ICOM ICR-75 vs. TECSUN S-2000

[alpard]

I have been playing around with the ICOM R75 for a few days, and yes, I found it excellent high quality receiver way over the level of the S2000.
The twin PBT work treat. When copying the weak signal from VoA txed from Botswana 6080, the signal was barely audible with no intelligibility initially. When tuned and peaked with the R75's twin PBT, the signal came up stronger and became readable.

And the 2x preamps, W and N filters and S-AM mode all work great and are very useful . The audio is clean and crisp. Overall  4.9/5 from me.

[East Troy Don]

I have been playing around with the ICOM R75 for a few days, and yes, I found it excellent high quality receiver way over the level of the S2000.
The twin PBT work treat. When copying the weak signal from VoA txed from Botswana 6080, the signal was barely audible with no intelligibility initially. When tuned and peaked with the R75's twin PBT, the signal came up stronger and became readable.

And the 2x preamps, W and N filters and S-AM mode all work great and are very useful . The audio is clean and crisp. Overall  4.9/5 from me.

What antenna setup are you using with the R75?

[alpard]

What antenna setup are you using with the R75?

It is either a MLA30+ or Long Wire with Ameco PT-2 preamp.  The latter seems work better for DXing.

[M R I]

My R75 has been collecting dust. I fired it up after seeing this post. It is a very good receiver.  Especially for SSB, it needs a TCXO. I need HI FI broadcast audio so I will build a SDR 9 MHz IF board then feed it to a 192Khz sound card with HDSDR with CAT control to sync frequency with the R75. This would make a great setup.

[alpard]

Interesting.  Let us know how you got on with the set up.

Just wondering, if your R75 has the DSP installed.  Unfortunately mine doesn't have the DSP, and I wonder if lack of DSP in the set makes the narrow filter sounds muffled.
Yes, my only problem with the R75 is that, when the narrow filter is selected, the audio becomes awfully muffled.  Due to this, I have been using it with the Wide filter selected only, but many times, I find it too wide, which gives selectivity problems.

[alpard]

Compared to AOR 7030, I prefer R75 AM audio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7Eccrzuj8w

[M R I]

wondering, if your R75 has the DSP installed.  Unfortunately mine doesn't have the DSP, and I wonder if lack of DSP in the set makes the narrow filter sounds muffled.
Yes, my only problem with the R75 is that, when the narrow filter is selected, the audio becomes awfully muffled.  Due to this, I have been using it with the Wide filter selected only, but many times, I find it too wide, which gives selectivity problems.

The R-75 has 3 stock filters 15k 6K 2.4K. If properly set up in the filter selection menu (see operation manual) you should be able to access all of them. You likely have it set up wrong. If a filter is selected to off (in the menu) it will sound muffled. The 2.4K filter is to narrow on AM but is still useful on very weak stations. If you off tune the AM station you should hear a difference between the 15K and 6K filters when switching them. I found that my R75 was not set up correctly. Now I have all 3 filters working as W-15K, 6K, N-2.4K. Also if you can get a used or old new stock DSP it works very well.

[alpard]

wondering, if your R75 has the DSP installed.  Unfortunately mine doesn't have the DSP, and I wonder if lack of DSP in the set makes the narrow filter sounds muffled.
Yes, my only problem with the R75 is that, when the narrow filter is selected, the audio becomes awfully muffled.  Due to this, I have been using it with the Wide filter selected only, but many times, I find it too wide, which gives selectivity problems.

The R-75 has 3 stock filters 15k 6K 2.4K. If properly set up in the filter selection menu (see operation manual) you should be able to access all of them. You likely have it set up wrong. If a filter is selected to off (in the menu) it will sound muffled. The 2.4K filter is to narrow on AM but is still useful on very weak stations. If you off tune the AM station you should hear a difference between the 15K and 6K filters when switching them. I found that my R75 was not set up correctly. Now I have all 3 filters working as W-15K, 6K, N-2.4K. Also if you can get a used or old new stock DSP it works very well.

Great info & advice MRI.  Yes, that sounds right. I have not read the manual yet, as I just got the R75 a few days ago. Just powered on temporary set up for checking out, that it is working OK.  Will need to set it up correctly in the new room - as my daughter moves out this weekend to her new flat in the city, I shall have her room as my new SWL/BCL room.

But yes, after a few nights of listening to the R75, I feel that it is an awesome radio.  Even with no proper set up and temporary trying RX, it sounded like the most sensitive receiver I have ever come across. I will get the manual out and read up for setting the filters.   I am looking forward to this winter season for some interesting DXing with the R75.

[alpard]

I have set up the filters on the ICOM IC-R75, and now it sounds beautiful.
A great receiver, R75 is. 

[Looking-Glass]

I have both of those receivers, the ICOM IC-R75 is by far the best, Tecsun S-2000 leaves a lot to be desired.  If you are really serious about DXing then go for the ICOM with a good antenna. LG

[ChrisSmolinski]

I have both of those receivers, the ICOM IC-R75 is by far the best, Tecsun S-2000 leaves a lot to be desired.

Funny how that works

If you are really serious about DXing then go for the ICOM with a good antenna. LG

A good antenna is indeed critical. And with a real communications receiver like an Icom vs a Tecsun consumer radio, you won't need to worry as much about overloading, images, etc.

[pinto vortando]

The 750 version of the 2000 became available again this summer, but at 400 USD is overpriced.
A nice radio for the casual DXer with plenty of sensitivity (be careful not to overload it) and
good audio but selectivity is not so great even in "narrow" mode.  On a crowded ham band the
radio just can't get out of its own way as signals pour in on top of each other. 
That said, it is still my favorite portable by a large margin.

[alpard]

The Ham bands are not crowded these days, but very quiet side. Plenty of space.
So are the SW bands.  MW DX bands are very busy at nights with DX signals from inter continents.

My Tecsun S-2000 never have problems with overloading even with very large high gain antennas.
It has 3 step antenna attenuator and separate RF Gain control, which is a strong point of the set.
Without that function, perhaps it is not that great radio. With that function, it is as good as any high
grade radio.  You must know how to use it efficiently for the condition of the band and the signal you
are digging out from the noise. Very delicate process it can be, but it is very effective and powerful feature.

Non other radios got that - continuously adjustable RF gain and 3 step antenna attenuator.

Of course it not perfect but it definitely fills the gap in the market. It is a desktop, but also handy that
it accepts D size batteries for mobile or field operation.

A great radio. Heard many DX with it.  But my favourite radio now is Icom IC-R75.  Again I learned on
how to use it properly, and now it absolutely blows mind in DXing performance.

[pinto vortando]

The ham bands can be very crowded on a big contest weekend which we seem to have a lot of this time of year.
Even in the evening after dinner 80 and 40 start to load up.

MW at night here in the States you need all the selectivity you can get.  Otherwise an adjacent clear channel 50kw
blowtorch will walk all over you. 

The 2000 will be OK with most any wire antenna if you live far enough away from a
powerful AM broadcast band station.
Just don't try an active antenna or amplified loop... it WILL overload.

The use of D batteries is nice.  My 750 (version of the 2000) gets used most every night always on battery.
The current set of D cells were replaced in May and still show full on the display... usually get at least a year
out of them.

My 750 is my go to radio for casual listening...  easy to use, no menus, direct pushbutton entry.

[alpard]

Yes, I think if S-2000 had good PBT and Notch filter for more selectivity, it would be even better.
ICOM IC-R75 has them all, and works great.