Those are all good radios. I never owned the R8B, but I have played with it,
and it is a very good receiver.
I do have the AOR7030 (original version), along with the HF-150 and the
HF-225. All of them sound similar, and have very similar sensitivity, except
that the 7030 does have better IM rejection.
The HF-225 is similar in sensivity to the HF-150 with the exception that the
HF-150 has better sensivity on the MW band when using the Radio Shack loop
antenna. With a long wire, though, performance is very similar. The HF-150
does seem to have the best bass response of the bunch, while I would
describe the sound of the 7030 as more "open and airy". I think this is
because the 7030 has better treble response.
I think that the slight difference in sound is also because of that Plessey
SL6700 I.F. system that the Lowe receivers used, although the TDA1572 that
the 7030 uses is also a very good chip. I have been using the 1572 in my own
designs for several years.............measured distortion on AM is .3% @1kHz
@60% modulation index.
Even with the 7030's relatively open front end, I don't hear any MW IMD
products on the LW band, while I do hear them on the HF-150. Still, now that
I have added that Lumitex fiber optic backlight panel to my HF-150, it makes
for a great bedside radio.

Pete

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article .com,
wrote:

The case of the 7030 is very solid, like the 150's. The sparse
controls on the front panel is also reminiscent of the 150, as is the
solid tuning knob. Performance wise they're quite different. The 7030
is a DX machine and it feels like it.

My experience with the 7030 is still pretty limited, but I'd have to
say I still favor the R8B overall. I don't mind the ergonomics of the
7030, but the 7030's sync detector, although it's very good, can't
quite lock onto signals as weak as the ones the R8B's can snag, and
often I find that it takes a fair amount of adjusting and knob
twiddling to end up with a signal that's as good as the one you get
right away on the Drake. But the 7030 is great and I especially like
its notch filter. I'm sure lots of people would prefer the 7030 to
the R8B, depending on their preferences and listening styles.

I hope we hear from John Thorpe again one of these days....

I hope so too especially now that Drake has bowed out of the market.

I generally like my 7030+ it is a cool radio and has some features the
Drake R8B does not have like the auto notch, auto filter calibration and
a remote control but I like the Drake R8B more the way it operates and
it generally seems to do a better job of making weak signals listen-able.

I own three table tops RX340, Drake R8B and the 7030+ all of which I
like for different reasons. They are all great radios and I'm pleased to
own all of them.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California