I know this radio has a great reputation for SW reception, My
question is how does it do on BCB MW reception??


It's very good - but I honestly feel it's no better than the
SuperRadio III in that regard (although that is very good, indeed).
Note I use it with a longwire - with a tunable loop, it might be even
better yet.
Good joke, but in serious here what one of the top reviewer have to
say about the R-75:Excellent ultimate selectivity and good dinamic
range for faint signals,Dsp with aut notch filter helps improve
intelligibility of some tough signals and reduce heterodyne.Two levels
pre-amp allows excellent sensitivity to weak signals.After the removal
of the MW attenuator [Pete's mod]my R-75 have .07 uv sensitivity
figure in the MW band.In your complaining you don't mention the
antenna you are using and this is one of the most neglected points in
Mw dxing.With a first rate antenna you can overcome most of your MW
receptions problems.You can try a Kiwa loop, Justice ant or quantum
loop [internal] or a external loop like the K9AY.


Is an external speaker really needed?


The built-in speaker is OK for momentary monitoring. But if you
aren't a dedicated headphone user, yes - I would get an external
speaker. The little RCA 40-5000 that Radio Shack sells for around $20
is fine for the purpose.