BUY THREE!
I've never written an online review before but his radio is great and is worth the trouble.
I'm a Ham Operator and I restore tube radios for a hobby so I've spent a few hours listening to DX, I know crap, I know hype, and I know a miracle when I trip over one. I started looking around for a pocket radio to keep in my truck because sometimes I would be caught working away from the shop for hours without any news or music. If you're a radio nut you can guess what happened next. A month later, probably twenty hours online and more than a hundred bucks worth of pocket radios and I wasn't happy. I'd had fun and now had some radios handy around the house for "adequate" use (radios & led flashlights, can't have enough!). Even though I had run across this radio online and in reviews I didn't put it on my list of probables, It was just a $10.00 radio and I was limiting myself to vintage radios with discrete transistor designs or new IC designs over $30 or $40 dollars. After all I wanted a "good radio". I was pretty much interested in an analog radio because in this price range digital sets are usually noisey, battery hogs, and plauged by "birdies". Finally, I ordered one of these because "what the heck" ten bucks, if it sucks I'll give it away. When it showed up I plopped in a set of AA's tuned the dial and heard lots of stations, good sign. Any radio that has analog tuning with a dial thats two inches across is a challenge, but thats ok. Low and behold theres KGNC from over 120 miles away and it's 1500hrs(3pm). What the hay! Listen up buyers, This radio is TEN BUCKS and it can hear stations others can't. No one has learned how to put sensitivity, selectivity, and audio into one box this size but this radio is a miracle! Don't get me wrong this is not a Sony 2010 or a GE SRIII, but it's small enough and cheap enough to have one in every room of the house and in each car. And the speaker is good enough that you don't have to use phones. It has a telescoping antenna for FM. Some radios that cost 6X as much don't have a tele. ant., they use the headphone cables. That means even if your using the speaker you have to have the headphones plugged in or the FM stinks. Since this is still a new toy it hasn't yet made it to the glove box in the truck, I'm still playing with it. I live in the Panhadle of Texas and last night I listened to a talk show in Nebraska before bed; woke up and touched the dial and there was a great morning show in San Antonio. If this radio was $70.00 I'd give it 3 or 3.5 stars, for TEN to FOURTEEN dollars it is a true bargain! Some others may review this radio and subtract points because of selectivity or something, remember this radio cost less than a good burger and fries! I've spent thousands of dollars on radios; Collins,Icom,Yaesu,Sony, and others. I have better radios than this one but I've never had anything for >$15.00 that was this good.
Buy two or three, I did.
Jeff Sony ICF-S10MK2 Pocket AM/FM Radio, Silver
I love this little radio. It gets great reception for all the AM talk radio shows I like listening to. However, like another reviewer mentioned, I too have a problem with the output jack. When I plugged in three seperate headphones they all only had sound for the left ear. If it weren't for that I'd probably give it five stars. After consulting sony's online FAQs I found that this is most likely not a defect in the product. To quote the site:
"If audio is being heard from the left side of the headphones only, ensure that the device from which it is connected has stereo output capability.
IMPORTANT: A mono device will only output sound to the left side.
NOTE: Generally, if a device has an output jack labeled EARPHONE it will be mono, while an output jack labeled HEADPHONE will be stereo. "
Sure enough this little radio does not have a headphone jack, just an earphone one. If you want this radio to use without headphones, or don't mind sound from only one ear then it's great.
I'm one of "those people" that always seems to have room for one more radio, even if it is roughly the same as many others I own. After reading several reviews for the ICF-S10MK2 and seeing the $10 price tag, I couldn't resist. After spending a few days of extensive listening, it has sent a few other radios to the display shelf. The Sony is a bare-bones FM/AM transistor - no clock, dial lighting, bells or whistles. The clear plastic front and splash of brushed aluminum around the dial selector give it just enough style to be noticed. Controls are kept to a minimum at volume, tuning, and band-selection. The audio quality is good, but par for a transistor radio. As long as awe-inspiring surround sound isn't expected, you won't be disappointed. The FM antenna folds out from the left side of the radio and swivels around for optimal reception. A much better option than just protruding from the top. The earphone plug on the side is mono only, and will only play in the left ear with a standard set of headphones. FM performance is good - a little too good, as the signals tend to overload a bit. Away from the city areas, FM signals come in distant and fairly well. The AM band is where this little Sony really shines. While most small radios can't cope with decent AM reception, this one goes above and beyond radios 3 times its size and 6 times the price. The AM tuner has excellent sensitivity and selectivity, and gives you the option of some tougher signal catches. I have been able to listen to a small station 35 miles away at 1140khz, while almost next to the antennas of a 50,000 watt monster at 1180. The S10MK2 performs some good feats on only 2 AA batteries, with an average listening life of 40-45 hours per set. Alot of enjoyment for little money. For a quick breakdown:
Pros:
- Long life on batteries
- Fairly loud volume without distortion
- easy to operate
- excellent reception
- cheap price tag
Cons:
- earphone audio in left ear only without special adaptor
- minimal styling. Won't stand out in a crowd
- antenna arcs, but doesn't swivel
- FM selectivity not all that it could be
- audio quality is OK, but not spectacular
- battery door isn't hinged and could be easily lost
- no option for AC power. Batteries only
Although there are some radios that perform better than this particular Sony, you won't find any of them this inexpensive. For good listening on the cheap, make sure to get one...or two. Maybe 3 just in case.'
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