Michael wrote:
"but I cant get the R8 to perform for DX'ing like the R75."

An R8 may not perform up to a R75, but the R8A/B will outperform it.
Some of the top DXer's in the world use R8A/B's

--
John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa
South 33 d 47 m 32 s, East 20 d 07 m 32 s
RX Icom IC-756 PRO III with MW mods
Drake SW8 & ERGO software
Sony 7600D, GE SRIII, Redsun RP2100
BW XCR 30, Sangean 803A.
GE circa 50's radiogram
Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro, Datong AD-270
Kiwa MW Loop, PAORDT Roelof mini-whip
http://www.dxing.info/about/dxers/plimmer.dx

"Michael" wrote in message
...

"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