I am not a big fan of physically small antennas. Magloops, active loops, tuned loops, active whips, etc, not high on my “like” list. But I have to admit I am in a fairly unusual situation for most listeners, and I have very little noise to deal with here in the desert.
With that said, I do normally keep a loop or two around. Even though I do not generally have noise to deal with I like to be able to null stations out, particularly on MW and LW. So generally I have 2 loops around, one optimized for the bottom end of MW BC and LW, and the other for top end of MW BC and into the tropical bands. But since I got my Wellbrook ALA1530S+ I have not used another loop, my home brew loops that I have used for years are not even currently hooked up.
This antenna is simply put, very good. I can only imagine how it improves things in a high noise environment. I have had some short duration transient noise (such as a bad pole transformer for a few days), and the 1530 did very well at killing that noise.
Does it beat a well designed and installed full size resonant antenna? Not in general. Yeah, before proponents start talking about SNR vs hammering the meter, I am talking about SNR…with the addition of stronger on the meter. But in my case it often does almost as well, is much more compact, and you only need one antenna, instead of several / many. Naturally, it does not compete at all with anything directional or with gain, such as Rhombics, V-Beams, Beverages, etc.
If I lived in a higher noise environment, had limited space, or was an apartment dweller, I would put the Wellbrook ALA1530S+ right at the top of my must have radio stuff. Probably the Pixel Pro is just as good, but I have not tried that myself.
I also have to say, if you are going to use a loop get a rotor. The ability to turn the loop and null stations or noise dynamically is a very strong tool to have in the arsenal.
T!