Some Regens are better than others. Some Regens are better than
Superhets. Example: the home-brew Regen we use for S.W. is a little more
sensitive an about as selective as our straight forward low-end
Hallicrafters S-38. The home-brew Regens' selectivity is improved by a
judicious r.f. coupling and a.f. extraction design not found in
conventional Regen design. On the other hand, you wouldn't want to call
on a Regen for serious communication work.

Bottom line: Regens are fun, simple, inexpensive, forgiving, and if
designed well, will compete with low end superhets

Greetings! I built the Ten Tec 1253, 9 band a few years ago. I thouroughly
enjoyed using it. Recently I lost the FETs due to leaving the radio hooked up
to the antenna during a freak thunderstorm. Arthritis will no longer allow me
to repair it so I am looking into crystal sets for shortwave. The 1253 took
patience in tuning, but the challenge made the listening more fun. Side band
was very difficult,but I did manage to copy even on 20 meters during the day.
Build one. It is worth the effort. Jon.