So why didn't Icom do a better job of making the R75 in the first place???

That, my friend, is the $64,000 question. There are some who have been
hounding ICOM to upgrade new units to be more effective based on both
better corporate design and what others have done; some have also been
insisting that ICOM accept the earlier models back and "fix" them - but
if there is no fix yet, how can ICOM do this?

In any case, the complaints seem to have fallen on deaf ears - for now.
In any case, my impression of the modded R75 is that (1) the synch
detector itself still needs work 9my personal opinion is that ICOM owes
its customers a free or cheap retrofit to fully realize this ability,
since their original advertising was tantamount to a flat-out lie); (2)
the AF DNR isn't perfect, but nonetheless better than nothing; and (3)
the NB isn't quite effective enough for some types of impulse noise
(although it works not badly at all). Otherwise, the radio is a gem.
The AGC is now great and effective, SSB reception is fabulous, AM now
sounds sweet and nice with a cheap external speaker, sensitivity is
A-1, selectivity is about as good as you'll get with the Kiwa filters
short of much more expensive and complex installation, ANR het
reduction is good to excellent, and the radio is tremendously
versatile. In my own location, I am limited only by my antennas,
nearby urban RF crud and the proximity of 3 nearby 50kW blowtorch
stations that splatter badly. Otherwise, I don't think I would have
trouble hearing Pluto at 100mW. On the whole, I think the radio a
great value.

Bruce Jensen