Hello all,

I am the proud owner of a Kenwood R5000 that I bought in 1990. it was in
the
days before the Internet, and I was floored when I checked out this radio at
Erickson electronics here in Chicago. I had heard about the varied
programming and information available on shortwave but this visit to the
store was my first exposure to shortwave listening. The radio sounded so
good and had so many
stations and features for enhanced listening. It was so exciting to bring
the radio home, take it out of the box, string the long wire antenna I
picked up at the store, and listen to people from different cultures in
distant lands. the radio has been everything I had hoped it could be and I
have been attached to it ever since. It has expanded my view of the world
greatly.

the longwire antenna stretched across my small backyard from my roof to the
garage snapped in two a few weeks ago. obviously reception is poor and I
won't be climbing up on a snowy Chicago roof anytime soon.

I am taking my first pause in shortwave listening to explore methods of
improving sound quality and reception. Adding filters is definitely in my
future. What is unclear are modifications from Kiwa, described at:

http://www.kiwa.com/R5000.html

Does anyone have experience with these particular mods or Kiwa mods in
general? How much of an improvement occurred following the modifications?
Was it noticeable? If so, I wonder if it was
as noticeable as adding an AM filter. I am also concerned that the
alterations might cause problems with the radio. Are these concerns
justified or misplaced? It seems like some important parts are being
replaced or removed. I love this radio so. It has been with me through
world crises like the attack on the russian parliament building, the Asian
currency crisis, the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, and the
gulf war. we have seen happy times together too like the world wide
millennium
celebrations and the 2000 Sydney Olympics. I don't want anything to happen
to it.

I will appreciate any insights that can be offered on these modifications in
helping me decide if it is worth it to add them.

Kelly

Kelly Pierce wrote:
Hello all,

I am the proud owner of a Kenwood R5000 that I bought in 1990. it
was in the
days before the Internet, and I was floored when I checked out this
radio at Erickson electronics here in Chicago. I had heard about the
varied programming and information available on shortwave but this
visit to the store was my first exposure to shortwave listening. The
radio sounded so good and had so many
stations and features for enhanced listening. It was so exciting to
bring the radio home, take it out of the box, string the long wire
antenna I picked up at the store, and listen to people from different
cultures in distant lands. the radio has been everything I had hoped
it could be and I have been attached to it ever since. It has
expanded my view of the world greatly.

Kelly:
I like the sound of my R-5000 just as is. It's not bassy or tinny - sort of
flat but very clear. I do have the front firing SP-430 speaker and prefer
that over the top firing built-in speaker.

--
Brian Denley
http://home.comcast.net/~b.denley/index.html

Yep, just try different speakers.....rad shack sells small speakers made for
surround sound in the $20-90 price range....try one you may like the sound.


"Kelly Pierce" wrote in message
.net...
Hello all,

I am the proud owner of a Kenwood R5000 that I bought in 1990. it was in
the
days before the Internet, and I was floored when I checked out this radio
at
Erickson electronics here in Chicago. I had heard about the varied
programming and information available on shortwave but this visit to the
store was my first exposure to shortwave listening. The radio sounded so
good and had so many
stations and features for enhanced listening. It was so exciting to bring
the radio home, take it out of the box, string the long wire antenna I
picked up at the store, and listen to people from different cultures in
distant lands. the radio has been everything I had hoped it could be and
I
have been attached to it ever since. It has expanded my view of the world
greatly.

the longwire antenna stretched across my small backyard from my roof to
the
garage snapped in two a few weeks ago. obviously reception is poor and I
won't be climbing up on a snowy Chicago roof anytime soon.

I am taking my first pause in shortwave listening to explore methods of
improving sound quality and reception. Adding filters is definitely in my
future. What is unclear are modifications from Kiwa, described at:

http://www.kiwa.com/R5000.html

Does anyone have experience with these particular mods or Kiwa mods in
general? How much of an improvement occurred following the modifications?
Was it noticeable? If so, I wonder if it was
as noticeable as adding an AM filter. I am also concerned that the
alterations might cause problems with the radio. Are these concerns
justified or misplaced? It seems like some important parts are being
replaced or removed. I love this radio so. It has been with me through
world crises like the attack on the russian parliament building, the Asian
currency crisis, the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, and the
gulf war. we have seen happy times together too like the world wide
millennium
celebrations and the 2000 Sydney Olympics. I don't want anything to
happen
to it.

I will appreciate any insights that can be offered on these modifications
in
helping me decide if it is worth it to add them.

Kelly

Kelly Pierce wrote:

Hello all,

I am the proud owner of a Kenwood R5000 that I bought in 1990. it was in
the
days before the Internet, and I was floored when I checked out this radio at
Erickson electronics here in Chicago. I had heard about the varied
programming and information available on shortwave but this visit to the
store was my first exposure to shortwave listening. The radio sounded so
good and had so many
stations and features for enhanced listening. It was so exciting to bring
the radio home, take it out of the box, string the long wire antenna I
picked up at the store, and listen to people from different cultures in
distant lands. the radio has been everything I had hoped it could be and I
have been attached to it ever since. It has expanded my view of the world
greatly.

the longwire antenna stretched across my small backyard from my roof to the
garage snapped in two a few weeks ago. obviously reception is poor and I
won't be climbing up on a snowy Chicago roof anytime soon.

