"john" wrote in message
ups.com...
just wondering i don't own a drake r8, r8a or r8b, but i am thinking of
purchasing an r8 or r8a. does anyone use this radio for dxing NDB's and
how does it perform on longwave. i'm also reading alot about the r75 as
a pure dx radio, especially with the mods, but it seems the drake never
gets the heads up vs the r75 as a pure dxer. it also seems that the
drake is the better BCB listening radio due to its better audio. i
would love to hear from someone who owns both. and has compared them in
this respect.

thx, john


Hiya... I have an R75 with all the Kiwa mods. Even without the Kiwa mods,
the R75 is a decent radio for program listening. Don't let anyone tell you
otherwise. The criticisms of the R75's audio are really overstated. I've
found that the Kiwa audio mod helps out a bit, but it isn't a tremendous
improvement. You'll no doubt get Drake fans spewing out all kinds garbage
about the R75 "making a good door stop", but the absurd and inflammatory
nature of their statements are their own indictment. They don't like the
idea of a $500.00 dollar radio outperforming one that they paid $1,800.00
for. I've also used each and every one of the R8 series radios. They are
not... I repeat... NOT as good for DX'ing as is the R75. That isn't brand
loyalty, that is a fact. The R8's with their warm audio and ssb selectable
sycn is absolutely superlative for program listening. BUT.... That doesn't
mean that the R75 is a bad radio for program listening. It's adequate to
good. And... Once again... You don't need the friggin mods. When I really
want to dress up the audio from my R75, I run it through my PC's sound card.
I have a five point surround sound speaker set up with a full software
equalizer and effects package. If I use ssb ecss tuning to listen to a
weak or messy broadcast signal with my R75 or with any other radio, I run it
through my sound card and use my software mixer/effects to make it sound as
full and robust as if it was is AM mode. I have a number of mixer/effects
presets that I have set up just for that exact purpose. Not to mention, if
you get a broadcast that is too muffled or too tinny or has too much mid
range, all you have to do is more a few sliders on the mixer and viola... A
comfortable broadcast to listen to. So... I can get my R75 to sound great
for broadcast, but I cant get the R8 to perform for DX'ing like the R75.

Michael