brief period under Japanese occupation from 1941 to 1945. The colonial period began with the occupation of Hong Kong Island in 1841 during the First Opium War. During the mid 1980's British banks and companies began working toward plans to exit, transfer ownership, etc.
because hong kong no existe in 2016