I am taking my first pause in shortwave listening to explore methods of
improving sound quality and reception. Adding filters is definitely in my
future. What is unclear are modifications from Kiwa, described at:

http://www.kiwa.com/R5000.html

Does anyone have experience with these particular mods or Kiwa mods in
general? How much of an improvement occurred following the modifications?
Was it noticeable? If so, I wonder if it was
as noticeable as adding an AM filter. I am also concerned that the
alterations might cause problems with the radio. Are these concerns
justified or misplaced? It seems like some important parts are being
replaced or removed. I love this radio so. It has been with me through
world crises like the attack on the russian parliament building, the Asian
currency crisis, the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, and the
gulf war. we have seen happy times together too like the world wide
millennium
celebrations and the 2000 Sydney Olympics. I don't want anything to happen
to it.

I will appreciate any insights that can be offered on these modifications in
helping me decide if it is worth it to add them.

The only thing I did to the R5000 that I had was to replace the stock 6 kHz
filter with one that had better skirt selectivity. That and use an external
speaker of course.

There was also a way to make an adjustment, located below the S meter if I
recall to align the USB and LSB so it sounded the same when switching between
the two.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

Dear Kelly,

May I make a suggestion that willl at first appear "simple-minded" or
"flip" but it is not meant to be; it comes from long experience with
this sort of thing:

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

You've been happy with your radio. Why take a chance on doing something
which, though it might offer some nebulous "improvement," also has the
potential to cause possible damage to it?

Best,

Joe

Joe Analssandrini wrote:

Dear Kelly,

May I make a suggestion that willl at first appear "simple-minded" or
"flip" but it is not meant to be; it comes from long experience with
this sort of thing:

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

You've been happy with your radio. Why take a chance on doing something
which, though it might offer some nebulous "improvement," also has the
potential to cause possible damage to it?

The R5000 I had wasn't 'broke' when I got it, but a better 6 khz filter 'fixed'
it!

Long experience.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

http://www.iserv.net/~n8kdv/dxpage.htm

My Icom R71A audio improved immensely by the use of one of the add-on
computer speakers that has really great low frequency response. That coupled
with the outboard JPS NIR-10 Noise/Interference Reduction unit
makes it a real joy to operate.

The speaker is a about a 3x5 inches with a heavy magnet and a tuned port at
the bottom for some reason. I an no audiophile for sure. It just sounds
great.

Gary
K4GPB

"Kelly Pierce" wrote in message
.net...


I will appreciate any insights that can be offered on these modifications
in
helping me decide if it is worth it to add them.

"dxAce" wrote in message

The R5000 I had wasn't 'broke' when I got it, but a better 6 khz filter
'fixed'
it!

Long experience.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

http://www.iserv.net/~n8kdv/dxpage.htm



Not only that but the stock filter is crap and the only logical step is to
replace it.


--
73 and good DXing.
Brian
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A lot of radios and 100' of rusty wire!
Zumbrota, Southern MN
Brian's Radio Universe
http://webpages.charter.net/brianhill/

EMAIL-
(Hide the $100 to reply!)

Brian Hill wrote:

"dxAce" wrote in message

The R5000 I had wasn't 'broke' when I got it, but a better 6 khz filter
'fixed'
it!

Long experience.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

http://www.iserv.net/~n8kdv/dxpage.htm



Not only that but the stock filter is crap and the only logical step is to
replace it.

Indeed it was. Very poor skirt selectivity around -60 db.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

thanks everyone who responded. the phrase "nebulous improvement" that Joe
used to describe the benefit the modifications would have seems entirely
accurate. Another correspondent in a private message described the
noticeable benefit accruing only to those with "golden ears." Often we fail
to recognize the simplest solutions, which is what I did here. An external
speaker did not occur to me until I read the replies. This is an easy and
inexpensive improvement that will offer quite tangible results. This is
certainly something I will do. I am also exploring the AM filter issue and
will likely replace it. Thanks for all the help and sharing of experiences.
As one of the posters said "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." applies here
too.

Kelly


"Gary Brown" wrote in message
. com...
My Icom R71A audio improved immensely by the use of one of the add-on
computer speakers that has really great low frequency response. That
coupled with the outboard JPS NIR-10 Noise/Interference Reduction unit
makes it a real joy to operate.

The speaker is a about a 3x5 inches with a heavy magnet and a tuned port
at the bottom for some reason. I an no audiophile for sure. It just
sounds great.

Gary
K4GPB

"Kelly Pierce" wrote in message
.net...


I will appreciate any insights that can be offered on these modifications
in
helping me decide if it is worth it to add them.